
- HOME >
- Origin of Tea
Chaozhou, the Birth Place of Asian Street Food
- [2013.07.14] Posted By Akira Hojo
I have been staying in Chaozhou city and surrounding town for a few days for purchasing Phoenix dan cong oolong tea.
The Introduction of Chaozhou
Chaozhou (潮州), or alternatively called Chiuchow by Cantonese, also known as Teochew, is a city located in eastern Guangdong Province of China. Chaozhou is part of Chaoshan region, which another two nearby cities are Jieyang (揭阳)at its southwest and Shantou (汕头)at its south. It borders the Fujian Province to the east and the South China Sea to the southeast.
The two main rivers that provide abundant water resource for Chaozhou is the Han River (韩江) and Huang Gang River (黄岗河).
The mountain in Chaozhou
The Chaozhou terrain is low-lying at North and high elevation at South. The mountainous areas accounted for 65% of the total area. The Phoenix Mountain peak in the northern bun is the highest peak in the eastern elevation, 1497m above sea level. Here is the hometown of Chinese Oolong teas, and the birthplace of the She ethnic minority (畲族).
Chaozhou is a sub-tropical marine monsoon climate, characterized by a mild climate, abundant sunshine and rainfall. The annual average temperature is about 21.4 degree C.
The street food cultures of Malaysia and Singapore are originated from Chaozhou
There are a large number of Chaozhou people in Singapore and Penang of Malaysia. Back in the history, many Chaozhou immigrants settled in these places. As they migrated, the food culture was carried over. I used to think that many Malaysian (Penang) hawker foods were originated from Fujian Province as there are many people speaking Hokkien dialect in Penang. Till I visited Chaozhou, I realized that most of the hawker food or street food is actually originated from Chaozhou. For example, the Kway Teow T’ng, Char Kway Teow, Zhu Chang Fen, clay pot rice, porridge and etc.
The Kway Teow T’ng is a very common street food in Chaozhou; you can easily run into the stall selling Kway Teow T’ng in less than a few munites of walking distance, and there are different stalls operating at different hours. Apparently, you can have Kway Teow T’ng 24 hours in a day.
The secret of Chaozhou food
One of the uniqueness of the Chaozhou’s food is not the variety of flavours, but the refined taste in cooking. Usually, the stock soup is boiled for long hours with chicken and/or cow bones in order to get thick taste with full body. As far as I have tasted, people in Chaozhou are seldom using MSG (Ajinomoto) for cooking. Thanks to the deep after taste and full body of soup, the taste is simply unforgettable.
The sprit of Chaozhou people are not only reflected in the cooking, but also the way how they work and not to mention in making tea. The Phoenix Dan Cong Oolong is being made with very complex and time consuming process. However they never want to modernize the process as they wish to maintain their standard.
Related Articles
How to get the latest update on HOJO?
1. Follow Twitter, 2. Click "Like" on Facebook, and 3. Subscribe in newsletter. You can have the latest tea news from HOJO.
Subscribe the Newsletter to enjoy the privileges
- You may receive a free sample upon purchase, or you may have the priority to purchase special products. So please remember to subscribe our newsletter as well as the social network.
- New Release of Da Xue Shan Wild White Tea 2021
- Da Xue Shan Wild White Tea 2021 is available now. This tea is always very popular in our shop. In Japan, we br …
- New Release of Gong Ting Jin Hao 2019
- We release Gong Ting Jin Hao 2019. In Chinese, Gong Ding means imperial and Jin Hao means golden downy hair. G …
NEW ARTICLES
New Release of Da Xue Shan Wild White Tea 2021
- Da Xue Shan Wild White Tea 2021 is available now. This tea is always very popular in our shop. In Japan, we br …
New Release of Gong Ting Jin Hao 2019
- We release Gong Ting Jin Hao 2019. In Chinese, Gong Ding means imperial and Jin Hao means golden downy hair. G …
We received new teapots made by Watanabe Tozo and Tachi Masaki
- We have received new stock from Watanabe Tozo and Tachi Masaki. We received the following models. 1. Akitsu Mu …
New Release of 2 Types of Darjeeling 1st Flush
- We have released two types of Darjeeling 1st Flush Tea. The reason why the Darjeeling 1st Flush is greenish In …
New Release of Watanabe Tozo’s Mumyoi Yaki Teapots
- We have released 4 different types of teapot made by Watanabe Tozo as follow. https://hojotea.com/item_e/avail …
Gushu Dian Hong, The Rare Yunnan Black Tea made from Ancient Tea Tree
- The characteristic of Gushu Dian Hong is its intense aftertaste, and this is far better than ordinary black te …
Single Tree Raw Pu-erh Tea Made From Pine Forest Ancient Tea
- We have released Pine Forest Single Tree Raw Pu-erh 2019. This tea was made from the fresh tea leaves collecte …
New Arrival of Kobiwako and Iga Natural Red Clay Hohin
- We have released Kobiwako and Iga Natural Clay Hohin made by Maekawa Junzo. https://hojotea.com/item_e/availab …
Gyokuro Yabukita, Single Cultivar Hon Gyokuro from Asahina
- We have released a special Gyokuro, which are made from purely 100% Yabukita varieties. This tea is produced i …
New Release of Wu Jia Zhai Raw Pu-erh Tea 2018 Loose
- We have released Wu Jia Zhai Raw Pu-erh Tea. It is a Loose Tea (Mao-cha). This tea was made in 2018 and has be …
Category
- New Arrival at HOJO Online Shop
- Featured Articles
- Newsletter
- Types of Tea
- Origin of Tea
- Teapot and Tea Equipment
- Tea Column
- How to enjoy tea
- Tea Processing
- How to choose quality tea
- Tea constituents and functional effect
- Safety of Tea
- Foods
- Tea Business Operation
- Hobby and Outdoor Activity
- Ranking of Tea
- Video
- FAQ
- Media Release
Profile

- AKIRA HOJO
- I invite you to experience my tea selections.I was born in Nagano, Japan. In university, I studied agricultural chemistry, and I have the master degree in food science. I worked in Japanese food industry for 10 years. I involved in R&D, QC and QA. As a factory manager, I implemented ISO9000 series and managed the factory.
- The Art of Tea Magazine
- We posted the article on “The Art of Tea Magazine No.9, the magazine is published in Taiwan. We featured …
- New Straits Times
- The Malaysian National Newspaper, New Straits Times featured HOJO Tea on 17-Oct-2007.
Shop Info

Address:Lot No. T-215, 3rd Floor, The Gardens Mall, Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +603-2287-4537
Business Hour: 10am to 10pm