Taiwan's glorious Oolong tea merchants aim for mainland

Around 200 years ago, Hsu Chien-fu's ancestors from Hsinchu in northwest Taiwan were among the first to plant tea in the island's fertile soil.

Now the family business sells tea to most of Taiwan and half of the mainland. Hsu recently participated in a trade fair in Beijing, hoping to increase mainland sales.

The three-day trade fair at Beijing Exhibition Center, featuring agricultural products from eight counties in Taiwan, began on Dec 24 and was backed by the central government aiming to heat up cross-Straits trade and tourism. Taiwan's tea merchants comprised half of the 130 exhibitors. They hope to expand revenues by securing more sales channels on the mainland, including e-commerce, while their local sales have been hit by slowing economic growth and a falloff of mainland tourists.