On his retirement, Tsai Chi-chien, a co-founder of leading Taiwanese footwear manufacturer Pou Chen Group, established Pouyuenji with his son Tsai Ming-lun. This represented not just a substantial investment, but a grand vision rooted in a lifelong passion for tea
“I’ve never dared to accept the title of ‘Shoe King’, because Pou Chen is a business that my brothers and I built together, not just mine,” says the ever-humble Tsai Chi-chien, whose groundedness stems from a hard-working childhood. “When I was about 10 years old, I sold popsicles in Lukang. That was 71 years ago, and my family was really poor,” he says.
At the age of 15, to help support his family, Chi-chien dropped out of school to work in Taichung. At a time before lifts, he carried heavy boxes of goods up to the third-floor warehouse by hand. When his mother visited him in Taichung and saw what he was doing, she insisted that he return to school. And so, Chi-chien returned to Changhua and enrolled at a vocational school, working part-time while studying—an opportunity he cherishes.
These experiences shaped his indomitable character and honed what his brother described as a “sharp-eyed” ability to secure the best possible outcome, both of which would be foundational when Chi-chien and his brothers started their company, which would go on to become one of the largest manufacturers of branded athletic and casual footwear in the world.
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All the tea
Tsai Chi-chien and his son Tsai Ming-lun (Photo: Paul Chen)
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While growing the business Chi-chien developed a love for tea, something that he found was not merely a beverage, but a means for connecting people. “Because I love drinking tea, it has allowed me to make many good friends and help others. When you give, what you receive in return is always more,” he says. In Chi-chien’s world, every sip of warm tea embodies a bond of goodwill and human kindness. He began to collect tea, building a vast collection of aged and rare teas.
Meanwhile, Chi-chien’s son, Tsai Ming-lun, a Harvard graduate, had joined Pou Chen. He was stationed on the front lines overseas, from China and Vietnam to Indonesia and Mexico, constantly travelling between major cities to serve world-renowned brands such as Nike, Adidas, New Balance and Mizuno.
When the time came for his father to retire, part of the legacy Ming-lun inherited was a treasured collection of over 100,000 cakes of pu’er tea, as well as 11 hectares of land in Sanyi, Miaoli, an area known for tea production, particularly oolong tea, and property in Taichung and Xitou, all of which would go on to become part of POUYUENJI—though neither party knew it then.
For Ming-lun, at that juncture, tea was unfamiliar. Yet, it represented his father’s lifelong passion. After careful consideration, he resolutely took on the responsibility, becoming a driving force to build something sustainable out of his father’s collection. "There were thousands of tea cakes; if I didn’t do it today, I would still have to face it in the future," says Ming-lun, who, in 2020, left the familiarity of the manufacturing industry and plunged into a new field full of uncertainty.
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