Ying Kee Tea House

Ying Kee Tea House was founded in 1881 by Chen Chao Ying in Guangzhou, more than a century before Hong Kong became its home. The business relocated to Hong Kong in 1950, in the wave of southward migration around the founding of the People's Republic, and has operated there continuously since — now run by the fourth generation of Chen's family, with nine shops spread across Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories.

Over 140 years of continuous trading has come with formal recognition alongside the reputation: Ying Kee holds Hong Kong's Top Brand Mark, ISO9001 certification, and a place in the government's Quality Tourism Services Scheme, plus a Hong Kong Quality Food Award in 2013. The house's range runs across pu-erh, oolong, jasmine, green, and white teas, selected by in-house tea masters, alongside its own teaware.

Few Hong Kong tea houses can point to a founding that predates the city's own status as a British colony's commercial hub by decades — Ying Kee's history began in Guangzhou and only became a Hong Kong story once the family moved the business south in 1950, a relocation now itself 75 years in the past.