And the story behind this is one that many locals, including myself, will have heard many times before.Īccording to legend, Emperor Qianlong of the Qing dynasty once visited a town in China dressed as a civilian, accompanied by several staff as security. My grandmother, who has spent many years working at a local teahouse, will knock on the table as a way of signalling thanks to the person who poured her drink. To begin every meal, the task falls on me, the younger generation, to order and serve the Pu-erh tea my family likes, then make sure everybody’s cups are filled throughout the meal. While my family and I enjoy a few rounds of dim sum and catch up on stories from the past week, Chinese tea makes for the perfect drink to sip on and help cut through the oiliness of the food. That is also why, whenever I did occasionally forget the rule, my grandmother would tell me not to ‘飛象過河’, the neat four words that describe an elephant flying across the river and a reminder to stay within my reach. Instead you should wait until the dish is placed in front of you or ask someone to pass it. It is considered rude and undesirable behaviour at the table. Just like the elephants in Chinese chess, I was taught from a young age that at the yum cha table you are not supposed to ‘cross the river’ and go beyond your reach for dishes that are placed further away or in front of someone sitting opposite you. As a rule, the pieces labelled elephant or xiang play a defensive role and are not allowed to cross the river into the opponent’s side. In Chinese chess, or Xiangqi, the two opposing sides are divided by a river, and the goal of the game is to move across the board and capture your opponent’s king piece. One of my favourite examples relates to flying elephants. But they are etiquettes that have been passed down from one generation to another through anecdotes that trace all the way back to ancient China. To the uninitiated, these rules may seem random. She also reminds us to never bang our chopsticks on the bowl for fun because that was what beggars used to do for attention and is thus believed to bring poverty to the family. A few rules that she frequently mentions include finishing the last grain of rice in the bowl so a future spouse’s skin will resemble the smoothness of the clean bowl and to never stick chopsticks straight down into a bowl of rice because it resembles incense for the dead and will bring bad luck. My grandmother, the eldest in our weekly yum cha gathering, has always been quick to straighten out everyone’s table manners. As it’s centred on sharing, there are certain things to bear in mind when you’re being served or serving others. Yum cha is a group activity that involves everyone around the table. Though it is a Cantonese cuisine originating from China’s Guangdong province, Hong Kong remains one of the best places in the world for authentic yum cha food and atmosphere. Dating back to ancient China, teahouses have long been a place of rest and conversations for the common people.Īfter World War Two, new immigrants from China brought yum cha culture with them, often becoming a regular routine between family and friends, and still now it remains an important part of Hong Kong society. Literally meaning ‘drink tea’ in Cantonese, yum cha is as common a meal in Hong Kong as coffee and toast in Western culture, where Chinese tea is enjoyed with dim sum at traditional tea houses. Here, stories old and new are recounted over a table full of bamboo baskets that hold a variety of dim sum – small bites that encompass everything from delicately translucent prawn dumplings and silky rice rolls to molten lava custard buns and sweet roasted pork buns. As a born and bred Hong-Konger, going to yum cha with my family every Sunday is an important tradition that has lasted many generations.
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