You can pick up virtually any type of teapot in department stores or tea stores. If you want to buy a piece of porcelain culture aside from having a teapot to boil tea in, go to Yingge, the ceramics capital of Taiwan. Yingge's Jianshanpu Rd. is a newly designed pedestrian area, and the whole shopping area provides various types of porcelain products. This is the best place to buy your teapot and have a look around.

Major department stores and supermarkets have special stalls that sell tea, which makes this national beverage readily available. Besides, there is also the tea bag, a simple and convenient way to enjoy a cup of tea.

Taiwan's most famous place for peanut brittle is the small island of Kinmen. Because of Kinmen's fresh air, good water quality, rich soil, and windy weather conditions, the peanuts produced here are superior to those produced anywhere else. The peanuts are cooked in malt sugar and left to cool and harden. Then the result is cut into small bars, wrapped, and packaged in gift boxes or plastic bags.

The water quality of the Ailan Plateau, located on the western side of Puli Township, Nantou County, is pure and sweet. Because of the water's unique qualities, it is considered the primary "Shaoxing wine spring." Made by fermenting glutinous rice, Penglai rice, wheat, and other ingredients, the golden yellow Shaoxing wine has a dry, sweet taste.

Kinmen, with its hot, dry weather and unpolluted environment, is the best place to make Gaoliang spirit. Thanks to excellent water quality, the Gaoliang produced here is superior in quality and fine in taste.

In Matsu, with the uniqueness of the local spring water, brews such as Daqu, Gaoliang, and Matsu Old Wine are most popular. Clear ruby-colored Matsu Old Wine is not just a favored drink on Matsu, but is also widely used in Chinese cooking.

A variety of flavors are produced when plums, kumquats, mangoes, and other fresh fruits are rubbed with salt and preserved by adding sugar. Basically, the salty flavors of preserved fruits come from the salt rubbed on them, the sweet taste comes from the sugar, and the sourness is a result of fermentation. People in Taiwan call these preserved fruits "salty, sour, and sweet," which is an appropriate moniker for their unique taste.

Tradition has it that rice noodles first arrived in Taiwan via Fujian in mainland China. Today, Hsinchu rice noodles and Fengkeng rice noodles are the two best known versions of this popular staple. Hsinchu offers an ideal climate for making rice noodles, which require plenty of sunshine and wind for air drying. The resulting noodles have a springiness that resist mushiness when boiled. The rice noodle industry in Changhua County's Fengkeng Village has roots tracing back over a century. Fengkeng natives have also brought their rice noodle making skills to nearby Puli, helping the township to rise as another well-known spot for rice noodles.

The biggest difference between the rice noodles of Hsinchu and Fengkeng comes from the final manufacture steps. The Hsinchu noodles are steam boiled and then air dried to retain more of the original rice taste. The Fengkeng noodles, by comparison, are water boiled before air drying to add to their chewiness. Each version has a unique appeal and mouth-watering taste.

Mochi (sticky rice cake) was called "doushu" (bean rice cake) in early Taiwanese society but later became better known as "mochi" under the influence of the Japanese dessert "wagashi" during the Japanese colonial period. This treat is one of the representative delicacies of Taiwan's aboriginal and Hakka cultures. The Amis "dulun" is a chewy, corn-based version of this treat made without filling.

Hakka mochi has come into the spotlight in recent years in large part due to Tseng's Mochi in Hualien. Mr. Tseng moved from western Taiwan to Hualien, where he opened a shop selling traditional Hakka style mochi. Tseng's Mochi is made the traditional way, by hand-grinding the glutinous rice, pressing it dry, and then repeatedly kneading the dough into a dense soft texture that is chewy but not sticky. The fillings have a solid and rich taste that has made the cakes a local favorite and Hualien specialty.