Taiwan’s Taitung County Rejects Viral Video Listing ‘Ten Tourist-Trap Local Specialties’

Taitung County officials have sharply rejected a viral video titled “Taitung’s Ten Tourist-Trap Local Specialties,” saying it has damaged the reputation of local industries while offering no evidence to support its accusations.

The video targeted products including rice, custard apples, dried bonito, deer antler, millet liquor and tea. Taitung’s Department of Finance and Economic Development said it had never received the complaints or reports referenced by the video. It also said the footage showed several streets that were not actually in Taitung, calling the production misleading and false.

Among the claims, the video alleged that millet liquor was blended from edible alcohol, sugar water and flavoring, causing headaches after consumption. It also accused tea shops of passing off cheap imported tea leaves as high-mountain tea from Luye and selling honey-scented black tea at excessive prices.

The county said traditional millet liquor holds important cultural and ceremonial significance for Indigenous communities. Tribal residents traditionally brew it for rituals or personal use, and the practice is respected within reasonable quantities. Commercial products labeled as millet liquor, officials said, remain subject to alcohol regulations, regular inspections and sampling.

Officials also said the video confused Taitung’s signature tea, red oolong, with high-mountain tea and honey-scented black tea. Red oolong is mainly produced on low- and medium-elevation plateaus and hills in Luye and Beinan townships. Its heavy withering and fermentation process, as well as its ripe-fruit aroma, distinguish it from the teas named in the video. The county urged people to rely on verified government information and objective evidence before creating or sharing claims about food safety, Indigenous culture and local industries.