Dayuling 100K Update 2025

It’s been a few years since we last wrote about the Dayuling 100K Tea Gardens, and a few readers have asked us about the status of the gardens – a great question given that its days were apparently numbered (more on that story here).

As the leases on land in Dayuling expire, the government has been taking the tea gardens back and reforesting them, preventing erosion and protecting the local environment. As a result of this policy, known as 退茶还林/退耕还林 (reforesting tea gardens and farmland), all of the tea gardens over 2560m in altitude in Dayuling have reverted to government control, save only 100k and a few others.

陈俊界 Chen Junjie, the farmer who leased the land for the 100K gardens, planted Taiwanese cypress, cherry, ginkgo biloba, and maple trees (扁柏、櫻花、銀杏、楓葉) among the tea bushes in line with government policy to prevent erosion. As many as 1500 trees have been planted per hectare of land in the gardens. The partial reforesting of the area was part of an agreement reached with the Taiwanese government to extend his lease of the land for a further 9 years. 

Workers harvesting the 2025 winter crop of tea from 100K. Newly planted trees stick out between the short oolong tea bushes of the garden. 

Hsieh Peilun of Hsieh Jiang Lin Tea Company on the left, and Chen Junjie of 100K Dayuling Tea Garden on the right.