~ Chinese Herbal Tea ~ 涼茶 ~


*Chinese Herbal Tea Shop*
Chinese herb tea is quite popular in Hong Kong. In addition to the traditional shops, many new shops owned by large companies have been set up in recent years. Although both types of shops sell herb teas, they have different way of business.



The traditional herb tea shops is originated from home-made herb tea. In the past, many families make their tea at home. Some specialists among them started their own shops for selling different kinds of herb tea only. Most traditional herb tea shops in Hong Kong have been set up and run for at least fifty years. Majority of them continue their practice of not adding any additives and flavours in order to retain its original taste.

Some large companies see the business brought about by the herb tea and they start to open chained stores, selling herb teas with different snacks and desserts such as tea eggs, fish balls and egg balls. The chained business provide diverse services to customers. People can either choose to have the tea in the shop or simply get a takeaway. Some companies even invest in the bottled herb teas which are available in supermarkets. All these conveniences are competing with the traditional herb tea shops and some traditional ones are forced to broaden their scope of business by selling snacks, juices and soft drinks in addition to herb teas.



As time passes, the number of traditional herb tea shops, which sell herb tea only, has dropped significantly. Fortunately, some shop owners still insist to retain the original culture of Chinese herb tea. We will have much information about this in the 'Interview' section.