Taichung is commonly known as the birthplace of the modern teahouse. Anyone who has spent any time here has most likely visited one of the city's numerous teahouses. Unfortunately, many travelers and visiting business people sample only a few of the most common drinks available and, because of language difficulties or timidness, never sample some of the more interesting and exotic concoctions.
Here I will describe some of the more common teas that tend to be overlooked by foreign visitors. The Chinese romanization is given in parenthesis. But before we go on, be sure to cover the basic vocabulary for ordering tea (listed to the right).

Fruit Teas

Reflecting the diverse selection of Taiwan's fruit markets, every tea house will offer a large selection of fruit teas. Taiwan's fruit teas go far beyond the dry teas with additives offered in restaurants in the States, and can be the most rewarding kind to experiment with. The following list gives some of the more common fruit teas available. Most of these are best served cold, though theycan be made hot if you prefer. Sugar or syrup is usually added but, in some tea houses, teas are only lightly flavored with fruit juice and pulp. You can ask that they make it more or less sweet to suit your taste, and some can be made with either green (lighter taste) or black tea (stronger taste).

• passion-fruit (pai-hsiang hung/lu cha) - lightly sweet and refreshing.
  
• kumquat (ji cha) - served cold, it makes the perfect summer refreshment. It is also one of the few fruit teas that is also fabulous served hot.
  
• strawberry (tsao mei hung/lu cha) - light and refreshing.
  
• lemon (lin-meng hong/lu cha) - rather mundane, but certainly beats Lipton.
  
• guava (shih-liu lu cha) - light sweet taste.
  
• plum (wu-mei hung cha) - a favorite among Taiwanese women. A strong sour taste.
  
• apple (pin-kuo hung cha) - hot or cold this is a treat!
  
• Coconut milk (yeh hsiang nai cha) - smooth and cooling, lightly sweet.
  
• grapefruit (pu-tao-yu cha) - gives your tea a bit of zing, slightly bitter.
  
• tomato-lemon (fan-chieh lin-meng) - this thick, sweet and sour tea beats V-8 hands down.

Flower Teas

You've looked at them, smelled them, and gambled your love on them ¡X now you can have them in your tea! Generally served hot. The fragrant steam floating up from the cup will have you stopping to smell the flowers.

• Rose tea (mei-kuei hua cha) - tastes as good as it smells.
  
• Jasmine tea (mo-lu mi cha) - an old standby in restaurants and hotels throughout China and Taiwan. Almost as common as green tea.
  
• Preserved petals of sweet osmanthus (kuei-hua cha) - less common, but worth looking for.
  
• Chrysanthemum (chu-hua cha)

Milk Teas

Milk teas make a perfect snack. Taiwan's tea houses offer much more than black teas with creamer added. Some of the following drinks may look strange and offer some interesting textures that you may not associate with tea, but many foreigners who have given them a try have developed new habits around these drinks.

• milk tea (nai cha) - just tea with milk and sugar.
  
• Taro milk tea (yu hsiang nai cha) - don't let the purple color scare you off. This is a heavy duty drink; thick, smooth, and sweet.
  
• Pearl Milk Tea (chen-chu nai cha) - this thick, sweet tea with chewy tapioca balls is the unchallenged champion among tea drinks. Found in tea houses and roadside stands all over the island. Sooner or later the foreign traveler is going to stumble upon this drink, and many become hooked. The tapioca balls come in different sizes, and the tea is always drunken with straws sucking up a line of the "pearls" from the bottom with the tea.
  
• Pei ya (pei-ya nai cha) - this drink defies translation. It¡¦s a thick, grainy, pulpy tea with a wheat-like taste. Sweet and so thick that you literally chew on it. Served hot or cold.

Miscellaneous

• ginger tea (chiang-mu cha) - a spicy sweet tea. According to Chinese medicine drinking this tea will help you get over a cold. However, forget whatever horror stories you've heard about the taste of Chinese medicine. This is a medicine that is easy to take.

This is by no means a complete list of all the teas available in Taiwan's countless teahouses. Every day new concoctions are being created and different tea houses have their own special drinks or special variations on the old standards. Now you have no excuse for ordering the same drink over and over again. I encourage you to sample some of the many drinks available when you make your next visit to a tea house. Enjoy!