In pictures: 50 years of Hong Kong’s yum cha teahouse tradition

Few rituals capture the soulful beat of Hong Kong life quite like yum cha. The city’s traditional teahouses and dim sum halls have served as vibrant communal living rooms for generations.

Inside these welcoming spaces, the steam from bamboo baskets and the easy hum of morning chatter offer a gentle escape from the fast pace of urban life. While early teahouses catered primarily to working-class men, the past four to five decades have seen these spaces modernise and menus expand. Today, yum cha is often a family affair, bringing the generations together around tables filled with food.