Straws

People have been drinking through straw-like devices for about 5,000 years, when the Sumerians used them to drink beer.

The modern straw was created by Marvin Stone in 1888 by winding and gluing strips of paper around a pencil. He perfected the design using paraffin-coated paper so that the straw would not disintegrate. The bendy straw followed in the 1930s when Joseph Friedman took a paper straw and created indents with dental floss so it could bend. It was patented in 1937.

Tang bao

Like xiao long bao, tang bao are dumplings filled with soup and steamed in bamboo steamers. Tang bao are much bigger, though, and the soup is often sipped through a straw.

Try: Ye Shanghai, 6/F, Marco Polo Hongkong Hotel, 3 Canton Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui, Tel: 2376 3322

Try: Crystal Jade (branches all over the city)