A guide to Hong Kong’s bitter herbal teas and how Gen Z is reviving the health tradition

In the first instalment of a four-part Health Matters series on traditional Chinese medicine, Lisa Cam and Ashlyn Chak explore how a new generation of health-conscious youth is discovering century-old leung cha and helping neighbourhood tea shop owners safeguard a dying trade.

Long before modern chain pharmacies and over-the-counter painkillers were readily available in Hong Kong, there were leung cha: intensely bitter herbal “cooling teas” brewed in massive brass cauldrons in traditional open-front shops.

To the uninitiated, these dark, earthy, grassy decoctions served in ceramic bowls are an acquired taste at best. For generations of local workers, though, these century-old remedies have been consumed to ease sore throats, flush out seasonal “dampness” and reset bodies run down by urban stress.

The stores function as everyday street clinics. Not unlike espresso bars in Italy, customers approach the counter, buy their tea, have it while standing – and leave. Unlike coffee, however, leung cha is drunk purely for functional wellness rather than taste or aroma.