The
tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...
-drinking habits of
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
residents derive from
Chinese tea culture
Chinese tea culture (simplified Chinese: 中国茶文化; traditional Chinese: 中國茶文化) (''zhōngguó chá wénhuà'', 'Chinese tea culture') includes all facets of tea, both physical and spiritual, that significantly influenced Chinese cu ...
, primarily the Cantonese traditions such as
yum cha
''Yum cha'' is the Cantonese tradition of brunch involving Chinese tea and '' dim sum.'' The practice is popular in Cantonese-speaking regions, including Guangdong province, Guangxi province, Hong Kong, and Macau. It is also carried out in other ...
. After more than 150 years of
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
rule, however, they have changed somewhat to become unique in the world. This uniqueness is not only in terms of the tea itself, but also in terms of the underlying social and cultural values.
The history of teahouses in Hong Kong
The first teahouse in Hong Kong was established at the end of the 19th century. At that time people bought tea leaves from tea houses so that they could serve tea to visiting guests. Tea would be brewed at the beginning of the day and would be served as guests arrived during the day. At night, the remaining tea would be poured away. They did this whether or not visitors actually arrived. This gave rise to the idiom "''Tea is for pouring away.''"
In contemporary society, Hong Kong people buy tea at teahouses not only for serving their guests, but also for themselves.
The packaging of tea leaves in Hong Kong
Tea-house staff used to store tea leaves in a large, foil container, then weigh them and pack them with papers and a plastic bag. This type of packaging would negatively affect the quality of the tea leaves as they would oxidise quickly, thereby losing their aroma. The packaging of tea leaves has greatly improved since then. Now tea leaves are vacuum-packed in high density plastic packs with fancy packaging. Not only is the quality raised, but the market value of the tea is also increased.
However, this only applies to non-fermented or semi-fermented teas (such as green or oolong teas). For fermented tea, like black tea, it is not recommended that plastic wares be used as the tea should be allowed to continue to oxidise and mature.
The "tea pocket" trend
Fast and convenient without losing the original taste, the
tea pocket is changing the domestic habit of tea drinking in Hong Kong.
"Tea pockets", also known as tea bags, have in recent years been used in Chinese tea. Initially they could be found in the supermarket, but were not popular as they were not well-publicised and not very attractively packaged. As earlier with tea leaves, there has been an increase of well-packaged tea bags with any number of varieties of tea leave contained within. Most modern packages can be resealed so as to keep the tea dry. One of the brands has even made an inspiring design of the tea pocket that it gives the tea pocket a
tetrahedral
In geometry, a tetrahedron (plural: tetrahedra or tetrahedrons), also known as a triangular pyramid, is a polyhedron composed of four triangular faces, six straight edges, and four vertex corners. The tetrahedron is the simplest of all the o ...
(pyramid-like) shape which allows more volume for larger sized tea leaves to expand and impart their flavor.
Special habit of tea drinking in Hong Kong – "morning tea and newspaper"
Hong Kong is a place with plenty of night life. In contrast, streets are almost empty from seven to eight in the morning. Most shops open at or after nine o'clock in the morning, where
Cantonese restaurant
A Cantonese restaurant is a type of Chinese restaurant that originated in Southern China. This style of restaurant has rapidly become common in Hong Kong.
History
Some of the earliest restaurants in Colonial Hong Kong were influenced by Canton ...
s open at about six or even earlier (restaurants in the Western District open at about 4:00a.m.). The working class of Hong Kong usually have breakfast in these Cantonese restaurants in the early morning. They enjoy 一盅兩件 (Lit. ''
One bowl with two pieces'', meaning a cup of tea with two
Dim sum
Dim sum () is a large range of small Chinese dishes that are traditionally enjoyed in restaurants for brunch. Most modern dim sum dishes are commonly associated with Cantonese cuisine, although dim sum dishes also exist in other Chinese cuis ...
s) and they read
newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...
s in the morning before they go to work. Many elderly people bring their caged birds to the restaurants and chat with others. They can spend a whole morning by doing this.
Special Hong Kong style tea – milk tea
The unique taste of
Hong Kong milk tea is a blend of strong Ceylon black tea with other teas mixed with milk.
Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware
The
Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware
Flagstaff House, built in 1846, is the oldest example of Western-style architecture remaining in Hong Kong.Antiquities and Monuments OfficeDeclared Monuments in Hong Kong: Flagstaff House It is located at 10 Cotton Tree Drive, Central – w ...
is a branch
museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
of
Hong Kong Museum of Art
The Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA) is the first and main art museum of Hong Kong, located in Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. It is managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of the Hong Kong Government. HKMoA has an art collection ...
, located
centrally in
Hong Kong Park
The Hong Kong Park is a public park next to Cotton Tree Drive in Central, Hong Kong. Built at a cost of HK$398 million and opened on 23 May 1991, it covers an area of and is an example of modern design and facilities blending with na ...
. It is a place for collecting, studying and displaying tea ware and holding regular presentation or demonstration lectures to promote Chinese tea drinking culture. Many famous
Yixing
Yixing () is a county-level city administrated under the prefecture-level city of Wuxi in southern Jiangsu province, China, and is part of the Yangtze River Delta. The city is known for its traditional Yixing clay ware tea pots. It is a pene-excla ...
teapot
A teapot is a vessel used for steeping tea leaves or a herbal mix in boiling or near-boiling water, and for serving the resulting infusion which is called tea. It is one of the core components of teaware. Dry tea is available either in tea ba ...
s are exhibited in the museum.
See also
*
Taiwanese tea culture
Taiwanese tea culture includes tea arts, traditional tea ceremonies, and the social aspects of tea consumption in Taiwan. It can be traced back to its roots in Chinese tea culture. Many of the classical arts can be seen in the tea culture, such as ...
External links
Hong Kong Tea Company
{{Teas
Chinese tea culture
Culture of Hong Kong