It’s just January, but there’s good news already!
There are possibly hundreds of dishes. My favourites is the Pineapple Bun. (This one’s probably larger than my face…)
Guangzhou, my hometown, is the origin of Canton Morning Tea (or dimsum, see leadtochina’s Canton Morning Tea for a crisp and very accurate introduction). But lately as the popularization of pre-made food, some restaurants start to microwave frozen food and put them in steaming plates as if they’re fresh made. It’s cheaper, and not everyone can tell the difference. People who love morning tea are scared that the market might get screwed up — so here comes regulation:
为守住广州早茶的原滋原味——市十六届人大常委会第四十七次会议表决通过《广州早茶传承保护规定》
In order to protect the authenticity of Canton Morning Tea, the city people’s committee passed the
The Regulations on the Inheritance and Protection of Guangzhou Morning Tea:
Hard Regulation on Transparency: Restaurants are required to clearly show their preparation method to diners in prominent locations such as menus, price tags, or ordering systems, ensuring consumers’ right to know and right to choose. To prevent the dilution of traditional techniques that emphasize freshness, the Regulations stipulate that morning tea items prepared using traditional methods must be served within 24 hours of completion, from production to consumption.
Evaluation and certification system for “Traditional Guangzhou Morning Tea Restaurants”: Market regulation authorities, together with departments responsible for commerce, culture, and tourism, will organize third-party institutions to carry out voluntary evaluations and certifications of “Traditional Guangzhou Morning Tea Restaurants.” The certification process will be open, fair, and impartial, and no fees will be charged to participating restaurants.
Tea seat charge regulation: All chargeable items must be clearly and explicitly priced, with consistent pricing information shown on menus, price tags, and digital ordering platforms. If a tea-seat charge is imposed, restaurants must provide at least one basic tea option—such as black tea, green tea, oolong tea, pu’er tea, or chrysanthemum tea—for diners to choose from, effectively eliminating hidden charges.
[Note: 茶位 (tea charge) is a custom in Canton restaurant that charge per person a small fee (often around 2 - 20RMB). It receives complains that it’s somewhat intransparent and growingly expensive]
And a few other terms to establish academy for studying dimsum making, promote morning tea culture, etc.
So when are we having getting uniform minimum wage for tipped workers?