We are very excited to announce this year's annual tea trip here in Taiwan! We are inviting thirty friends from around the world to join us from May 7th to May 17th of 2026. We will travel around the island drinking amazing teas, visiting organic tea gardens, old-growth tea trees, making tea, watching teaware production and learning about all things tea-related. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn more about tea from the source. As we always say, the true “tea masters” of the world are those who work so hard in the hot sun to steward the land and create the teas we all enjoy. We hope this trip will fill you with a lasting respect for every single leaf you put in your teapot.

We will be guided by Master Tsai Yizhe and several other tea legends as we visit Beipu, Pinglin, Ali Shan and Sun Moon Lake to visit wild and cultivated tea gardens. We will pick and process our teas that we can then take home with us as drinkable souvenirs, including learning more about how oolong is made! We are planning some lectures by local experts and will have translators with us to afford us the opportunity to learn about things that would be difficult to discover on our own. We will also have some epic tea sessions, including a meditative bowl tea session with nuns who practice bowl tea as part of their regular practice and one or two gongfu sessions where we will drink some rare, well-aged teas that most of us will have never tasted before. 

We encourage every one of you to bring your favorite teas and wares with you to share with all your tea friends from around the world, so that the whole journey will be a traveling tea festival. Many of our greatest memories have been shared on the road with you in years past, so let’s make some more!

In all our past journeys, we paid as we went, but to relieve the hassle of managing such large amounts of money for such a big group, we are going to arrange everything beforehand, which will make the trip much smoother tea-sailing. The entire trip will cost $3,000 USD. This includes all food, lodging, tea and travel. We will have guides, insurance and will, of course, enjoy several vegetarian banquets along the way. We will also drink some very rare teas together. Everyone will also go home with tea processed by their own hands and a special commemorative bowl. 

To reserve a seat on the 2026 trip, you must be a member of Global Tea Hut. Members will be given first seats on the bus. We are requesting a deposit of $1,500 USD to reserve your space. That deposit will be refundable up to three months before the trip. When we get to within a month, we reserve the right to give your spot to someone on the waitlist. The $3,000 USD fee for the trip does not include transportation to and from Taiwan. People from most countries will receive a landing visa on arrival into Taiwan, but be sure to check with the Taiwanese authorities about your situation and prepare all relevant documents should you require a visa beforehand. We can, of course, provide an invitation letter if you need one.

As with our previous trips, we will conduct the entire trip much like a retreat and ask that everyone agree to a basic code of conduct for participants. We are guests here and should act like it, respecting the authorities here and the guides helping steward the trip. For the entire duration of the trip, you will be required to follow a vegetarian diet without exception. We will do our best to adapt to food requests and allergies, as long as they are vegetarian. Otherwise, we ask that kindness and love reign over us all, so that we leave a good impression on our hosts and on all our friends joining us from around the world. This means no intoxicants of any kind, with speech and action becoming of a Chajin. It means being respectful to Taiwan and to our hosts, being kind and listening to the guides. If you aren’t sure about something, feel free to ask.