[Explanation] In a teahouse in Guangzhou, we often see a family of young and old sitting together drinking morning tea.
Besides a pot of tea, there are many snacks on the table.
Just like Sichuanese cannot live without hot pot, morning tea is an indispensable part of the life of the old people.
In the teahouse, the voices of the tea guests come and go, and the relationship between people is gradually getting closer.
[Explanation] As the birthplace of Cantonese dim sum, many century-old restaurants in Guangzhou bear the taste bud memories of generations.
The reporter came to the Beiyuan Restaurant, which was founded in 1928. The tea customers were already waiting at the door for the opening of the market. Some were with friends, and some accompanied their parents to drink tea. After a while, the restaurant was full.
In Guangdong, "please drink tea" has become a common way of socializing.
[Concurrent] Ms. Liang, a citizen of Guangzhou
I’ve been drinking tea here for almost 20 years. We just gather once a week. We chat, drink tea, eat and eat, just to get together.
[Concurrent] Mr. Long, a citizen of Guangzhou
Because my son (going to school) seldom comes back and rarely sees each other, so usually my son takes a rest, I will take him out to eat what he wants to eat, or go where to play or eat, anyway, my son likes me and I take him there .
He said he missed the shrimp dumplings here.
[Concurrent] Mr. Long, a citizen of Guangzhou
Stay with dad, dad accompanies him to drink tea if he likes to drink tea.
I heard from childhood that I went to Guangzhou for morning tea like this.
[Explanation] Cantonese people drink morning tea, not just drinking tea, it has evolved into mainly eating tea.
If there is no snack, morning tea will almost lose its soul.
The dim sum in the tea house is exquisite and new. The famous Cantonese dim sum includes shrimp dumplings, steamed siu mai, egg tarts, and barbecued pork buns.
Different from the dumplings in the north, the Cantonese-style shrimp dumplings are filled with fresh shrimp and pork. The skin is transparent, and the tender color of the fresh shrimp can be seen vaguely, which makes people appetite.
[Concurrent] Lei Liang, General Manager of Beiyuan Restaurant
Chicken feet, spare ribs, shrimp dumplings, and of course we also have newly developed black sesame cakes, all of which are more popular.
[Explanation] Recently, the topic "What time does the morning tea in Guangdong refer to" has caused heated discussions on the Internet.
It is understood that Cantonese drinking tea is divided into morning tea, noon tea, afternoon tea and night tea according to time.
At present, the majority of the tea customers of morning tea are elderly, and the young people mainly drink morning tea for lunch.
[Concurrent] Aunt Liang, a citizen of Guangzhou
There is no set time for drinking tea. Cantonese people drink tea more casually. Older people drink more tea at 6 or 7 o'clock in the morning. The younger ones drink tea at 11 or 12 o'clock.
[Concurrent] Lei Liang, General Manager of Beiyuan Restaurant
Since the 1980s, there have been four tea markets in Guangzhou: morning tea, noon tea, afternoon tea and night tea.
People from other provinces who come to Guangdong like morning tea, because they come to Guangdong to travel, eat our Cantonese dim sum in the morning, and then travel to other places at noon, doing things like this.
[Explanation] John Johnson, president of the Guangdong Food Culture Research Association, told reporters that according to most records, during the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty, Guangdong began to have a tea-drinking culture.
[Concurrent] Johnson, President of Guangdong Food Culture Research Association
In the Xianfeng era, in Guangdong, including Foshan, Guangzhou, etc., these places began to have "Li Guan", which basically used to drink tea and eat a relatively ordinary dim sum.
[Explanation] According to SC Johnson, when drinking tea, I used to pay attention to "one cup and two pieces" (one cup of tea, two pieces of snacks). Now this rule has been broken.
Tea drinking has different forms of service in different eras.
[Concurrent] Johnson, President of Guangdong Food Culture Research Association
(Now) Many of our dim sum service methods are cooked to order, some cooked to order are made by hand, and some are steamed to order.
In the previous hawker, it might have been steamed with 10 cages of shrimp dumplings, shrimp dumplings, and barbecued pork buns.
Then you (see) the shrimp dumplings (take).
That is one of the best sales methods in the diet, because there is a display, and it has a somewhat ritual sense.
There are different service forms in different eras.
[Explanation] What kind of motivation makes Cantonese people insist on going to teahouses to drink tea?
In SC Johnson's view, one of this intangible motivation is the maintenance of personal connections.
He believes that when young people get older, they will drink morning tea like mom and dad and grandparents.
Drinking morning tea will be passed on forever.
[Concurrent] Johnson, President of Guangdong Food Culture Research Association
This friendship is not one day or two days, it is calculated based on the year, ten years and eight years.
Among friends, (drinking tea) I see people every day, I will feel better (in my heart).
The communication between tea customers, the communication between friends, and the communication between family members, so it is more obvious that it is Saturday and Sunday. It may be that the son invites parents to drink tea.
This is a cycle, because his parents took him to drink tea when he was young, so in the depths of his memory, he would take his parents or grandparents to drink morning tea during the holiday. There are emotional elements in it.
(Reported by reporter He Junjie and Sun Qiuxia in Guangzhou)
Editor in charge: 【Luo Pan】