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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
Shenzhen, as seen from MO Bar at the Mandarin Oriental Shenzhen. Photo: Handout

Inside Shenzhen’s evolving culinary scene

Don Pedro is a new 35-seat candlelit steakhouse and wine bar in Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong. Photo: Handout

Your Hong Kong weekend food guide for May 29-31

Bar Tincture opened on the 23rd floor of Foco in Hong Kong. Photo: Handout

Your Hong Kong weekend drinks guide for May 29-31

Culinary creativity at Fumée in Shenzhen. Photo: Handout

3 young chefs helping to define Shenzhen’s new fine dining wave

The claypot rice dish at Hong Kong’s Isseki Niaji melds Cantonese banqueting traditions with tastes of Osaka. Photo: Handout

Meet the Hong Kong chefs doing Japanese food with a Cantonese twist

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Tai On Coffee and Tea Shop, in Hong Kong's Yau Ma Tei district, has harnessed the power of social media to attract young diners. Photo: Alexander Mak
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Hong Kong-style cha chaan teng cafes thrive globally as Gen-Z embraces nostalgic dining

Cha chaan teng were built on reinvention and resourcefulness. Now, as a new generation claims them for the digital age, PostMag finds everyone hungry for more.

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Why Hong Kong’s N+ Museum is calling out city’s ‘cringe’ nostalgia trend

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More than milk tea and curry: Hong Kong-style cafes celebrated in exhibition

‘The Cha Chaan Teng Codex – Tales of Invisible Designs’ dives into the visual languages, heritage and new interpretations of Hong Kong cafes.

Kay Chan (left) and Charles Lai, curators of “The Cha Chaan Teng Codex — Tales of Invisible Designs”, are pictured at the exhibition at Gate33 Gallery, in the Airside shopping centre, in Kai Tak, Hong Kong. Photo: Elson Li
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The origins of Hong Kong-style borscht, and where to find the real thing

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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

Tarek Hassan fell in love with Hong Kong culture as a teen. Now his Gongfu Cafe & Bao in Ottawa, Canada, serves authentic tastes of the city.

Tarek Hassan is a 46-year-old Egyptian-Canadian who opened Gong Fu Cafe & Bao in Ottawa as an ode to Hong Kong’s traditional cha chaan teng cafe culture. Photo: Tarek Hassan
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The 20-year-old butcher-turned-baker behind Hong Kong’s viral pineapple buns

Meet Adele, the perfectionist whose ‘villain-origin’ quiche and late-night partying are fuelling her rise to local fame.

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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.

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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.

Gold Garden Cafe is located in Cheung Sha Wan. Photo: Jelly Tse

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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“Dim Sum Squad” members Har Gow, Siu Mai and Char Siu Ba are part of The Peak’s new “It’s Different Up Here” campaign that celebrates all things Hong Kong. It runs until February 28. Photo: Handout
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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
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Pop-up part of Tourism Board’s three-year deal with Art Basel to showcase Hong Kong culture.

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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.

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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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Sydney cafe an ode to old Hong Kong with milk tea, fish balls and Cantopop

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Dai pai dong cooks in Sham Shui Po on May 1. Increasingly, tourists prefer grit to glitter, turning away from modern, large-scale, planned events to seek out small, colourful, organic pockets of local history and culture. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung
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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.

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Chiu Chow dishes at Shung Hing Chiu Chow Restaurant in Hong Kong. Photo: Instagram/@scrumptious.foodie
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End of an era? 5 Hong Kong food and beverage icons that have bowed out

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The Jumbo Floating Restaurant. Photo: Sam Tsang
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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’.

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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.

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