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The first tea house in Hong Kong was established at the end of the 19th century. At that time people bought tea leaves from tea houses so that they could serve tea to visiting guests. Tea would be brewed at the beginning of the day and would be served as guests arrived during the day. At night, the remaining tea would be poured away. They did this whether or not visitors actually arrived. This gave rise to the idiom "Tea is for pouring away."
In contemporary society, Hong Kong people buy tea at tea houses not only for serving their guests, but also for themselves.
In the old times, when buying tea leaves at tea houses, the staff would take the tea leaves out of a large, foil container, weigh it and then pack it with papers and a plastic bag. This kind of packaging wasn't attractive and it would negatively affect the quality of the tea leaves as it would oxidise quickly, thereby losing its aroma.
The packaging of tea leaves has greatly improved since then. Now tea leaves are vacuum-packed in high density plastic packs with fancy packaging. Not only is the quality raised, but the market value of the tea is also increased.
Fast and convenient without losing the original taste, the tea pocket is changing the domestic habit of tea drinking in Hong Kong.
"Tea pockets", also known as tea bags, have in recent years been used in Chinese tea. Initially they could be found in the supermarket, but were not popular as they were not well-publicised and not very attractively packaged. As earlier with tea leaves, there has been an increase of well-packaged tea bags with any number of varieties of tea leave contained within. Most modern packages can be resealed so as to keep the tea dry. One of the brands has even made an inspiring design of the tea pocket that it gives the tea pocket a tetrahedronal (pyramid-like) shape which allows more volume for larger sized tea leaves to expand and impart their flavor.
Hong Kong is a place with plenty of night life. In contrast, streets are almost empty from seven to eight in the morning. Most shops open at or after nine o'clock in the morning, however Chinese restaurants open at about six or even earlier (restaurants in the Western District open at about 4:00am). The working class of Hong Kong usually have breakfast in these Chinese restaurants in the early morning. They enjoy "one bowl, two buns" (meaning a cup of tea with two Dim Sums) and they read newspapers in the morning before they go to work. Many elderly people bring their caged birds to the restaurants and chat with others.
"Milk Tea" found widely in Hong Kong and is different from both Chinese and British Tea. It is made of strong black tea (mixed with other types of tea), evaporated milk, and sugar. One of the key characteristics of "Milk Tea" is that it uses a silk-cotton bag to filter the tea leaves. The shape and the color of the filtering bag looks exactly the same as a silk sock, so it is also known as "Silk Sock Milk Tea". The "silk sock" is reputed to make the tea smoother.
Hong Kong Style hot "Milk Tea" is always served in a wide china cup or glass. The wide glass makes you open your mouth wider and as a result a breath of air comes with the tea. This makes the Milk Tea taste even stronger. In old days you could find "traditional" (but in actuality only a 20-year history) "Hong Kong Milk Tea" everywhere, but it is now mostly only found in old areas like Kowloon City.
In the past, people often enjoyed tea in old restaurants with a long history, also known as "neighbouring restaurants". This kind of restaurant was built with simple or even cheap decoration. However, it was the place for the neighbors to meet every morning. Especially for the elderly, their main entertainment was going to chat with their neighbors in the "old place". In there, they read newspapers, told others about their family and their youth. As time passed, apart from offering tea, the restaurants also contained the affection of the customers. From now, we can still find this kind of restaurants in some old estates in Hong Kong. But if you want to go there, you have to wake up earlier, since most restaurants in old estates close before the noon.
However, the market for this type of restaurant has shrunk and even disappeared. This is because the elderly population has decreased in number, and younger patrons prefer well-decorated restaurants. They think the old restaurants are not clean enough and too noisy. They prefer to go to the big and new restaurants in the large plazas, even with the associated higher price and longer trip.