Formosa Formosa, the "beautiful land" is what the Portuguese once named this 36,000 square metre island approximately 200 kilometres off the coast of the southern Chinese city of Xiamen (Amoy). Taiwan was annexed by China in 1683. The Japanese occupied the island from 1895 to 1945. In 1949 the Nationalist Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-Shek) arrived on the island with around two million refugees and became its political leader with the aid of the US (see China). After the US recognized the People’s Republic of China in 1971, Taiwan lost its seat at the UN and became isolated by the international community. The island is well known for its wet, warm, and subtropical climate. The country is very mountainous, which provides ideal conditions for growing tea. Tea has been cultivated since 1810 and has become the island’s major export, with Japan its main customer. The first tea plants arrived in Taiwan in 1650 with peasants from the southern Chinese province of Fujian. The first plantations were established not far from the modern capital, Taipei. Today tea is cultivated especially in central Taiwan (Nantou province). In its high valleys and small family owned plantations some wonderful Kao-Shan (highland) oolongs flourish, such as Dong-Ding, Ali Shan Cha, Jin Shan Cha, Tikuanyin, etc.