Taiwan creates a Napa Valley of teas By John Boudreau jboudreau@mercurynews.com Tel: 408-278-3496 Posted: 07/10/2009 08:00:00 AM PDT Updated: 07/10/2009 08:47:17 AM PDT http://www.taiwantea.org.tw/DOC/%E5%8D%B3%E6%99%82%E8%A8%8A%E6%81%AF980717-No010.pdf http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_12805166 TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan, which has earned an international reputation as a tech design center, is quietly reinventing an ancient industry — tea. The island of just 23 million supplies the world with semiconductors to power cell phones and computers, and oversees the production of iPhones, laptops and GPS systems. But tea-loving Taiwanese have also applied their industrious minds to the refinement of the centuries-old drink, blending tradition with newly developed methods of cultivation. In doing so, Taiwan has created its own equivalent of Napa Valley for specific varieties of tea. While its overall share of the world's tea production is small — in 2004, it produced just 21 tons of