While traveling to New Zealand in 1989, Tsu Chen, owner of a Taiwanese con- struction company at the time, was awed by the country’s beauty and its peo- ple’s generosity of spirit and heart. Seven years later, in 1996, Chen moved his family and business to New Zealand, emigrating to the North Island, ready to begin anew, making certain he brought with him a plentiful supply of Taiwanese oolong teas. |
A few years later Tsu had one of those rare “aha moments,” while he and his son Vincent chatted with a neighbor living near Hamilton, about garden- ing and how well his ornamental Camellias were doing. The neighbor commented about how easy it was to grow the healthy, sturdy japonicas (orna- mental tea plant).In that moment Tsu knew he’d stumbled upon something important, immediately realizing the po- tential for growing tea in his own back garden. Vin- cent said his father “determined there and then to make the vision come true.” What Chen did- n’t know was that he would face years of bureaucratic red tape |
and dozens of hurdles along the way to fully realize his dream of producing quality oolong teas in New Zealand.Chen found it easy to buy land and had in fact already purchased a parcel he’d originally planned for building projects. In the late 1990s, he decided instead to use it to plant tea. He decided on the Chin Shin varietal of tea plant which produced good oolongs, and contacted Taiwan tea growers to supply the right materials for Next the Ministry contacted Chen with the Ten months later Chen was allowed to take In 2000 Chen and family moved to a property that had been a dairy farm, taking his lagging tea Taiwan, and gradually things began to improve. Making Taiwanese oolongs is slow hard work, and even with Thirteen years after starting, in December 2009, the very first The factory has HACCP ISO22000 certification (the only tea company in the world with this organic by the Swiss monitoring service SGS. So when they say their teas are the purest, they blended. A special coding system assures each package of tea is |
Today, along with the Rototuna Plantation near Hamilton, in the North Island’s Waikato region, with more than one million tea plants that produce quality Zealong teas from three harvests per year, is a 900 meter factory, a plant nursery, a cafe, a lodge and lake, a visitor’s center, and a Chinese tea house.Nearby in Gordontown the second tea garden, the new 48 hectare, Zealong Tea Estate, is well underway, with approximately ten hectares already at full production. Open year round the Zealong Tea Estate is also home to the Zealong Visitor Center, a pavilion, and the Camellia tea house where you’ll find exquisite views and can enjoy a light lunch and even take part in a traditional Chinese tea ceremony (with Zealong teas, of course), as well as stroll |