Yum Cha Customs

Hong Kong Cuisine is a mixture of Eastern and Western cuisine. For example, bread with butter and a mixture of tea and coffee would make a fabulous breakfast of Hong Kong People. The mixture of eastern milk tea and western coffee is the best example of all.

In Hong Kong, people often go Yum Cha in weekends. Yum Cha is to order Dim Sum like Baozi, dumplings and rice rolls from pushing carts that will go around the restaurant while you are eating. You just need to wave to the cart then you can order from the person pushing the cart by stamping on the bill card. The prices are usually categorized into small dish ($9-11), medium dish ($12-14), large dish ($16-18) and special dish ($22-25).
We would use different utensils in taking the Dim Sum, such as a tea bowl, chopsticks and toothpicks. Apparently, a tea bowl is to hold tea, and chopsticks are the main utensils we use to take in the food. Toothpicks are used after the meal to clean the dirt between the teeth. People who show politeness usually cover their mouth when using it.

There are a couple of rituals that we would do in Yum Cha. When someone pours tea into your tea bowl, you need to use three fingers of the same hand to tap the table. It is to show an expression of gratitude to the one who refills it. When a teapot is empty or unfilled, you need to lift up the lid and put it towards the top of the handle, then it would be taken away and would be refilled. Why is it so? There was once a story about a poor student that keeps his bird in a teapot. When he went to the restaurant, the waiter just opened the teapot to refill that the bird flew away. The student then made a big fuss and the restaurant staff decided to ask all who wants a refill to open the teapot lids. That’s how this ritual is formed.