Yum Cha

[ Cookies for Yam Cha in a restaurant in Hong Kong ]

Yum Cha Custom in Hong Kong

In the past, Hong Kong people would rinse all utensils with hot water or hot tea before they even ordered due to the relatively poor hygiene standards. The practice is no longer common in Hong Kong although it can still be observed in restauarants that are deemed "dirty".

It is customary to pour tea for others before filling one's own tea cup. It is most gracious to be the first to pour tea.

When tea drinkers tap the table with two (occasionally three) fingers of the same hand, an action known as finger kowtow, it is an expression of gratitude to the member of the party who filled their cups. According to a just-so story, this gesture recreates a tale of Imperial obeisance and can be traced to the Qianlong Emperor, a Qing Dynasty emperor who used to travel incognito. While visiting South China, he once went into a teahouse with his companions. In order to maintain his anonymity, he took his turn at pouring tea. His stunned companions wanted to kowtow for the great honour but to do so would have revealed the identity of the emperor. Finally, one of them tapped three fingers on the table (One finger representing their bowed head and the other two representing their prostrate arms) and the clever emperor understood what he meant. From then on, this has been the practice.