Taiwan has its own version of the Ashikaga Flower Park in Japan. And it's not far away from Taipei.

"Hysteria in Wisteria"

Hanging above your head, looking like a bunch of grapes.  The purple flowers of the wisteria will take your breath away! The purple blossoms are grown in a secret garden in New Taipei's Tamsui District. Just a walking distance from Tianyuan Temple, which is a popular cherry blossom viewing spot every spring.

I was really excited to see these blossoms for the first time. To go here, just ride any of the buses going to Tianyuan Temple.  At Tianyuan Temple stop, walk to reach the Wisteria Coffee Garden (Second Branch) (Shuiyuan Park) [紫藤咖啡園 （二店）（水源園區]. 

Tianyuan Temple as seen from the Wisteria Coffee Garden

Going there for the first time was something new because it's not like the cherry blossoms which are scattered in Taiwan.

Upon finding the garden, I saw the ticketing booth.  The cost of tickets? NTD 300. So expensive! Haha!

But it was worth it! It's like the wisteria flowers at the Land of the Rising Sun was brought here in Taiwan.  They  don't look elongated compared to the variety growing in Ashikaga Flower Park in Japan, but rather the wisteria here were like grapes hanging on a vineyard.  Anyway, I can still feel its exoticness.  Very purple! The garden here in Tamsui is big enough to accomodate a large number of visitors, with lots of opportunities to take selfies.

Use the ladder to get closer to the purple flowers, or setup your tripod to get a panoramic shot with the violet-colored petals.  I just wish my girlfriend Andrea was with me during my visit.  I'm very sure she would also love this place.

Under the flowers of the wisteria, a woman plays a classic Chinese string instrument to the delight of the visitors.

When is the best time to see wisteria?  Expect the flowering to happen every late March.  If it does not rain in Tamsui, then you can see still see the flowers until early April. 

With the peak of the flowering of the yoshino in Tianyuan Temple happening in mid-March, it becomes impossible the see the wisteria at that time. But sometimes, the stars can align giving a chance for sakura chasers to see also the purple petals here in Tamsui.   When that happens, everyone in Taiwan gets excited and hyped.  The adrenaline rushes to your body.  The point when you experience the so-called "hysteria in wisteria".

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Wisteria Coffee Garden (Second Branch) (Shuiyuan Park) [紫藤咖啡園 （二店）（水源園區）]
Address: Address:  251, New Taipei City, Tamsui District, 竹圍子9之1號 [Google Map]
opening hours: 8:00 am to 6:00 pm

Tickets: NTD 300 per person

How to go: From MRT Tamsui Station (Red Line), ride Bus 866, 875, 876, 877 or F103.  Get off at Tianyuan Temple stop [Google Map] and walk to the wisteria garden in less than 20 minutes.

THINGS TO DO IN TAIPEI