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Cha chaan teng culture and history

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 2025 Restaurant Directory
100 Top Tables 2025 Restaurant Directory
Avoca’s Egg Waffle cocktail. Photos: Handout

Drink in focus: Egg Waffle cocktail at Avoca

A cosy corner at The Aubrey in Hong Kong. Photo: Handout

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The ceremonial Opening of the Legal Year is an occasion filled with tradition. Photo: Sam Tsang
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Why we keep a decidedly Western colonial tradition and display it proudly in front of the world.

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Hong Kong-style cafe receives top recognition. Owner has been to the city once

Food and Drinks

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Art

Hong Kong’s classic cha chaan teng culture captured in nostalgic exhibition

The exhibition at the K11 Art Mall captures the scenes, objects and sentiments of Hong Kong’s traditional local diners.

The five artists all have different styles that come together in the exhibition, featuring their unique styles as separate artists with a common love for tea.
Hong Kong economy

Gold Garden Cafe to shut 1 of 2 branches in Hong Kong amid tough market

Owner Davis Ng says staff departures drove decision to close branch of cha chaan teng known for its egg tarts.

Video | This is where Hongkongers go for authentic local food

Once dining spots primarily for expats, cha chaan teng restaurants have become a staple for all Hongkongers and a defining characteristic of the city.

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Food and Drinks

How Hong Kong’s egg and beef sandwich became so beloved and where to eat it

A staple snack at cafes and restaurants in the city, the Hong Kong-style egg and beef sandwich is revered among locals and tourists alike.

Sun Hang Yuen’s beef and egg sandwiches use fresh meat rather than canned corned beef. Photo: Sun Hang Yuen
Food and Drinks

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?

Hong Kong economy

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

Harbin’s attraction for visitors lies in its distinctive weather and Russian legacy. In the same way, Hong Kong should draw on its colonial past and local colour.

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Hong Kong tourism

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

The city doesn’t need a host of new attractions. The place, its people and food are the attraction. But it needs revitalising and smart marketing.

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Diners eat at restaurants along the Temple Street night market in Hong Kong in 2015. Photo: UCG / Universal Images Group via Getty Images
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.

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.

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.

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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.

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.

Lee Hoi-wu took over her family’s decades-old restaurant business in Hong Kong in 2014. Photo: Kong Yat-pang
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.

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.

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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.

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

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‘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.

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.

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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’.

Mido Cafe on Hong Kong’s Temple Street suddenly announced its closure in an ambiguous note. Photo: Sam Tsang
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.

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

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