A timeline of Hong Kong milk tea
How a British afternoon habit became the city's everyday drink, in dated steps. Every entry links to its source, and where a date rests on one shop's or one person's word, the entry says so.
Part one
Before 1950: a borrowed habit
Tea with milk arrives
The British bring Western-style tea, drunk with milk and sugar. Hong Kong Memory, the heritage archive, starts the drink's story here. Source: Hong Kong Memory
Dairy Farm, to make milk cheaper
Dairy Farm is founded with the aim of halving the price of fresh milk, which is scarce and expensive. Source: SCMP
A drink for the few
Western-style tea is served in high-class Western restaurants, a privilege of the elite. Source: Hong Kong Memory
Black & White evaporated milk
The Dutch brand, made for the Hong Kong market, turned 85 in 2026, which dates it to 1941, the year a history of Hong Kong industry also gives. Source: SCMP · Time Out · Industrial History of Hong Kong
The name cha chaan teng
The name 茶餐廳, "tea restaurant", is usually dated to 1946, though accounts differ on which shop used it first. Source: HK01
The bing sutt
冰室, "ice rooms", sell drinks, toast, sandwiches and red bean ice. Their light-refreshment licence rules out open-flame cooking. Source: HK01 · Localiiz
Part two
1950s to 1970s: the drink becomes Hong Kong's
Cheap tea, canned milk
After the war the population surges, and the government issues large numbers of licences for basic eateries, bing sutt and dai pai dong among them. To keep prices down they use cheaper tea and canned milk, and the heavy, sweet drink suits people doing manual work. Source: Hong Kong Memory
Lan Fong Yuen's claims
Lan Fong Yuen, a stall on Gage Street in Central, says its founder Lum Muk-ho created silk-stocking milk tea, strained through a cotton bag. It also says it created yuenyeung, in 1952. Source: SCMP · SCMP Style
Another yuenyeung story
Simon Wong Ka-wo, chairman of the Association of Coffee and Tea of Hong Kong, says yuenyeung first appeared around 1955 at Hoi On Café. Source: Our China Story
Bing sutt become cha chaan teng
As the economy grows, bing sutt give way to cha chaan teng, with full kitchens and long Western-Chinese menus. Source: Hong Kong Memory · Michelin Guide
Tsui Wah opens
Tsui Wah starts as a small bing sutt in Mong Kok. In 2012 it lists on the Hong Kong stock exchange, calling itself the first cha chaan teng group to do so. Source: Tsui Wah (1967) · Tsui Wah (2012)
No more new street-stall licences
The government stops issuing new hawker licences, which cover dai pai dong, the open-air cooked-food stalls. Source: HKSAR Government
Part three
2000s to today: from habit to heritage
An association, and 28 dai pai dong
Simon Wong founds the Association of Coffee and Tea of Hong Kong. The government counts 28 dai pai dong still licensed. Source: the Association · HKSAR Government
The first Kam Cha King
The Association holds its first 金茶王, "Kam Cha King", milk tea competition. An international edition follows in 2010. Source: the Association
How much caffeine?
A Consumer Council and Centre for Food Safety test of drinks from local eateries finds that Hong Kong-style milk tea averages 170 mg of caffeine a cup, anywhere from 73 to 220 mg. Source: Consumer Council
Onto the first heritage inventory
Hong Kong's first inventory of intangible cultural heritage, 480 items long, includes the milk tea making technique. Source: HKSAR Government
"Two and a half million cups a day"
The figure appears in an AFP report that year. It's an estimate rather than a measured statistic, and it has been repeated ever since. Source: AFP, via Arab News
Onto the Representative List
On 14 August, the milk tea making technique becomes one of 20 items on Hong Kong's first Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Source: HKSAR Government
Milk tea on stamps
On 25 July, Hongkong Post issues four stamps on the milk tea making technique. Source: HKSAR Government
The list grows
The Representative List is expanded to 24 items, and milk tea stays on it. Source: Intangible Cultural Heritage Office
The 17th competition
On 14 August, the Hong Kong final of the 17th Kam Cha King competition is held at the Hong Kong International Tea Fair. Source: China Daily Hong Kong
On menus a long way from home
Hong Kong-style cafés keep opening abroad, and milk tea is nearly always first on the menu. To make it where you live, see making it outside Hong Kong.