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Do all beautiful things have an end?
With a mix of emotions, on a winter day in Taipei, I walked through Daan Forest Park to visit the historic Wistaria Tea House, a Level 3 city-designated heritage site, on its final day before a long period of restoration.
Tea lovers, even those who haven’t personally experienced its history, have heard of it or visited it—whether to pay homage, to soak in its atmosphere, or simply to enjoy a good cup of tea. Within this timeworn tea space, marked by the traces of decades past, these connections unfold.
Walking on the old wooden floorboards, warped and lifted by humidity, I couldn’t help but wonder: Over the past forty years, how many stories has "she" carried? How many lives have intertwined here, all because of tea?
It was an era of tumult
Before Chow Yu (周渝) founded the Wistaria Tea House, this place served as the government residence of his father, David Chow (周德偉), who was then the Director-General of the Customs Administration of the Ministry of Finance. Here, he often engaged in political discussions with intellectuals and economists, fostering the seeds of liberalism.
In the 1970s, it became known as “the most beautiful stronghold in the memory of the opposition movement,” a haven for cultural figures and marginalized artists.
Perhaps it was like the coffee houses of Paris’s Left Bank—centers of creativity, thought, and cultural salons for writers and artists.
In 1981, Chow Yu transformed the old house into a cultural tea house, naming it Wistaria Tea House after the three ancient wisteria vines that draped across the eaves of its courtyard.
Forty-three years later, on a winter evening, the lights of Wistaria Tea House dimmed, bidding a temporary farewell.
The space was filled with people who came to say goodbye. Sitting in the Ziyuan Hall, enveloped in candlelight and wisps of smoke rising from the incense, we sipped smooth and mellow old pu-erh tea. Though it was one of the coldest days of the year, the warmth inside was undeniable.
One attendee shared her story: from her youth to dating, marriage, and raising children, she had visited Wistaria Tea House at different stages of her life. Through these visits, she fell in love with tea, learned pottery, and now even teaches pottery herself. To her, every visit felt like returning home—a memory she will always treasure. Saying goodbye this time was incredibly hard.
The memories of a place often intertwine with the memories of our lives. When a place disappears, it feels as if a part of us vanishes too, leaving an irreplaceable void and an indescribable sadness.
However, listening to the young third-generation steward of the tea house share stories about the “tea heads,” her relationship with tea and nature, and how tea helped her see her true self, hope reignited in my heart.
As Editor-in-Chief Luo (羅主編), who hosted the tea-sealing ceremony, said: this is merely a “comma” for Wistaria Tea House.
Yes, history inevitably moves forward, but this is not a final curtain call. Beautiful things will return, as long as we continue to create them.
Always believe that beautiful things are about to happen.
See you again in three years!
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