jprothn

I would like to try out some teas (chrysanthemum and healing teas are interesting) while on my upcoming trip to Hong Kong. Are there any English-speaking friendly places anyone knows about where I could go with my husband and daughter. I don't mean high tea at a hotel, just want to bring home a nice tea set and some chinese loose leaf teas as souvenirs

Thanks

Cicerone

I would especially recommend Lock Cha, but Fook Ming is quite good too. To my recollection, both also sell tea pots, which make nice gifts.

Lock Cha Tea House
Ground Floor
Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware
10 Cotton Tree Drive
Central (inside Hong Kong Park)
Tel: 2869 0690
http://www.lockcha.com/

Lock Cha Tea Shop
Upper Ground Floor
290B, Queen's Road Central
Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
Tel: 2805-1360

The tea house is a wonderful vegetarian dim sum restaurant in Hong Kong Park right by the Peak Tram terminus in Central. They also sell tea. (The museum itself is in a very lovely colonial-era building is free, is kind of interesting and can be “done’ in an hour, and the gift shops sells very nice teapots.) The tea shop is in Sheung Wan and has a very large selection of tea and offers tea classes.

Fook Ming Tea Shop
Shop 3006, ifc Mall, Central
http://www.fookmingtong.com/
Fook Ming Tea Shop
Basement, Sogo Department Store
555 Hennessy Road
Causeway Bay

They have other locations in town as well, check the website.

Kathie

Cicerone has given some excellent recommendations. You'll find lovely tea shops all over in Hong Kong. I always buy some of my favorite jasmine pearl tea, but I also like to buy presents of "presentation teas" - tied into flower shapes that unfurl in the pot. The presentation teas make wonderful gifts. Most tea shops will also have tea pots - particularly the wonderful Yixing pots.

Chinese Arts and Crafts (a department store with multiple locations) is another place to find Yixing tea pots. I bought quite a batch last time I was there.

By the way, we really enjoyed the Tea Museum in Hong Kong Park.

sf7307

Kathie, what's a "Yixing" tea pot?

sf7307

I googled it. Some of them are so beautiful. I don't "brew" tea (much too lazy), but it looks like a fantastic souvenir anyway.

Kathie

They are finely crafted small tea pots made of a special Yixing clay, named after the region in which it is found. Google the term and you'll see photos of beautiful examples. One can never have too many Yixing tea pots.

mohan

I agree they are excellent gifts. They come is sets too.
It's important to know how to use Yixing teapot eg you can never wash it with soap, putting it a dishwasher is a no no. You also need to soak it for days before you use it. Supposedly one teapot per one kind of taste, eg green tea always go into that teapot and not roasted green tea. What size teapot for what kind of tea etc etc.........

jprothn

Wow - thank you so much. This is exactly what I wanted. Can't wait to go to the tea museum now. I looked at both places Cicerone mentioned, and I may have to visit both. The tea set shown at Fook Ming site is very nice! Hope my husband won't mind, although I did promise to go to the racetrack with him lol.

Thanks again