Chun Shui Tang Siwei Main Shop

Review

Chun Shui Tang began as Yang Xian Tea House, which opened on Siwei Street in Taichung in 1983. At the time Taiwanese people drank hot brewed tea whatever the season, but it borrowed the technique for making iced coffee to create cold tea drinks, causing a sensation and changing how Taiwan drinks iced tea. It later added chewy tapioca pearls to milk tea, and the brand has always presented itself as the inventor of pearl milk tea and foam black tea. The Siwei shop is where the brand began, and reports say it keeps the atmosphere of an early teahouse.

The signature brown sugar pearl fresh milk tea combines brown sugar simmered from Taiwanese sugarcane with fresh milk and chewy pearls; reports call it mellow and smooth, and you can add handmade aged ginger tea, which is especially warming in cold weather. Prices vary by region: in central and southern Taiwan a small is NT$105 and a medium NT$200, compared with NT$115 and NT$220 in the north, and the classic iced pearl milk tea starts at about NT$100. For food, the kung fu noodles are known for their minced pork sauce and chicken broth, a braised tofu and rice blood cake platter costs about NT$195, and the house pork chop noodle set is about NT$268.

Fans value it as the birthplace of pearl milk tea, a place where you can sit down and linger over tea and snacks. Founder Liu Han-chieh's calligraphy, a phrase about tea refreshing a weary spirit, is printed on the takeaway cup seal, and for its 42nd anniversary in 2025 the brand released magnetic clips shaped like the original shop, which make a nice keepsake. The most common criticism is that prices are high by bubble tea stand standards, and the coverage at hand says little about the Siwei shop's seating or operating details.

It opens roughly 08:30 to 22:00. It is a sit-down teahouse, so allow time to linger, and prices may have changed, so check official information before you go. Sources do not mention queues, minimum spend, parking or payment methods.

It suits anyone making a pilgrimage to the birthplace of pearl milk tea or looking for somewhere to sit and chat over tea. On a first visit order the pearl milk tea or the brown sugar pearl fresh milk tea with a bowl of kung fu noodles or the braised snack platter, and add aged ginger tea when it is cold.