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Cha chaan teng culture and history

Discover the unique history and culture of Hong Kong’s cha chaan tengs, local diners where delicious food and drinks with international influences thrive.

highlights from

100 Top Tables 2024 Restaurant Directory

Auspicious dishes of Ming Pavilion at Island Shangri-La Hong Kong. Photo: Handout

Where to dine in style this Chinese New Year in Hong Kong

24 Jan 2025 - 12:45PM

Japan, Mexico or a baker’s mind? Hong Kong pineapple bun origin theories

Pineapple buns are named for the pattern of their golden-brown crust. Do we owe them to Japanese occupation or Chinese expelled from Mexico?

7 Mar 2025 - 9:43AM

Hong Kong economy

Opinion | John Lee is right. Harbin is an inspiration – in being uniquely itself

19 Feb 2025 - 10:17AMvideocam

Hong Kong tourism

Opinion | Hong Kong’s tourist attractions are all around us

13 Feb 2025 - 9:30AMvideocam

Hong Kong tourism

Hong Kong cha chaan teng delights Paris during Art Basel show

Pop-up part of Tourism Board’s three-year deal with Art Basel to showcase Hong Kong culture.

20 Oct 2024 - 5:08PM

A source says another cha chaan teng will also be featured at the coming Art Basel Miami Beach from December 6 to 8. Photo: Tourism Board

Food and Drinks

A little bit of Hong Kong in Canada: the origin story of Ho Yuen Cafe

The journey of Ho Yuen, a cha chaan teng, or tea cafe, that began life in a Kowloon district, has gone from Hong Kong to Canada to Hong Kong – and back to Canada again. Its second-generation owner explains.

15 Feb 2024 - 7:51PM

Hong Kong economy

Opinion | How to boost Hong Kong tourism: vouchers now, and a vision for the long term

The industry needs reforms and a radical overhaul but, for now, vouchers to reward tourists for spending locally – say, HK$100 for every HK$1,000 spent – would be a quick boost. Beyond that, Hong Kong must prioritise quality, distinctiveness and originality while leveraging its culture, diversity and heritage.

27 Jan 2024 - 9:30AMvideocam

Food and Drinks

Sydney cafe an ode to old Hong Kong with milk tea, fish balls and Cantopop

Since 2016, Sydney’s Hong Kong Bing Sutt has been serving dishes such as claypot rice and fish ball noodles. To migrants from the city it offers a reminder of home, to others a slice of its culture.

26 Nov 2023 - 1:15PM

A fully loaded bowl of fish ball noodles is one of many classic Hong Kong dishes on the menu a Hong Kong Bing Sutt in Burwood, Sydney which offers milk tea, pineapple buns, and fish ball noodles to Sydneysiders and homesick Hongkongers living in Australia. Photo: Hong Kong Bing Sutt

Hong Kong society

Not just about secret recipes: Hong Kong restaurant wins fans with a personal touch

Ngan Lung Cafe in Lei Yue Mun Fishing Village boasts signature local fare, and owner knows most by name, tailoring dishes to suit customers.

13 Oct 2023 - 5:39PM

Food and Drinks

‘Not just food, it’s feeling’: Sydney’s Hong Kong cafes offer taste of home

Hong Kong-style tea cafes in Australia, with their neon, shop signs, even a replica minibus and tram, and above all their food and drinks, offer comfort to homesick migrants – and something different for the locals.

27 Aug 2023 - 11:15AM

Hong Kong

Opinion | To boost nightlife tourism, why not promote Hong Kong’s dai pai dong?

In a city that never sleeps, instead of looking to organise new nightlife attractions, it makes more sense to highlight the ones that already exist as recognisable parts of local culture.

18 Aug 2023 - 8:15AMvideocam

Dai pai dong cooks in Sham Shui Po on May 1. Increasingly, tourists prefer grit to glitter, turning away from modern, large-scale, planned events to seek out small, colourful, organic pockets of local history and culture. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Food and Drinks

It’s a love letter to Hong Kong: diner food and tea served in a London cafe

With its Hong Kong diner menu, including silky milk tea, and details such as orange wheat pattern takeaway cups, Hoko Cafe, in East London, is a place for exiles and others to connect with the Chinese city’s culture.

22 Jul 2023 - 4:15PM

Hoko Cafe’s signatures include char siu and egg over rice and French toast. Photo: Hoko

Food and Drinks

The mystery of the takeaway paper cup that became a Hong Kong icon

If you order takeaway milk tea in Hong Kong, you will probably get it in the ubiquitous ‘wheat pattern’ paper cup. The design has inspired artists and homesick Hongkongers, but where did it originate?

21 Jun 2023 - 11:37AM

Food and Drinks

‘Essential to the culture’: why Hong Kong’s cha chaan teng are worth saving

The cha chaan teng, or Hong Kong-style cafe, is a definitive food experience in the city. In the wake of the pandemic, we look at the cafes that didn’t make it, and others that are determined to keep on serving.

21 Jun 2023 - 11:36AM

Food and Drinks

‘I’ve been going there for 50 years’: where a hotelier eats in Hong Kong

Maria Lee, the founder of The Rosedale Hotel Group, shares her favourite Hong Kong restaurants – including a cha chaan teng she has frequented for 50 years and a place that serves her favourite congee.

