Fans of Spirited Away and Taiwan travel enthusiasts will definitely be familiar with Amei Tea House.

This teahouse was originally founded in the early 20th century. It started as a blacksmith shop for local miners in the mining town. As the town evolved into a tourist attraction, the founder’s granddaughter, Amei, decided to transform the old shop into a teahouse.

Other than the distinct Japanese architecture, Amei Tea House is famous as it resembles Yubaba’s building in Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away.

As we were already in Jiufen, we decided that it would be worth our time to at least visit this iconic teahouse for afternoon tea.

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Our Amei Tea House experience

We visited on a sunny afternoon with fantastic weather.

Being one of the biggest of its kind and the most representative building in Jiufen, the teahouse is easily recognised from afar. Bright red lanterns with green climbers adorn the teahouse, which make for a beautiful contrast.

If you come at night, you’ll see all the lanterns brightly lit – the iconic scene in Spirited Away!

Do be careful of the steps here though! Jiufen is a very narrow alleyway with steep steps. It gets pretty bad when it’s crowded and all the tourists can’t wait for you to walk faster.

The teahouse has two wings: the east and west. The east wing is for visitors to enjoy great tea, whereas the west wing is a bar with handmade organic snacks. In the east wing, you can choose to either sit in the basement or in the open-air tea area on the roof.

We were a bit hungry, so we opted to get a pot of tea with some traditional tea snacks.

Amei Tea House offers eight exclusive tea selections. These are said to be selected from premium tea-producing high mountains in Taiwan.

I think we opted for the oolong tea (?) though I’m not exactly sure based on my hazy memory. The flour- and grain-based snacks come in a set.

One of the main selling points of Amei Tea House is that they offer a traditional tea ceremony.

The staff will take the time to introduce the tea to you and the cups used (surprisingly, a lot!). You’ll also get to understand aromas, as well as how to brew and drink the tea.

It’s very detailed! But I’ve unfortunately forgotten most of the steps.

There are some similarities between the snacks served in Chinese and Korean teahouses. You can choose between the crunchier (and drier) grain crackers, the chewier glutinous rice muah chee, or even the salted plums.

We thought the tea was fragrant with a strong, yet light taste that paired nicely with the snacks. You can certainly tell that the tea is pretty good.

The view from the open-air area on the roof was splendid and really added to the tea drinking experience. As Jiufen is a seaside mountain area, you can easily take in all of the sea views from the roof.

Is it worth visiting Amei Tea House?

Although our time in Jiufen was quite limited, we spent a leisurely afternoon at Amei Tea House.

I really appreciated the tea service and fragrant tea, made splendid by the calm and quiet atmosphere in the teahouse. The snacks were okay, nothing really to shout out about.

I’ve seen some reviews saying that Amei Teahouse is not worth a second visit, or that the food is not great.

There are, of course, many other teahouses littered around Jiufen that you can choose from. However, it is undoubtedly one of the most iconic spots in the town. It’s also a noteworthy phototaking spot, especially for fans of Spirited Away.

Do note that Amei Tea House does get rather crowded, especially during the weekends. You may or may not be able to get a seat, so best to visit on a weekday!

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DIRECTIONS

Address: 224, Taiwan, New Taipei City, Ruifang District, 市下巷20號

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