Herbal tea shops

Herbal tea shops (Chinese: 涼茶舖) specialise in selling Chinese herbal tea. They are mostly found in southern Chinese cities.

Back in the 1930s, herbal tea shops were not popular. There were only a limited number of street vendors that sold herbal tea on the street.

In the 1940s, the popularity of herbal tea grew as the public realised the efficacy of herbal tea brought was higher. From then onwards, shops that only sold herbal tea opened in residential areas with a small floor area and gained in popularity in the whole of Hong Kong. Their primary source of customers was residents who lived nearby, and the owners or staff usually had an intimate relationship with their customers.

Until the late 1960s, herbal tea shops acted as a semi-public space where the public could go for entertainment. As there were jukeboxes in the shops, it was common for the public to spend their leisure time in the shop socializing with friends or simply enjoying the music and the atmosphere. Apart from this development, some of the shops opened near cinemas so they could attract cinema-goers with their snacks such as fish balls.

In the late 1960s, philosophical ideas like modernism and scientism were promoted in Hong Kong. This occurrence prompted the construction of a new metropolitan Hong Kong identity. Since the herbal tea shops were deemed as a symbol of traditional Chineseness, they were abandoned for the sake of establishing a city of modernity and internationality.

During the 1970s, the herbal tea shops gradually lost their role in social integration. As a result of the alleviated housing problems, the public’s need for public space like herbal tea shops was reduced. Consequently, the number of herbal tea shops began to decrease significantly from the late 1960s to the 1970s.

A wave of nostalgic swept Hong Kong from the 1980s to 1990s due to the public’s anticipation of the handover. During this period of time, many herbal tea shops opened to satisfy the demand. The shops acted as a bridge connecting Hong Kong people to their Hong Kong identity and helped them to cope with their identity crisis.

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Wikipedia