Photos: Taiwan’s tea revival blends ancient terraces with new climate adaptations

Outside Taipei, a government-backed revitalization effort is restoring tea terraces in Shenkeng that once powered nearly a quarter of Taiwan's export earnings before industrialization emptied the hills by the 1970s.

Researchers led by Li Chao-shiang are rebuilding the old stone terrace walls with modern additions: drip irrigation tied to soil-moisture sensors, mulching, drought-resistant plantings, and satellite monitoring for landslide risk, responding to storms that researchers say have grown 12-15% more intense this century.

A single 2025 storm season caused more than NT$1 billion in losses regionally, and growers like Chien Chen-lung say shallow-rooted tea plants remain acutely vulnerable to high winds, meaning newly replanted terraces will not show their full value for a generation.

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