鹿谷故事館

The second day she stayed in Lugu. Our family brew tea with her and let her cosplay as a tea picker.

她來鹿谷的第二天，領著她跟我們家人到茶園喝茶及扮採茶姑娘。

Below is the journal which she wrote. And I translate it into Chinese.

以下是她寫的遊記。我將它翻成中文。

Day 6

Lugu, where exactly is this place? Some of you must be wondering. Those of you who love to drink tea may have heard of Dong Ding Oolong tea. Yes, Lugu is a region long used for tea cultivation.

鹿谷?這地方確切的位置在哪? 不少人一定不太清楚。那些愛茶的人或許聽過凍頂烏龍茶。沒錯! 鹿谷正是一個長期種植茶葉的區域。

廣興， where i am staying is the location of Dong Ding Shan. The village with its small quiet alleys and many old houses is generally quiet and peaceful. A big main road built in the name of development now cuts through the heart of the village, linking the village to many popular tourist sites like Xitou, Monster Village and to bigger cities like Taichung.

廣興，在其旁邊就是凍頂山。這個小村莊裡有許多的小巷弄矗立著許多的老房子，她一直是寧靜及平和的。隨著一條稱作興產路的主要幹道切過這個村莊的心臟，連結著村莊到許著名的景點如溪頭，妖怪村及較大型的城市，如台中。

Tea is the economic lifeline of this place. Just count the number of tea shops, and merchants along the street. Most focus on wholesale thus the shops do not seem very inviting to the usual tourist... Not that there are a lot of tourists here, Lugu don't seem to get much foreigners during low seasons.

茶是這個地方的經濟作物。沿著街道佈滿為數眾多的茶店、茶商。絕大多數的重點在於茶葉的銷售，似乎不太適合一般的旅客。這裡沒有很多遊客，在淡季時國際遊客更顯稀少。

Lugu Story House is built with a vision to showcase the fundamental roots of Lugu to people all over the world. It has a beautiful and inviting exterior and warm and cosy interior. You can only guess how much deliberation and perseverance was put into it.

With that objective to create an immersive experience for his guests, (and perhaps inspired by some previous cosplay guests), we all decided to go to the tea plantation and pretend we were tea pickers. It was interesting to see the interactions between Jerry and his mom and then relate it to myself. Seems that mother and child relationships everywhere has that similar side.

鹿谷故事館一樓的裝潢是一個櫥窗的概念，理念是植基鹿谷於鹿谷到全世界的人們。她有著美麗友善的外觀也有著溫暖舒適的內在。你可想像多少的思忖與堅持投注其中。為了他的客人創造一個身歷其境的體驗，(或許被先前那些角色扮演的客人所啟發)，我們決定到茶園扮演採茶姑娘。看到Jerry 跟他母親的互動很有趣，然而感受這與我自身的關聯。似乎任何親子之間的互動都有其相似的部分。

The funny part was the tea plantation owner came to check us out, halfway through our photo taking. He must have been worried that we were doing something to his tea trees or even wondering where did all these extra tea picking workers come from...Haha

最有趣的部分是當我們拍照時，茶園的主人來查看。他必定很擔心我們對他的茶樹做什麼。或是摸不著頭緒的想著這些採茶工出自何處? 哈!

Having tea in a tea plantation was a refreshing experience. The views, the sound of wind, the smell of the freshness in the air, the taste of the warm tea, the warmth radiating down the throat, the tranquility of the mind...茶禅一味 Indeed

在茶園旁喝茶是一個很新奇的經驗。這視野、風聲、空氣中新鮮的氣味、熱茶的滋味、直下喉嚨的暖流，平靜的心靈。的確是茶禪一味!

Very closely packed tea trees. Wonder if it might have some effects on the soil conditions and ecology of the mountain.

非常密集且層疊的茶樹。有點擔心它影響整個山坡地生態及土石狀況。

A contraption for transporting heavy stuff such as fertilizer up the steep slopes. We were joking about roller coaster rides on the steep slopes of the tea plantations. Haha...

Jerry taking photo of his mom, and me stealing a photo of them. Hehe

茶禅一味

Gingko Forest...All the white ones are gingko trees planted to counter soil erosion as required by the law. The owners probably try to trim all the branches so that the gingkos do not block the sunshine from the tea trees.

Sakura flowers at 石马公园 at 小半天

Exterior of Lugu Story House looks and feels full of flavour just like tea.

Heart Sutra, Calligraphy by Jerry

Tasteful decorations in the house

Home cooked mee sua by Zhang Mama with vinegar and oolong tea seed oil. Simple but very tasty.