Buying Tea in Hong Kong

During our trips to Hong Kong, we would drink tea instead of water or juice during our meals. Most of the time, teas were served for free in Hong Kong restaurants. As a child, I hated its taste. Despite that, I couldn't deny that a warm, aromatic cup of tea is very soothing to my body, especially during the cold weather in Hong Kong. Though I've never become a fan, I learned to appreciate tea. 

My sister is a die-hard fan of teas. She especially likes green tea and she prefers to drink it in its purest form - right from the tea leaves. Sadly, it's quite hard to find green tea leaves in Manila. We always find green tea in the form of tea bags or powder sold in the local market.


Since we would be visiting Hong Kong, we decided to buy teas there. I looked up the internet and found a well-known tea store called Mingcha. Luckily, there's a branch in Causeway Bay, the area where we were staying. On New Year's Eve, we went out looking for the store. Some roads were already blocked in preparation for the New Year's countdown. I think December 31 isn't a public holiday in Hong Kong, but I guess most stores had closed early to join the festivity. We gave up looking and went back to our hotel.

My sister was very happy when we came across a tea store in Hong Kong airport before our departure. The items were expensive, but she was desperate to bring home some teas. We bought two cans of green tea leaves and a "ball" of jasmine tea leaves.

a can of green tea leaves

jasmine tea

I was amused by the jasmine tea. As shown in the picture, the leaves are in ball form. You will smell the aroma as soon as you open the container. So how do you drink it? Get a tea pot, preferably a transparent one. Put a piece of that round object inside and pour some hot water. Sit back and relax as the fun begins. Watch how the ball "transforms" into a flower! It's like magic!

tea leaves in full bloom

top view of jasmine tea flower