Farmers' association of Lugu, Nantou, which has run the Dong Ding oolong competition since 1976, now twice a year with thousands of entries.
The agricultural knowledge portal supports 1976 for the first event and 1986 for the judging class. Neither date establishes when the association itself was founded. The exact day and venue of the first event have not been verified from the township book cited by Wikipedia.
Competition tea from the Farmers' Association, from the Dong Ding Tea Production Cooperative and from community contests are different products with different seals and grades. A vendor's 'Dong Ding competition tea' should name which contest and grade.
Taiwan’s agricultural knowledge portal dates the association’s first Dong Ding fine-tea exhibition to 1976 and its tea-judging training class to 1986. The latter trained young growers to undertake preliminary judging. The portal reported more than 6,000 entries annually in 2020; the spring 2018 contest had 6,707 entries. A January 2026 report on the winter contest records 4,598 entries, with 48.76% unplaced. Placed teas are packaged under the association’s seals and graded for sale. Reported 2018 prices ranged from about NT$2,100 per catty for the two-plum-blossom grade to NT$200,000–300,000 for the top prize; these are historical competition prices. The Dong Ding Tea Production Cooperative holds a separate competition. A product described as competition tea should identify its organising body, season and grade.
