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The close ceremony of 2024 Nantou Global Tea Expo took place on Oct. 13th. The nine-day event attendance has reached record levels of over 1 million. Moreover, total sales of more than NT$200 million and production value of the surrounding economy of more than NT$300 million both hit a record high.

The 14th annual Nantou Global Tea Expo opened grandly on Oct. 5th. Its opening ceremony was held in the Chung Hsing Assembly Hall in Chung Hsing New Village, with numerous visitors attending. At the ceremony, County Mayor Hsu Shu-Hua, together with several guests, opened the tea urn, and the tea masters performed tea brewing. With the tea aroma filling the venue, the nine-day tea expo officially kicked off. On the opening day, the total number of visitors hit a record high of more than 70,000.

The tea expo contained various activities. In addition to traditional tea experience activities such as Thousands People Brown Rice Lei Cha (千人擂茶) and Thousands People Tea Banquet (千人茶宴), activities with innovative elements that are popular among young people were included such as "Electric Concert Night (「尬電之夜」演唱會)" and Thousands People Hand-shaken Drink (千人手搖飲) experience. Moreover, there were a Coffee & Cocoa Area, a Nantou Youth Farmers’ Pavilion, an Artist Performance Area, etc. “This event is aimed to shorten the distance between young people and tea culture and promote Nantou tea industry to more age groups,” County Mayor Hsu said.

Different themed tea culture activities incorporating many cultural elements were held during the Tea Expo. In the “Thousands People Brown Rice Lei Cha” activity held by Shuili Township Farmers’ Association on the evening of the 5th, 200 Lei Cha tea sites were setup for nearly a thousand people to experience the Hakka Lei Cha culture. Another main activity, Thousands People Tea Ceremony (千人茶會), was held at 4:30 pm on the 6th. High-quality tea products from various tea towns in Nantou were set on a total of 350 tea sites for the public to enjoy a leisurely teatime on the grass accompanied by live music performances in the afternoon.

The "Thousands People Cloth Rolling (千人揉球)" activity was held on October 10th, the National Day, where participants wrap tea leaves in cloth towels to simulate the traditional tea rolling process. Together with the picnic and the music party, participants were able to enjoy the tea aroma journey that was immersed in family and friendship.

The county government expanded the "Sweet Aftertaste of Nantou ~ One-Nantou Two-Concert Nights" to an "Electric Concert Night" on the evening of the 11th and a "Folk Song Night" on the 12th. The Electric Concert Night attracted a large crowd of younger audience and climaxed with the band "Accusefive (告五人)" as a headliner. Tens of thousands of audiences were enthusiastic and packed the Chung Hsing Playground out. For the "Folk Song Night" took place next day, well-known singers such as Winnie Hsin (辛曉琪), Michelle Pan (潘越雲) and Johnny Yin (殷正洋) took turns on the stage, attracting about 60,000 people to attend. The event ended perfectly with the melody of classic folk songs.

The closing ceremony of the Tea Expo took place on the 13th. The "Thousands People Collectable Tea (千人封茶)" activity that is a continuation of tradition announced the complete success of the Tea Expo, and the following innovative "Thousands People Hand-shaken Drink" activity ended it perfectly. According to County Mayor Hsu, the Tea Expo this year hit record highs in terms of single-day attendances, conversion rate, and a total of nearly 100,000 audience record set by two nights of the concert. Ultimately, this nine-day event set a new all-time record with more than one million people participated and attained sales of more than NT$200 million, a 20% increase from the one last year. It is most meaningful to be able to provide actual help to all farmers participated in the exhibition.