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Wistaria Tea House

  • Publish Date:2016-05-29
Wistaria Tea House

Did You Know That …?


  • Wistaria Tea House was once where democracy advocates gathered to share their dreams and ambitions during the 1970s when Taiwan was under the rule of martial law.


  • The early visitors who frequented Westeria House included certain names that were later involved in the 1979 Formosa Incident (美麗島事件), a political crackdown that served as the watershed of Taiwan's democratization.


  • But these days, everyone is welcome to pay a visit, have a pot of tea, and enjoy its meditative surroundings.


Read more about Wisteria Tea House here or scroll down for pictures.


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Wistaria Tea House opened in 1981, a period when Taiwan was on its way towards economic and social liberalization and when most people preferred visiting trendy American or Japanese cafes on their weekends.


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The custom of drinking Chinese tea was viewed as out of date and existed only in childhood memories of their fathers or grandfathers — old-timers who would spend an afternoon in a humble Chinese tearoom where the main attraction for most visitors was a daily story-telling performance rather than high-quality tea.


Wistaria Tea House

The story of the Wistaria House is inseparable from one man — Chow Yu (周渝), the youngest son of the house's previous tenant David Chow (周德偉).


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Serving as the R.O.C. Director-General of Customs, the senior Chow was offered the residence in 1950 by the government and moved in with his family. This was 30 years after the former Japanese colonial government built the compound as living quarters for its expatriate naval personnel in 1920.


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By hosting informal talks with intellectuals at home, the hospitable David Chow initiated a trend for frank discussions during a restrictive era.


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Some people even used the place as a temporary shelter when they were under financial duress or as free accommodation on occasional visits to Taipei.



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"Wistaria House was the most beautiful fortress in the memory of all of the participants in Taiwan's democratization movement," noted Sisy Chen (陳文茜), an active political commentator in Taiwan who joined the civic movement in the 1980s.