Guangdong breakfast tea, in southern China, is a food culture with great appeal. The Guangdong menu has remained very consistent and is virtually standardized. It has a great variety of ingredients, taste, cooking methods and can cater to customer preferences. Although it is called “breakfast” tea, it is more like the western “brunch” and can be enjoyed any time up to lunch. The food is prepared using sophisticated methods but, the dishes are surprisingly inexpensive. As a result, many business and young people have taken to the Guangdong breakfast.
The Guangdong people have a saying, “A cup of tea with two dim sums,” which, usually, applies to elderly folk who combine breakfast and tea. After the families of those retired folk have gone to work or school, the retirees will join others at a pre-determined teahouse. With a cup of tea and two small dim sum dishes, they enjoy a pretty good little party by following their ritual of chatting, eating and drinking. Those who eat alone will buy a paper, eat their meal and append their morning eating, drinking and reading. They then return home for a rest before preparing dinner for the family. After dark, they enjoy catching up with the daily gossip. In the course of a day, half their time is spent with friends at the teahouse, and the other spent with their family. Only a Guangdong breakfast could allow this sort of lifestyle.