Maokong is a tea-growing hillside in the very south of the Taipei municipality, planted with bushes of the local Tieguanyin oolong since the 19th century. The slopes are gentle and green, the views back across the city are wide, and the whole area is dotted with old-style teahouses where you brew your own tea on a charcoal stove and order small dishes — duck breast, tea-smoked eggs, Hakka cooking — to go with it. It makes one of the easiest and most relaxing half-day escapes from the centre of Taipei.
Getting up to Maokong is half the point. The Maokong Gondola, opened in 2007, climbs from Taipei Zoo MRT station to the top of the hill in a 25-minute ride, with some cabins fitted with glass floors that look straight down on the forest canopy. The walking trails around the gondola's upper station are short and pleasant; the better teahouses are a kilometre or two further along the ridge, reachable on foot or by the local minibus.
Come in the late afternoon and stay into the evening: the teahouses are at their best after dark, when the lights of Taipei spread out below and a pot of oolong stretches comfortably across a couple of hours. Weekends are busy and the gondola queues can be long, so a weekday visit is calmer. Bring a light layer — the ridge is noticeably cooler than the city below.