Bubble tea is a tea-based drink that originated in Taiwan in the early 1980s. Taiwanese immigrants brought it to the United States in the 1990s, initially in California through regions including Los Angeles County, but the drink has also spread to other countries where there is a large East Asian diaspora population.
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 northern Myanmar. Tea is also made, but rarely, from the leaves of Camellia taliensis. After plain water, tea is the most widely consumed drink in the world. There are many different types of tea; some have a cooling, slightly bitter, and astringent flavour, while others have profiles that include sweet, nutty, floral, or grassy notes. Tea has a stimulating effect in humans, primarily due to its caffeine content.
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 cuisines. In the tenth century, when the city of Canton (Guangzhou) began to experience an increase in commercial travel, many frequented teahouses for small-portion meals with tea called "yum cha" (brunch). "Yum cha" includes two related concepts. The first is "jat zung loeng gin", which translates literally as "one cup, two pieces". This refers to the custom of serving teahouse customers two delicately made food items, savory or sweet, to complement their tea. The second is dim sum, which translates literally to "touch the heart", the term used to designate the small food items that accompanied the tea.
Chinese tea culture includes all facets of tea found in Chinese culture throughout history. Physically, it consists of tea cultivation, brewing, serving, consumption, arts, and ceremonial aspects. Tea culture is an integral part of traditional Chinese material culture and spiritual culture. Tea culture emerged in the Tang dynasty, and flourished in the succeeding eras as a major cultural practice and as a major export good.
Yum cha is the Cantonese tradition of breakfast or 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 regions worldwide where there are overseas Cantonese communities. Yum cha generally involves small portions of steamed, pan-fried, or deep-fried dim sum dishes served in bamboo steamers, which are designed to be eaten communally and washed down with hot tea. People often go to yum cha in large groups for family gatherings and celebrations.
Flagstaff House, built in 1846, is the oldest example of Western-style architecture remaining in Hong Kong. It is located at 10 Cotton Tree Drive, Central – within the Hong Kong Park.
Mid-Levels is an affluent residential area on Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. It is located between Victoria Peak and Central. Residents are predominantly more affluent Hong Kong locals and expatriate professionals.
Cha chaan teng, often called a Hong Kong-style cafe or diner in English, is a type of restaurant that originated in Hong Kong. Cha chaan tengs are commonly found in Hong Kong, Macau, and parts of Guangdong. Due to the waves of mass migrations from Hong Kong in the 1980s, they are now established in major Chinese communities in Western countries such as Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Likened to a greasy spoon cafe or an American diner, cha chaan tengs are known for eclectic and affordable menus, which include dishes from Hong Kong cuisine and Hong Kong-style Western cuisine. They draw comparisons to Western cafés due to their casual settings, as well as menus revolving around coffee and tea.
Chinese teas can be classified into six distinctive categories: white, green, yellow, oolong, black and post-fermented. Others add categories for scented and compressed teas. All of these come from varieties of the Camellia sinensis plant. Most Chinese teas are cultivated and consumed in China. It is commonly available in Chinese restaurants and grocery shops worldwide. Green tea is the most common type of tea consumed in China.
Hong Kong cuisine is mainly influenced by Cantonese cuisine, European cuisines and non-Cantonese Chinese cuisines, as well as Japanese, Korean and Southeast Asian cuisines, due to Hong Kong's past as a British colony and a long history of being an international port of commerce. Complex combinations and international gourmet expertise have given Hong Kong the labels of "Gourmet Paradise" and "World's Fair of Food".
Hong Kong–style milk tea, also known as "silk-stocking" milk tea (絲襪奶茶), is a tea drink made from Ceylon black tea and evaporated milk. The drink originated in the mid-20th century during the British rule of Hong Kong, and was inspired by the British's afternoon tea.
Tea culture is how tea is made and consumed, how people interact with tea, and the aesthetics surrounding tea drinking.
Cantonese culture, or Lingnan culture, refers to the regional Chinese culture of the region of Lingnan: twin provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi, the names of which mean "eastern expanse" and "western expanse", respectively.
Yuenyeung is a drink created by mixing coffee with tea. It originated in Hong Kong, where it remains popular.
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.
A teahouse or tearoom is an establishment which primarily serves tea and other light refreshments. A tea room may be a room set aside in a hotel, especially for serving afternoon tea, or may be an establishment that only serves cream teas. Although the function of a tearoom may vary according to the circumstance or country, teahouses often serve as centers of social interaction, like coffeehouses.
Luk Yu is a tea house and dim sum restaurant located on Stanley Street, in the Central area of Hong Kong, established in 1933. It is currently the oldest restaurant in Hong Kong.
Malay sponge cake is a popular dessert cake in Guangdong and in Hong Kong. It usually can be seen at a traditional teahouse in Guangdong and Hong Kong. The cake is made of lard or butter, flour, and eggs, using a bamboo steamer to develop puffiness. An entire Malay sponge cake is a huge yellow round cake, but is generally sold as slices in teahouses. In Hong Kong, where it is very popular, the cake was listed as the "national cake" by the American news channel CNN.
Restaurants in Guangzhou serves a wide range of food items, with each pertaining to specific ingredients or dishes. Most commercial restaurants in the city were established in the late Qing period and boomed in the early Republican period. The city came under siege in 1938, during the Second Sino-Japanese War. In this period, many restaurants ceased operation or were destroyed from warfare. Following the 1945 Chinese victory, the restaurant industry in Guangzhou once again boomed, pertaining to the city's population and economy boom.
