Half past seven
The tea house is already full. Mostly of people over seventy.
Yum Cha and the Roast Meat Masters of Guangzhou
Yum cha is not brunch. It starts before seven, it is a social obligation as much as a meal, and the tea is the fixed point the food happens around.
- Duration
- One day, roughly 07:30 to 19:00
- Party
- Private, or a small group by arrangement
- From
- Enquire for pricing
- Best months
- October to April
The window
Lacquered duck and pork hanging in the heat, and a chef with a cleaver.
The pour
The height is not showmanship. It aerates and it cools.
The tea house at half past seven is full of people who have been coming to the same table for forty years. That is the thing worth arriving early for — not the food, which is available all morning, but the room while it still belongs to its regulars.
The etiquette is dense and worth learning: how you signal for hot water, how you thank a pour without speaking, who pours first and why the pot lid ends up propped open.
The afternoon is the trade side. Roast meat in this city is a specialist profession with its own equipment and its own arguments, and standing beside the window while someone works a cleaver through a duck teaches more in twenty minutes than a recipe would in a week.
The day
- Take yum cha at the hour locals actually take it
- Learn the table etiquette — the finger tap, the lid, the order of things
- Spend the afternoon with a roast meat chef at the window
- Understand what makes char siu glaze and Cantonese roast duck skin work
- Finish with a proper gongfu tea sitting
Included
- Private host and interpreter for the full day
- Yum cha, roast meat tasting and the tea sitting
- Private vehicle and driver
- Not included: Accommodation
- Not included: Flights and intercity transport
- Not included: Personal spending
Questions
Why do people tap the table with two fingers?
It thanks whoever poured your tea without interrupting the conversation. There is a story about an emperor travelling incognito attached to it, which may or may not be true and is always told.
How early do we really start?
Half past seven, and it is worth it. By nine the tea house is a different and duller place.
Is there a lot of meat?
The afternoon is built around it. Tell us at enquiry if that does not work and we will swap in the dim sum kitchen instead.
Can this be combined with the dim sum workshop?
Yes — one day eating, one day cooking. Two days in Guangzhou is a proper visit rather than a stopover.
Will there be other guests?
Only if you want them. The day is normally private to your party; we also run it as a small group when travellers ask to share, and we will tell you which applies to your dates.