Taoyuan Day Tour | Shihmen Maple Avenue & Daxi Old Tea Factory or Bald Cypress Autumn Red Tour | Depart from Taipei

－ Trip Information － 

• Meeting Time: 08:30
• Meeting Point: Taipei Main Station West Gate 3
• Duration: 10 hours 
• Return Information: Taipei Main Station West Gate 3
  
  

－ Attraction Introduction －

• Daxi Bald Cypress Avenue
  When the bald cypress turns red, travelers smile! Every winter, as the chill sets in, the Bade Bald Cypress Forest, covering nearly 3 hectares along Lane 185, Fujian Street next to Xiaoli Pond, is painted with magnificent gradient colors. Orange, bright red, blue skies, white clouds, and murmuring streams attract thousands of travelers to witness this poetic landscape that looks like an Impressionist painting. Bald cypress belongs to the Taxodiaceae family. Because it is native to the United States, it is also known as the American water cypress. Its trees can grow up to 50 meters tall and are often used as landscaping plants and building materials. Unlike ordinary conifers, the needles of the bald cypress turn from green to red as winter approaches, eventually falling off like feathers. The two major bald cypress photo spots in Taoyuan—Daxi Bald Cypress Avenue (formerly known as Shiyuan Road) and Nanxing Bald Cypress—have never seen a decrease in visitors after going viral on IG and FB. Daxi Bald Cypress Avenue has about 300 bald cypress trees, with double rows creating a serene beauty. Located by the Jiaotong Creek, Nanxing Bald Cypress is a private nursery with nearly 3,000 bald cypress trees rising from the ground. Unlike the small and beautiful scenery of Daxi, the unique and spectacular sight adds a touch of amazement to your trip.
  
  
• Daxi Old Tea Factory
  The exterior of the Daxi Old Tea Factory was modeled after the Darjeeling Tea Factory in India, while the interior is a blend of Taiwanese and Japanese styles, full of cultural diversity. Blue is the main color of the building. Whether it is the window lattices, beams, pillars, shelves, walls, or art paintings, the subtle blue tone fits perfectly with this brick and cypress-framed tea factory. Under this 'Daxi Blue', the quiet beauty refined by time and the antique tea-making equipment whisper tea stories in a Zen style.
  
  
• Shihmen Reservoir (Admission ticket and lunch at your own expense)
  The waters of Shihmen Reservoir are home to grass carp, black carp, carp, catfish, crucian carp, and silver carp. Operators of Shihmen live fish restaurants state that grass carp meat is firm, black carp meat is oily and tender, and carp has many small bones, limiting its preparation methods. Coming to Shihmen Reservoir to enjoy the signature live fish cuisine is a must-try for visitors.

• Matsu New Village Cultural and Creative Park
  Known as the 'General Village of Taoyuan', Matsu New Village was not named because the local residents came from Matsu. Instead, it was built when Madame Chiang Kai-shek led a troop-cheering group to Matsu to comfort the soldiers. To stabilize morale, she proposed the need to settle the families of the frontline soldiers in Taiwan, which led to the construction of the current Matsu New Village. To revitalize the once-forgotten military village space, Matsu New Village regularly hosts cultural and creative markets and invites artists to move in. This allows visitors to walk into historical old houses and connect with childhood memories through black tiles, brick walls, and red-and-white gates, as if they were neighbors and friends visiting each other in the old days, recreating the nostalgic warmth of the military village.