Taichung's Chun Shui Tang (春水堂) says it created pearl milk tea in 1987, at its teahouse on Siwei Street. Hanlin Tea Room (翰林茶館) in Tainan says it got there first, in 1986. The two sued each other, and in 2019 the court decided it did not need to say who invented the drink, because anyone is free to make it. For a visitor the short version is this: go to Chun Shui Tang's original shop on Siwei Street, order a pearl milk tea and decide for yourself.
Chun Shui Tang's story
Chun Shui Tang began in Taichung in 1983 as a tea shop called Yang Xian (陽羨茶行), and its own history says that was where it first shook black tea with ice in a cocktail shaker, making foam black tea (泡沫紅茶) and turning hot tea into a cold, sweet drink. It took the name Chun Shui Tang in 1988. In 1987 the shop moved to 30 Siwei Street, now called the original store (創始店).
According to the company, a then 20-year-old employee, Lin Hsiu-hui (林秀慧), dropped fenyuan, the tapioca balls sold as a dessert, into iced tea. Its timeline says the experiment began in 1986 and that the founder, Liu Han-chieh (劉漢介), named the drink pearl milk tea (珍珠奶茶) in 1987, when it went on the menu. The Taipei Times reported the company's claim as 1987; when CNN interviewed Lin in 2024, she put the first glass at a staff meeting in 1988. The Taichung City Government's tourism site repeats the city's claim, saying pearl milk tea is said to have started in Taichung in 1987.
Hanlin's counter-claim
Hanlin Tea Room, in Tainan, says its founder Tu Tsung-ho (涂宗和) came up with the idea in 1986. As he told it, he bought white tapioca balls at Yamuliao market in Tainan, cooked them, and added them to tea, and named the drink after the pearls it looked like. CNN reported that his first shop opened in October 1986, and that he later used bigger black tapioca balls in milk tea. Tu died in 2022.
The court case
Neither shop patented or trademarked the drink, and pearl milk tea was on teahouse menus all over Taiwan by the mid-1990s. The two companies filed lawsuits against each other. CNN reported that the litigation ran for ten years, from 2009 to 2019, and ended with the court ruling that anyone could make bubble tea, so there was no need to decide who invented it. Tu later called the case "a must-fight battle for truth but nothing personal."
The Taipei Times also notes another theory: that the idea may have come from the night markets, or from cendol, a sweet drink from British Malaya. Nobody has settled it, and each city keeps its own story.
Where to drink it in Taichung
Chun Shui Tang, the original store
- Hours Daily, 08:30 to 22:00
- Address 30 Siwei Street, West District (台中市西區四維街30號)
- Phone 04-2229-7991
- Getting there Taxi from Taichung Station
Chun Shui Tang (original store) is a sit-down teahouse, not a takeaway counter: you order tea with small dishes like braised tofu and rice cake, or fried turnip cake. In 2014 the company added displays here that tell the story of foam black tea and pearl milk tea in words and drawings. Chun Shui Tang has more than a dozen branches around Taichung, but this is the one with the history.
Chun Shui Tang Dadun store: make your own
- Workshop Bubble Tea DIY Workshop (珍珠奶茶手搖體驗), about 50 minutes; Monday to Friday at 10:00, 15:00 and 17:00; at least 2 people; age 6 and up
- Address 9 Dadun 19th Street, West District, on Jingming 1st Street (台中市西區大墩19街9號)
- Phone 04-2327-3647
- Getting there Taxi from Taichung Station
At the Chun Shui Tang Dadun store, a tea maker walks you through shaking your own pearl milk tea. Book through Chun Shui Tang's workshop page. On Saturday mornings there is a separate class for children with a parent, booked a week ahead.
Good to know: Chun Shui Tang's Taichung branches open late one day a month for a staff meeting, and the company posts the date on its announcements page. Check it if you are going first thing in the morning.
Everywhere else
Taichung has a tea shop on almost every block. You order by size, sugar level and ice, and most shops let you add pearls or other toppings. Taichung's own Dajia taro shows up in drinks too: the city's tourism site lists taro from Dajia among its specialties.
→ Tea and coffee in Taichung → What to eat in Taichung → West District
Sources
Chun Shui Tang history, store addresses, hours and the workshop: Chun Shui Tang's history timeline, original store, Dadun store and workshop pages. The rival claims and other theories: Taipei Times (13 November 2018). The lawsuit, the 2019 ruling, Lin Hsiu-hui's 1988 account and Tu Tsung-ho: CNN, "The origins of bubble tea, one of Taiwan's most beloved beverages" by Maggie Hiufu Wong (October 2024), as carried by 10News. Taichung's 1987 claim and Dajia taro: Taichung Tourism, Taichung specialties.
Checked October 2026.