Vignettes of the World
The free public tour at the Hong Kong Observatory is rumored to be very difficult for anyone to secure a spot. I was fortunate that I succeeded in signing up in my first attempt. On a rainy afternoon I headed to the Observatory with much …
I took interest in the Tsiu Keng village area in Sheung Shui because there is a palm woods there that is very photogenic. Upon some research I learned that there are a few interesting things to do and see there. Let me take you on …
Want milk tea? Cha Chaan Teng is the way to go. Cha (tea) chaan teng (restaurant), refers to a practice in the early times that these restaurants would charge you double if you sat there and only sipped the bland Chinese tea that the waiter served you. People certainly do not go to the cha chaan teng’s for tea drinking only, as there is always a “free” hot beverage for you if you order the meal sets.
The Cha Chaan Teng is a little bit difficult to dub an English name over. In European terms, the cha chaan teng is somewhat equivalent to the café’s of France in the way that they are prevalent in all corners of Hong Kong. The commonality of the food served in the cha chaan teng is like the fish n’ chips shops in Britain, as classic food that is humble but representative of the local dining culture. In American terms, the cha chaan teng is like the millions of fast food stores in America, each restaurant or brand serving a variety of, essentially, the same type of food, meant to be consumed in an easy, quick and casual manner.
There is no argument that the cha chaang teng’s are distinctly Hong Kong, as its food clearly expresses Hong Kong’s historical character as a predominantly Chinese society with heavy foreign (British and otherwise) influences. The omnipresence of cha chaan teng’s in Hong Kong is also the very testament of a working class culture. Most of them serve up comforting food in one plate, ultimately meant for just one person to order, eat, finish, have a milk tea, then move right along the day’s rhythm.
For Hong Kong locals, cha chaan teng’s are the go-to for quick meals. Whilst they usually have more to offer than fast food restaurants, the cha chaan teng’s are known for being very efficient in their service as well. The ambience is usually a little more comfortable in cha chaan teng than fast food restaurants. Their milk tea is also generally better. The menu items are the commonplace dishes, but there are usually more varieties than the fast food chains. The standard features on a cha chaan teng menu don’t go wrong — in any such restaurant that you randomly walk in — local pastries, fried rice, fried noodles, soup ramen, soup spaghetti, baked rice, and standard home-cook style rice plates.
The idea of the Cha Chaan Teng has been around for some 70, 80 years in Hong Kong. After World War II, there was a void between the two predominant dining cultures of Hong Kong, that of the food for the local Chinese and for the western foreigners. At the time, most Chinese people could not afford the high-end restaurants that served western cuisine. The cha chaan teng then rose as a localized vision of western food, offered cheaply, for the local Chinese. And it is in this sense that cha chaan teng’s are distinctly Hong Kong.
Take the milk tea for an example. The British rightly take credit for the idea of putting milk into tea. The cha chaan teng’s of Hong Kong adapted the milk tea to the preference of Chinese diners. The British milk tea comes with the lightness and subtleties of high quality tea leaves. The local Hong Kong version comes with a heavy infusion of a strong tea base with mixed tea leaves, double, triple, quadruple-brewed, and the evaporated milk and sugar serve to taper the bitterness of the tea and add a touch of smoothness without the creaminess of regular milk. This is a classic example of how western cuisine is adapted to meet the budget and preferences of the local populace. And surely, every cha chaan teng has its own secret recipe for its milk tea.
In a previous entry, I have discussed Hoi An Café, which is now permanently closed, as one of the longest-standing cha chaan teng’s in Hong Kong. There are some other very well-known cha chaan teng’s that have acquired the status of heritage dining. In their decades-long experience in the dining scene, these old-schooled cha chaan teng’s have made their names in different kinds of menu items. As common as cha chaan teng foods are, the Hong Kong diners can easily tell the difference between good, regular and bad cha chaan teng food. In the following, I will introduce two historic cha chaan teng’s, each having its own specialty. In an upcoming entry, I will discuss Lan Fong Yuen, namely the oldest cha chaan tang standing in Hong Kong.
Sun Wah Café has established its presence in Cheung Sha Wan since 1966. A restaurant of the Or family, Sun Wah Café had a somewhat unusual beginning. The Or family originally ran a grocer business selling rice and containers. Because a restaurant owner owed this family business money, he sold his restaurants as the way to satisfy the debt. Or Ming Gon, the son of the grocer, then took up these restaurants and began the family’s business in food and dining.
