One weekend, two kinds of slow: pottery in Yingge, tea picking in Pinglin, and a piece made with her daughter that takes six weeks to arrive
Peggy, who lives in Banqiao, wanted a phone-free weekend with her daughter. On HAOTIVA she booked a pottery wheel class for Saturday and a tea-picking experience for Sunday, and discovered that craft classes have one rule unlike other experiences: you have to wait for your piece.
・6 min read
Looking for a phone-free weekend
Peggy works at a bank branch in Banqiao, and her daughter is nine this year. On weekdays they're each busy with their own things, and weekends often get swallowed up by the tablet. She wanted something mother and daughter could do together that would leave them with something to keep.
She took the wellness travel persona quiz on her phone. For places she's drawn to, she picked "Culture & craft"; for who she usually travels with, "Family"; and for pace, "One or two things a day." Her result was "Flavor Seeker": You get to know a city through flavor and craft. We lead with tea, cooking classes and artisan workshops. From then on, the picks on her home page put tea, cooking and craft classes first.
Saturday: two hours at the pottery wheel in Yingge
The description of "Yingge | Two-hour pottery wheel experience" is short: from kneading the clay to throwing a cup, with your piece glazed, fired and shipped to your home. The tags say "Kid-friendly" and "Your piece shipped to you" — exactly what she was looking for.
The options are one person for NT$1,450 (1 piece) or two people for NT$2,700 (2 pieces). Mother and daughter would each make a cup, so she chose the option for two. Sessions are at 10:00 and 14:00; she picked the morning so her daughter could get her hands in the clay while she was fresh. Included: wheel-throwing instruction, glazing and firing, and shipping within Taiwan's main island.
The most distinctive part is one line in the restrictions: pieces are fired and shipped in about 4–6 weeks, and shipping outside Taiwan's main island isn't included. That's what makes craft classes different from other experiences — you're not just booking two hours, but a stretch of waiting as well. Free cancellation for craft classes is up to 48 hours before.
Every few days, my daughter asks when the cups are coming. I think the waiting is even more fun than making them.
Sunday: tea picking and tasting in Pinglin
The next day, they went to Pinglin. With "Pinglin | Tea picking and tasting at a tea farm," you pick one bud and two leaves in the morning, watch a tea maker fix and roll the leaves, and leave with your own bag of tea. It's NT$1,100 per person, starts at 09:00 and lasts 3 hours, and includes tea picking, a tour of the tea-making process, a tasting with tea snacks, and a bag of tea you made yourself. The tags also include "Kid-friendly" and "Souvenir."
For this kind of tea and food experience, the restrictions say "please tell the host about food allergies", alcoholic drinks are not included, and free cancellation is again up to 48 hours before. Her daughter is allergic to nuts, so Peggy told the venue through "Ask the host" on the listing, so that they would know when preparing the snacks.
- Trim your nails before the wheel class — long nails leave scratches in the clay.
- Wear dark clothes you don't mind getting dirty; clay is hard to wash out.
- Arrive early for tea picking, and wear a hat and closed-toe shoes.
- Tell the venue about your child's allergies and dietary restrictions through "Ask the host" before you book.
Two bookings, one place to manage them
Two days, two hosts, two time slots. In "My bookings," each booking lists its status, booking number, date and amount, plus the exact day and time before which you can cancel for free. Tap in to see the booking's progress — paid, confirmed by the host, day-before reminder, redeemed on site — so you can always see which step it's at.
Every booking has a "Get help with this booking" button, and when you need to change a time slot or the number of people, the support ticket carries the booking number, so you don't have to explain it all again.
The "Cancellation & notes" section on the listing page sums up the rules in four lines: cancel before the free cancellation deadline and you get a full refund to your original payment method; after the deadline there's no refund, but you can reschedule once; if what you find on site doesn't match the page description, HAOTIVA support handles a refund or an alternative first; and once payments open, your e-voucher is sent to your email and the Member center after the booking is confirmed, and you just show the QR code on site to redeem it. For parents looking after kids at the same time, "you can reschedule once" is a very practical line.
Noting down the next trip: a Kyoto machiya and matcha tea ceremony
On the way home, her daughter said she wanted to wear a kimono. Peggy made a note of "Kyoto | Machiya inn + matcha tea ceremony experience": a night in a century-old machiya in a Gion alley, learning one complete tea-making sequence from a tea-ceremony teacher, with two kinds of wagashi. The plans are a machiya tatami room from NT$9,600 and a version including kimono rental from NT$11,800; the tea class is explained in Chinese and runs about 75 minutes, with check-in at 15:00 and check-out at 10:00 — an hour earlier than a typical inn, which the page specifically points out.
The other is for the summer holidays: "Tainan | Traditional snack-making class", where you learn to make crystal dumplings and vegetable zongzi from a market auntie, spending 40 minutes at the market first and eating what you make for lunch, NT$1,680. The member centre keeps your account, sign-in methods and Sunlight points together on one page.
Sunlight points: every trip adds up
Under the rules published on the site, you earn 1 Sunlight point for every NT$100 you spend, multiplied by a rate that depends on your member tier: 1x for Dawn, 1.2x for Bright, 1.5x for Blaze and 2x for Midsummer. Sunlight points are reward points; they can't be transferred and can't be redeemed against a payment yet. Peggy treats these two classes as the starting point for building them up.
Your member tier is based on what you spent on HAOTIVA over the past 12 months, not on your Sunlight points; each tier's conditions and rate are set out on the "Sunlight points and member tiers" page.
Pre-launch notes
HAOTIVA is currently adding partners one by one. Partners that are already listed can take bookings and payments online, while the craft class, tea-farm experience, machiya inn and prices in this article are items marked "Demo": they are for display only and can't be booked or paid for. Actual partners, time slots and prices are as shown on each venue's own page.
If you are also looking for a weekend to slow down with your family, you can take the quiz first and then browse the venues already listed on the "Partner venues" page. From choosing a time slot and explaining your needs through "Ask the host" to tracking every booking, it can all be done in one account.