Restaurants more than a decade old are considered antiquated and passe. When they have been around for more than a century, they are considered a legend. More than a legend - they are the progenitor of the generic Chinese-Western restaurants, with their 200-item menus.
Included will be black pepper steak, roast veal, minute steak, borscht, stewed garoupa, mixed vegetable salads and mixed grill, along with a variety of puddings and sundaes, sandwiches, macaroni and 1940s-style cocktails.
Decor-wise, the walls are ersatz wood (actually plastic), the cashier sits behind a glass cage, and the waiters seem to be all over the age of 50. Festive decorations may well have been retained from the previous year. The clatter of forks, spoons, knives and chopsticks make all the sounds one needs.
Where did these places get their start? You can lay the genesis - or the blame - on Chui Lo-kok, whose family still owns Tai Ping Koon.
Guangzhou in the 19th century was one of the treaty ports, and Chui worked as a chef in one of the British trading companies during the middle of the century.
An ambitious man, he left in 1885 to start his own restaurant in Guangzhou's famed Tai Ping Road.