Kili Bay Boba Tea Museum

Located in Su’ao Township, Yilan County, the Kili Bay Boba Tea Museum offers interactive exhibits on the history and culture of Taiwan’s famous bubble tea, along with a DIY bubble tea experience.

Planning your visit

Bubble tea was invented in Taiwan in the 1980s — the exact claim is disputed between two teahouses in Taichung and Tainan — and has since become one of the island's most successful cultural exports, with shops in almost every major city worldwide.

The Kili Bay museum in Su'ao, Yilan County, covers that history: the tea-drinking tradition it grew from, the invention of adding tapioca pearls to iced milk tea, the shaking technique that produces the foam, and the industry that followed.

The DIY element is the substance of the visit. Visitors make their own drink — cooking the pearls, brewing, shaking and sealing the cup — which is more involved than the finished product suggests.

Yilan is a coastal county southeast of Taipei, reached through the long Hsuehshan tunnel, and it is a popular weekend destination for hot springs and night markets.

Bookable options include tours combining the museum with an animal farm and a night market. Current availability is shown below.