Definition
早茶 refers to two distinct concepts. The most common one is the Cantonese yum cha (饮茶) tradition — a morning meal at a teahouse or dim sum restaurant where you drink tea and eat small dishes like dumplings, buns, and rice rolls. It's a social ritual as much as a meal, often lasting hours. The other meaning is 'spring tea' — the first harvest of tea leaves in early spring, prized for its delicate flavor. In most everyday contexts, 早茶 means the Cantonese breakfast tradition.
n.
Cantonese-style morning tea with dim sum (a social meal tradition)spring-picked tea (first harvest of the year)
Examples
- 早茶，。Zhōumò wǒmen yì jiā rén qù hē zǎo chá, diǎn le xiājiǎo hé shāomài.Our family went for dim sum on the weekend and ordered shrimp dumplings and siu mai.
- 早茶。Guǎngdōng rén xǐhuan zài zǎoshang jiǔ diǎn zuǒyòu qù chálóu hē zǎo chá.Cantonese people like to go to the teahouse for morning tea around nine in the morning.
- 早茶，。Zhè zhǒng zǎo chá shì qīngmíng qián cǎizhāi de, wèidào tèbié qīngxiāng.This spring tea was picked before Qingming and has an especially fragrant taste.
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