Tea time in Hong Kong: A Sino-British tradition

HONG KONG (DPA) -- When Master Tony Ngan sips

from his bowl of tea, it is one of those quiet,

contemplative moments.There aren't many of those

in Hong Kong. The mega-city alongside the South

China Sea thrives on its hustle and bustle. Nothing

has changed in that respect since the People's

Republic of China took over more than two and a half

years ago.

There aren’t many of those in Hong Kong. The mega-city

alongside the South China Sea thrives on its hustle and

bustle. Nothing has changed in that respect since the

People’s Republic of China took over more than two and a

half years ago.

The city’s business seizes travelers as soon as they

arrive, and it doesn’t let them go again. It carries them

through the ravines between skyscrapers and the streets

filled with people, with honking cars and chattering

jackhammers as an eternal backdrop of noise.

Hong Kong and quiet go together like London and

sunbathing, or Hawaii and ski jumping.

Unless you’re drinking tea, that is. One of the few

traditions that the British and the Chinese share in the

former crown colony is that of drinking tea. Master Tony

Ngan likes to point out, however, that the Chinese

discovered the hot brew a few thousand years before the

English.

The 49-year-old runs a small tea shop in Queen’s Road in

the middle of downtown Hong Kong. Some of the city’s

finest and most expensive teas fill his shelves.

A kilogram of the hand-picked variety Iron God of Mercy

costs 800,000 Hong Kong dollars, around 200,000 marks.

Such an infusion must be imbibed slowly and with leisure.

“Drink, drink!” says Master Tony Ngan, not simply out of

business interest. “Tea is healthy, it cleanses the body

and gives strength,” he explains to his Western visitors.

The question of whether to drink tea would not occur to

a traditionally raised Chinese. Tea is one of the seven

elements of life, and is as indispensable in every decent

household as are sufficient fuel, salt and rice.

If you stroll through the city admiring the skyscrapers

and checking out the stores of the major fashion

designers (there’s not much basis left for Hong Kong’s

reputation as a bargain-hunter’s paradise), you’ll keep

coming across tea houses.

You can turn your visits to Hong Kong’s many tea rooms

into a miniature tour of different cultures.

At Luk Yu in Stanley Street in Central — and in the other

traditional Chinese tea houses — you can savor the

typical specialty of Dim Sum with your green, red or black

tea.

Dim Sum means something like “straight to the heart” or

“just what the heart desires.” They are little dumplings

filled with shrimp, pork or vegetables served in a steaming

bamboo basket.

Shark fins, sea snails, snake soups, birds’ nests (said to

increase potency!) and even “flying dogs” can be found

on the menu.

You can view the raw ingredients at the many street

markets, which is where you start to understand why it is

said that the people of Hong Kong consume everything

with four legs that’s not a chair and everything that flies

that’s not a plane.

For some pocket change, the aged doubledecker ship

Star Ferry brings you from Central all the way across the

sound to Tsim Sha Tsui on the peninsula of Kowloon.

The Peninsula Hotel is a ten-minute walk from the docks.

The hotel is a British institution. Opened in 1928, it was

the first hotel in Kowloon, located right next to the old

railway station, the final stop on the London-Berlin,

Moscow-Beijing-Canton-Hong Kong line.

After the Peninsula, you might want to do some shopping

along neon-plastered Nathan Road. But you’ll have to

look hard and be prepared to bargain if you want to get a

deal on silk blouses and cameras.

A visit to one of the markets would be a better idea, like

the night market in Temple Street, fortune tellers and

free performances by artists from the Beijing opera

included.

Bookworms can take their tea in a reconstructed

Victorian study at Island Shangri-La. From there, it’s only

a few more paces to Hong Kong Park. There you’ll find a

small tea museum housed in the colonial Flagstaff House.

Not far from there, the old Peak Tram climbs to the top

of the 552-meter peak of Hong Kong’s own mountain.

Many seasoned travelers say the peak offers one of the

world’s best views.