Sun Wah Café’s name meant “A New China.” Even in its very beginning, the wonderful pastries, milk tea and coffee drew a large crowd. Over the long years, Sun Wah Café had gone through significant revamp to meet the changing preferences of its diners. In terms of pastries, Sun Wah Café has slowly phased out some of the old-fashioned items. For now, its egg tart in puff pastry remains the most popular pastry on its shelves.
Besides its egg tarts, Sun Wah Café also makes a fried Singapore rice noodle dish that has earned the praise of famous food critics. Its breakfast menu is also very popular, particularly the satay beef soup ramen and its omelet. Finally, its fried dry beef noodle and fried beef in scrambled eggs over rice are also must-order items.
By now, the restaurant is run by the third-generation owner, Ms. Or Shuet Wan. She has transformed the restaurant in significant ways as well, including the introduction of the afternoon tea set menu. The family purchased the shop as its own property, and it is hoped that the good name of Sun Wah Café will be passed on for generations more.
The address of Sun Wah Café is G/F, 334 Castle Peak Road, Cheung Sha Wan, Kowloon.
A restaurant with a long history in Mong Kok, Kam Wah Café & Cake Shop has earned its name since its beginning in 1973. In Chinese, the restaurant’s name is “bing teng,” a variant of the “bing sutt,” which is somewhat a predecessor of the current-day cha chaan teng. The owner of Kam Wah Café thought “bing teng” sounded trendier than “bing sutt,” and so Kam Wah’s Chinese name is Kam Wah Bing Teng.
The difference between a “bing sutt” and a cha chaan teng is in the license. Bing sutt’s only have the license to serve “snacks” (Light Refreshments License), but the cha chaan teng’s have the permission to sell any kind of cooked dishes. As a result of this limitation, the bing sutt itself is slowly becoming obsolete in Hong Kong. Kam Wah certainly made a smooth transition into a cha chaan teng, and long lines very often form for its wide variety of menu offers.
It being in a very busy part of Kowloon, Kam Wah Café & Cake Shop is especially popular with tourists. This is a key difference from Sun Wah Café, which mostly serves loyal local customers.
In my opinion, its most sought-after pineapple bun really is the very best on the menu. The buns are made throughout the day and they are kept warm on the premise. The most typical way to enjoy it is to order the bun with a fat slab of butter. The crunchy, sugary topping of its pineapple buns are made of lard from the Netherlands, A-grade flour, imported eggs from Europe and evaporated milk. Kam Wah Café sells over a thousand of these buns every day. Its kitchen churns out a new batch every ten, fifteen minutes.
Besides the pineapple bun, the restaurant features a menu that covers literally all bases in terms of cha chaan teng dining. From soup udon to fried ramen, curry with rice or Hong Kong styled fried rice, its menu will hit both your savory and sweet spots. Remember to top off your meal with its signature milk tea.
The address of Kam Wah Café and Cake Shop is 46-47, Bute Street, Mong Kok, Kowloon.
Hong Kong Historical Shops on Sun Wah Café (Chin).
Various Chinese sources online on Kam Wah Café.
What is known as the Cantonese bamboo noodles (in Cantonese “Zuk Sing” noodles) is a food familiar to many. The yellow, stringy and bouncy noodle is the very spirit in the Cantonese wonton noodle soup. Many people in Hong Kong and Guangdong would consider a …
I like seeing old towns and villages. I have seen a few of the ancient old towns and communities in Shenzhen, including the Dapeng Fortress, Gankeng Ancient Hakka Townlet, Nantou Ancient City and Shui Wei 1368. I was interested in the areas in Shenzhen that …
The Lui Seng Chun building stands testament to a century-long entrepreneurship in Hong Kong and a prominent family history. Designed by foreign architect W. H. Bourne in 1929, the beautiful structure expressed the style of the Chinese eclectic with carefully crafted and designed western elements. At the time construction completed in 1931, it stood at a location that overlooked what was then the shipping and logistics hub of Kowloon, close to the pier. This location was also selected because it was right next to the warehouse that the Hong Kong Government allocated to Lui’s shipping business.
The original owner of Lui Seng Chun was Lui Leung (1863-1944), a businessman with hometown in Toishan, Guangdong. He came to Hong Kong in the 1920s. His main business was a shipping and logistics fleet and foreign trade. His trading company Man Sun Loong was known as a Kam Shan Chong (a trader with San Francisco).
Besides his shipping business, Lui Leung also ran a Chinese herbal bonesetter shop. Originally his intention was to provide care for his own workers that were injured on the job. It became a well-reputed Chinese medicine shop in Hong Kong, as the shop produced its own brand of bonesetting teet tah rub. This side business was what eventually defined the modern restoration and reinterpretation of this heritage building.
