A multigenerational teashop in Taipei has teas able to evoke as well as bury memories. A university student’s chance visit not only changes her life but also helps her realize the tea-drinking experience echoes the complexity of memories and that true understanding blooms only from experience.

Soon after remaking the acquaintance of Mr. Wu at her grandfather’s funeral, still-grieving university student Cheng Ai finds her way to Mr. Wu’s teashop in Taipei’s old Dadaocheng Quarter. Not long after, she moves back to her family’s old home in the district and begins helping out in Mr. Wu’s shop.

The secret of memory manipulation, passed down through the Wu family for generations, allows Mr. Wu to preserve memories for his customers in his shop’s tea leaves as well as wipe clean those they wish forgotten. When Cheng Ai drinks tea brewed by Mr. Wu, long-forgotten memories of her grandfather resurface in her mind. She also sometimes glimpses further back in time to “see” events from long before she was even born. The customers Cheng Ai meets while working in Wu’s teashop include both those with a passion for good tea and those wanting to tinker with remembrances in one way or another.

After the romance budding between Cheng Ai and her similarly aged colleague Shen Yi stumbles, she comes to realize that the fuzziness clouding her childhood memories has something to do with Shen Yi’s own past. Should she try to get to the bottom of it all? And…if she does, how might what she finds affect their chances for a future together?

Author Xuan Jun thoroughly researched Taiwan’s traditional tea industry before weaving this sumptuously imaginative tale of local tea culture, palpitating romance, and the estimable journey of individuals dedicated to their craft. Those who enjoy ducking into culture-steeped alleyways in search of quaint shops and memorable stories are sure to find comfort in Dadaocheng’s tea-aroma-steeped embrace.