21 Jun 2023 - 11:36AM

Chiu Chow dishes at Shung Hing Chiu Chow Restaurant in Hong Kong. Photo: Instagram/@scrumptious.foodie

Hong Kong economy

End of an era? 5 Hong Kong food and beverage icons that have bowed out

From Happy Cake Shop to Jumbo Floating Restaurant, a number of classic food outlets have buckled under pressure amid the pandemic.

21 Jun 2023 - 11:37AM

The Jumbo Floating Restaurant. Photo: Sam Tsang

Food and Drinks

Dismay at sudden closure of one of Hong Kong’s oldest traditional cafes

Mido Cafe, a 72-year-old cha chaan teng in Yau Ma Tei, announced the news in an ambiguous note posted outside its premises. Many shared their grief on social media at the loss of a ‘Hong Kong icon’.

21 Jun 2023 - 11:36AM

Food and Drinks

The origins of Hong Kong’s cha chaan teng and where to find a good one

Born as a way to provide affordable Western food, cha chaan teng in Hong Kong have become a vital part of the city’s culture.

21 Jun 2023 - 11:36AM

Hong Kong culture

Steeped in history: how Hong Kong-style milk tea became a staple

Super strong, drawn through a silk stocking four times, served with a splash of evaporated milk, the traditional drink with colonial roots has been energising Hongkongers of all types since the second world war

21 Jun 2023 - 11:37AMvideocam

Hong Kong-style milk tea is served with evaporated milk. Photo: Dickson Lee

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Cha chaan teng culture and history

Where to dine in style this Chinese New Year in Hong Kong

Japan, Mexico or a baker’s mind? Hong Kong pineapple bun origin theories

Pineapple buns are named for the pattern of their golden-brown crust. Do we owe them to Japanese occupation or Chinese expelled from Mexico?

Opinion | John Lee is right. Harbin is an inspiration – in being uniquely itself

Opinion | Hong Kong’s tourist attractions are all around us

Hong Kong cha chaan teng delights Paris during Art Basel show

Pop-up part of Tourism Board’s three-year deal with Art Basel to showcase Hong Kong culture.

A little bit of Hong Kong in Canada: the origin story of Ho Yuen Cafe

The journey of Ho Yuen, a cha chaan teng, or tea cafe, that began life in a Kowloon district, has gone from Hong Kong to Canada to Hong Kong – and back to Canada again. Its second-generation owner explains.

Opinion | How to boost Hong Kong tourism: vouchers now, and a vision for the long term

Sydney cafe an ode to old Hong Kong with milk tea, fish balls and Cantopop

Since 2016, Sydney’s Hong Kong Bing Sutt has been serving dishes such as claypot rice and fish ball noodles. To migrants from the city it offers a reminder of home, to others a slice of its culture.

Not just about secret recipes: Hong Kong restaurant wins fans with a personal touch

Ngan Lung Cafe in Lei Yue Mun Fishing Village boasts signature local fare, and owner knows most by name, tailoring dishes to suit customers.

‘Not just food, it’s feeling’: Sydney’s Hong Kong cafes offer taste of home

Hong Kong-style tea cafes in Australia, with their neon, shop signs, even a replica minibus and tram, and above all their food and drinks, offer comfort to homesick migrants – and something different for the locals.

Opinion | To boost nightlife tourism, why not promote Hong Kong’s dai pai dong?

In a city that never sleeps, instead of looking to organise new nightlife attractions, it makes more sense to highlight the ones that already exist as recognisable parts of local culture.

It’s a love letter to Hong Kong: diner food and tea served in a London cafe

With its Hong Kong diner menu, including silky milk tea, and details such as orange wheat pattern takeaway cups, Hoko Cafe, in East London, is a place for exiles and others to connect with the Chinese city’s culture.

The mystery of the takeaway paper cup that became a Hong Kong icon

If you order takeaway milk tea in Hong Kong, you will probably get it in the ubiquitous ‘wheat pattern’ paper cup. The design has inspired artists and homesick Hongkongers, but where did it originate?

‘Essential to the culture’: why Hong Kong’s cha chaan teng are worth saving

The cha chaan teng, or Hong Kong-style cafe, is a definitive food experience in the city. In the wake of the pandemic, we look at the cafes that didn’t make it, and others that are determined to keep on serving.

‘I’ve been going there for 50 years’: where a hotelier eats in Hong Kong

Maria Lee, the founder of The Rosedale Hotel Group, shares her favourite Hong Kong restaurants – including a cha chaan teng she has frequented for 50 years and a place that serves her favourite congee.

End of an era? 5 Hong Kong food and beverage icons that have bowed out

From Happy Cake Shop to Jumbo Floating Restaurant, a number of classic food outlets have buckled under pressure amid the pandemic.

Dismay at sudden closure of one of Hong Kong’s oldest traditional cafes

Mido Cafe, a 72-year-old cha chaan teng in Yau Ma Tei, announced the news in an ambiguous note posted outside its premises. Many shared their grief on social media at the loss of a ‘Hong Kong icon’.

The origins of Hong Kong’s cha chaan teng and where to find a good one

Born as a way to provide affordable Western food, cha chaan teng in Hong Kong have become a vital part of the city’s culture.

Steeped in history: how Hong Kong-style milk tea became a staple

Super strong, drawn through a silk stocking four times, served with a splash of evaporated milk, the traditional drink with colonial roots has been energising Hongkongers of all types since the second world war

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