Lui Leung had three wives and the Lui family lived in Lui Seng Chun, each fong (one wife and her own children) would take up one floor. In the few decades between 1931 and the 1970s, Lui and his own family lived here. They moved out in the 1970s, and the building was let out for commercial shops. For some time too their relatives from China lived there. By the 1980s, the building was left completely vacant. The people in the neighborhood thought it was a haunted house – in such poor condition that rats bred in the building.
The limiting conditions of the house was the reason why all of the Lui’s left after just a few decades. First of all, in the original design there was no provision for an elevator. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, there was no plumbing in the building – therefore the complete lack of modern toilet facilities. Finally, the power facilities in the building did not support the large usage of electricity for air conditioning. As a whole, the building was no longer habitable.
Lui Leung passed away during WWII in 1944. During the Japanese Occupation years, Lui could no longer run his Chinese medicine shop. The Japanese took over this building and used it as a storage and supplies station. This explained the reason why there were flagpoles on the rooftop. Those flagpoles were built by the Japanese and flew the Japanese flag during those years. This historical fact also explains why in the title deed of the building there were Japanese segments. The title deed is on display at Lui Seng Chun.
As I listened to fascinating stories about Lui Seng Chun, I started to see that this building was in so many ways more than a witness to Hong Kong’s history. It was itself an agent, a key player, a bolt itself in the wheel of history.
Lui Seng Chun became a declared monument in 2022. The history of restoration itself also bore historical significance. The Lui’s transferred their full property right in the building to the government in 2003 for no consideration. The donation of a private property to the government was a first in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Government then proceeded to restore it. It intended to preserve the building to encourage development of Chinese medicine in Hong Kong—as it was also the wish of the Lui family in keeping the good name of Lui Seng Chun, the name of their Chinese medicine shop.
Through the Revitalisation of Historic Building Partnership Scheme, the Hong Kong Government sought tenders from a non-governmental entity to take over the restoration and maintenance of the building in 2008. There were a few proposals, and the Baptist University won the bid. Since then, the Baptist University took over from the very basic repair work done by the government, and began the restoration of the building. The restoration effort was also supported by funds donated by the Lui family itself. Since 2012, the building has served as the community Chinese healthcare clinic for the School of Chinese Medicine of the Baptist University.
In restoring this building, the Baptist University extended exceptional resources and expertise in preserving the original features and restoring the damaged parts of the building.
The Antiquities and Monuments Office has summed up the beauty of Lui Seng Chun’s architecture, “The building is of neo-classical style mixed with Art Deco elements by sweeping horizontal lines and robust classical elements.” A variety of materials were used in its construction, including concrete, bricks, wood and granite. Its most beautiful feature is the curved façade at the very front of the building, forming a rounded tip fully meeting the shape of that particular intersection of Lai Chi Kok Road.
Lui Seng Chun is considered a Tong Lau, which typically served as the residential homes upstairs with commercial space on the ground floor. There were a total of four stories in the Lui Seng Chun building, plus an annex building that served as the servants’ quarter.
The design of the original Lui Seng Chun building served the social needs of the time. The servants had their own door and staircase, and the Lui family members would use another door and set of staircase in the building.
Photo: This was the door for the servants to enter the Lui Seng Chun building.
Greeting visitors at the entrance are two well-preserved original plaques, showing the words Lui Seng Chun and King Fook Tong. The name “Lui Seng Chun” came from a couplet that lauded Lui Seng Chun’s good, effective Chinese medicine product that restored health and life for many people. The plaque of King Fook Tong was a reference to the ancestral hall that was once held for the Lui family here at Lui Seng Chun. During the early founding of New China, Lui Leung could not return to his hometown in China due to his status as a landowner. They held ancestral rites at Lui Seng Chun.
Another very common feature of the Tong Lau are the verandas. They enabled the airway that tapered the heat and the humidity in Hong Kong’s climate.
This feature of the Lui Seng Chun building was particularly intriguing. The chambers in the upper stories of the original building were as big as the shop space on the ground floor. That meant that open air corridors surrounded all the upper floors in the same manner that the veranda passage girdled the shop below. If you visit the building, the area that served as the living chambers were built with red bricks on the floor.
Photo: The area of the red brick demarcates the actual living space of the Lui Seng Chun building from 2nd to 4th floors.
