HERBAL TEA SHOP(RT56)

In the decades following the opening of Hong Kong in 1842, although there were several Western hospitals, the Chinese generally resisted Western medical treatment and always trusted Chinese medicine, and therefore often relied on herbal tea to prevent and treat illnesses. Early herbal tea shops were mainly home-based, selling herbal tea alone, mostly in a "shop in front, workshop at the back" style, with bowls of herbal tea in front of the shop and a few tables inside the shop, where customers could sit down or stand in front of the shop to drink herbal tea. At the back of the shop, there is a kitchen where the herbal tea is boiled and poured into a large copper pot in front of the shop to keep it warm. In the 1950s and 60s of the last century, Hong Kong people's living conditions were not good, and jukeboxes and televisions were not yet popular, but most of the herbal tea shops were equipped with jukeboxes and televisions, so the herbal tea shop became a cheap entertainment place for the general public to spend their leisure time and socialise, and as long as they paid 10 or 20 cents, they could enjoy audio-visual entertainment while drinking herbal tea. Nowadays, in addition to herbal tea, new-style herbal tea shops also sell other health food products such as tortoise jelly, kudzu soup with raw fish, and even snacks such as tea-leaf eggs, dim sum and desserts, in an attempt to attract customers with a wide range of products.