Hong Kong’s Herbal Tea

Herbal tea (leung cha) is an authentic, indigenous health drink that is familiar to most Hong Kongers.

There are two main reasons why it is considered “authentic” and “indigenous”. Firstly, the Dayu mountain range acts as a natural barrier against the cold air stream from northern China. This, coupled with the influence of the subtropical marine climate, causes residents of the Lingnan region – where Hong Kong is situated – to feel discomfort due to the constantly warm and humid weather. Secondly, the Cantonese people have been concocting drinks using herbs with cooling properties in order to expel one’s body heat and internal dampness. Such drinks have been used to relieve discomfort. Hence, we can deduce that herbal tea / leung cha is a health drink which is derived from and curated for the unique climate of Guangdong. As early as the Song Dynasty, there were records of people from Southern China using “cooling (leung) medicine.” By the Qing Dynasty, drinking herbal tea became an integral part of people’s lives. At present, the Guangdong and Hong Kong authorities are jointly applying for herbal tea to be officially recognised as one of China’s “National Intangible Cultural Heritage.”

However, the differences between Guangdong, Macau, and Hong Kong’s societies set Hong Kong’s leung cha on a different trajectory. Firstly, herbal tea / leung cha specifically refers to drinks created when water is added to one (or more) herbs or processed medicinal herbs and boiled. Herbal tea is easy to brew because one could easily mix and match the ingredients according to one’s own liking. Hence, it can easily be concocted by ordinary families. When Hong Kong island became an open port, many bachelors moved to Hong Kong in search of a better life. Their harsh living conditions, aggravated by then warm and humid climate, resulted in all sorts of ailments and discomfort. Herbal tea became a convenient and affordable antidote, which is why it also came to be known as “widower’s tea”. This demand resulted in the proliferation of peddlers who sell bowls of herbal tea on food carts, which gave rise to the herbal tea industry. With the commercialisation of herbal tea / leung cha, the industry created a new Chinese character for leung (凉), by modifying the radical of that character. This new character is a proper noun referring to herbal drinks with heat and dampness removing properties, and which cleanse the body from toxins. Nonetheless, very few people took notice of this, and continued using the old character “涼”.

For the convenience of blue-collared workers, herbal tea granules were invented. One just needed to add boiling water to the granules and a cup of herbal tea is ready to drink. Such granules gained popularity, and was also well received by the overseas Chinese workers in Southeast Asia, and this, in turn, spurred Hong Kong’s herbal tea trade. Thanks to the free trade port policy, Hong Kong became the distribution centre for medicinal herbs from around the world. Hence, many herbal tea retailers switched from harvesting herbs from the wild to placing bulk orders for medicinal herbs which are cheaper, and whose supply is more stable. Furthermore, some retailers use imported medicinal herbs for their herbal teas, resulting in the emergence of more varieties (such as the American Ginseng tea). Through trial and error, their understanding of the properties and efficacy of various raw materials was also deepened.

Besides, the perception of Hong Kong residents regarding the role and function of herbal tea in Hong Kong society has undergone a significant transformation. In the past, most residents viewed herbal tea as a cheap health product for the prevention and soothing of ailments that started to show up in one’s body. In the 1960s, in a bid to increase profits, herbal tea shops installed radios, gramophones, telephones, televisions, and air-conditioners. Such shops became an affordable place for residents to socialise and relax, causing herbal tea to become an icon of pop culture. Back then, many youths who were fashionably dressed used to frequent herbal tea shops, giving rise to a new, trendy cultural scene which was summed up with the adjectives “herbal tea, ponytails, quiff hairstyle”.

In the 1970s, along with the economic rise of Hong Kong and the corresponding improvement in healthcare facilities and benefits, residents started to consume herbal tea for detoxification and as a health supplement. As such, Hong Kong’s herbal tea is no longer a purely traditional drink. On the contrary, it is an authentic and indigenous drink that evolves with the times. Furthermore, the continued consumption and a deeper understanding of Hong Kong’s herbal tea present countless possibilities and opportunities for development.

Reference：

Book

1. 江潤祥、陳樹棠：《香港草藥與涼茶》（香港，商務印書館，2000年）。

2. 鄧家宙：《非物質文化遺產系列：涼茶》（香港，中華書局，2022年）。

Article

1. 芹澤知広：〈広東文化としての中國薬草茶〉，《奈良大學總合研究所所報》第二十三號（2015年）。