The primary objective was still the provision of air passage during the summer months and the prevention of flooding in the rainy days. But there was also a less obvious reason for this design. The Lui children were the heirs of a very wealthy family. The enormous corridor space (almost 3,000 sq ft in total) in the upper floors allowed the children ample space to play, so much so that they could bike inside the building. Common children usually played in the parks, but they stayed in their own mansion and had all the space they needed for fun. Needless to say, that would keep them safe from kidnapping.
As it is restored, Lui Sang Chun’s verandas on the upper floor are now enclosed with glass panes, in order to preserve its original appearance but also maximizing the functional space within the building. The tour guide, who is a staff of Baptist University, told us that they chose bullet-proof grade glass panes (very expensive for each piece). It turned out to be the right decision, as all the enclosed areas on the upper floor were safe even during super typhoon Mangkut.
The exterior walls of the Chinese herbal shop feature Italian-made Terrazo, In restoring this part of the building, modern Terrazo had to be sourced. The only other building in Hong Kong that features the same high-grade Terrazo is the Central Market.
Photo: A comparison of the original and new wooden carving details on the wooden plaque.
The rooftop now serves as a herbs-growing garden. The very original chimney of the building was well-preserved and you can see it at the rooftop. The chimney was important because the people used charcoal for cooking in those times. Some of the Chinese herbs are also grown here in the rooftop, but certainly not at the scale that supports the Chinese medicine healthcare facility.
All original furniture in the building were wooden furniture, made of cunninghamia. The restoration of Lui Seng Chun also preserved that aspect of the original. As a result, there is no gas stove in the building now, even for the making of Chinese herbal teas and medicines.
Photo: The two “Lui Seng Chun” profiled stone plaques on the parapets of the roof were preserved during the restoration.
There are free guided tours offered to members of the public at the Lui Seng Chun building, run by the staff of Baptist University. The tour was very thorough and went through all aspects of culture, society, history and architecture. Sign up for a spot at the guided tour here.
Lui Seng Chun is located on 119 Lai Chi Kok Road.
The Antiquities and Monuments Office on Lui Seng Chun.
The free public guided tour of Lui Seng Chun.
Descriptions on site at the Lui Seng Chun Building.
The Wikipedia on Lui Seng Chun.
The driver suggested that we visited the Zili Village first, as that village was officially recognized, restored and developed as the preeminent location for Diaolou tourism. He told me quite a bit about himself. He is a native of Chikan. Mr. Guan is his name, …
Kaiping is a county in Guangdong Province in China that is known for its people’s long history of migration abroad. Waves of migrants made it in foreign countries and returned to Kaiping rich and glorious. These successful returnees built big houses in their villages as …
Afsona Restaurant is very popular in Tashkent and it is highly recommended on quite a few online platforms. We sat down for our final lunch in Uzbekistan and we were excited. But we made the wrong decision to order their fish as our entrée. Coming from Hong Kong, we are accustomed to fish done right and the fish at Afsona fell far below our expectations. We drooled over the things that other patrons ordered, but our soup and appetizers and everything else were all very good.
It came time to leave for our flight. We had to make through much of Tashkent in rush hour traffic, as it was time for everybody to get off work. The urban streets were busy with street vendors throughout, mostly selling the essential ingredients for an Uzbek dinner. The din on the street projected a sense of raw liveliness amidst an otherwise fully cosmopolitan city.
We began our journey in Uzbekistan in Tashkent, then tracked the footsteps of the ancient silk road, westward to Samarkand, Syyod, Kyzylkum Desert, Nurota, Bukhara, the Aral Sea, and finally ending at Khiva. In these 13 days we met amazing people, had endless Uzbek gourmet and learned a great deal about the history of this wonderful country.
As always, history was the first basis upon which we understand the human and natural forces that shaped the face of Uzbekistan today. From prehistoric settlement to pockets of ruled kingdoms, from the unifying act of Amir Timur the Great to the Islam conversion, from the Khanates to the Russian invasion and ultimately being part of the USSR, Uzbekistan has always played its role as a critical player in world affairs.
The long heritage that has left its print on every aspect of post-Soviet, modern-day Uzbekistan was shown, ubiquitously, throughout our trip. Its history is celebrated, bequeathed, unto its people, cuisines, antique monuments, and the innumerable bastions of faith and minority cultures. Be it at war or in peace, being colonized or freely independent, the country has shown the resilience of humanity in embracing calamities and glories alike. It was in this unfamiliar territory that I discovered a new context for appreciating the world.
So long, Uzbekistan!
From the Minor Mosque I took the metro to arrive at the State Museum of History in Tashkent. The museum itself offers some insight into Uzbekistan’s past. If I had a choice, I might have visited this museum in Tashkent before heading off to the …