Guangzhou Panxi Restaurant
When travelers coming to Guangzhou, there's one thing they cannot afford to not learn about, that is, apparently the Canton Morning Tea Culture.
Canton Morning Tea, or so-called Zao Cha in Mandarin, has been having a long history with culture in Guangzhou and it represents typical activity for Canton residents' daily life. When people in Guangzhou running into each other or going to meet up with friends, they usually ask "care for a tea?", in which it implies having a drink in most of the culture around the world, but the term "drink" refers to tea in Guangzhou, whereas having drinks in most western countries refer to alcohols.
With that, many people in Guangzhou, especially for those who have retired, begin their day with having morning tea alone or with friends as they believe having morning tea is an enjoyable and pleasurable activity which is able to spend leisure time and relax their life, and usually the morning tea is not solely having "tea", but also accompany with Dim Sum.
People in Guangzhou who go for a morning tea could spend a whole morning by having tea, eating Dim Sum, reading a newspaper, or talking with friends and family, and the question of where to have the morning tea is actually quite important.
During the time I was working in Guangxi China, I had the chance to go to Guangzhou twice, and each time I went there, there a place I couldn't miss, which is Panxi Restaurant, a place that is absolutely gorgeous for having Guangzhou styled morning tea.
Panxi Restaurant, or Pan Xi Jiu Jia in Chinese, is located in the old district of Guangzhou, namely the Li Wan District. The location of the Restaurant is right next to the Li Wan Garden.
According to history, Panxi Restaurant and Li Wan Garden were the old haunts of the imperial garden of the King of Southern Han Dynasty named Liu Chang, also once known as the Lychee Bay where it used to be famous for White Lotus and Red Lychee.
Back in 1947, Cantonese Li Wen Lun had founded an attractive and native small restaurant, where there were 5 little streams nearby, in which one of the streams was named Panxi, and that's the origin of the name of Panxi Restaurant.
Panxi Restaurant has been awarded by Chinese Board of Trade as the China Long-Standing Brand in 1993, and National Special Grade Restaurant in 1998
If you have read the introduction careful enough, you may already have an idea how this restaurant is going to look like. Yes you're right, this is not just an ordinary restaurant that built within a building, this is a restaurant built within a garden, which consists of a lake, small garden, and ancient Chinese houses that being decorated as the loges with designated name, please pay attention, in which, different loge under different name are having different charges for the foods and services. For example, the restaurant that is designed as a boat as the photo below are charging more taxes than the loges, so take that if you're on a budget.
Well, some might say up until this point like, hey dude, have you done with the introduction? Let's cut to the chase, can we take the tea and Dim Sum now?
OK, we're now officially entering the thing now only me, but many other people care so badly, LOL.
Yes, you'll be able to find traditional teas such as Black Tea, Chrysanthemum Tea, Pu'er Tea, Tie Guanyin (Oolong Tea), and traditional Dim Sum such as Steamed Pork Dumplings, Shrimp Dumpling, Chicken Claw, Chee Cheong Fun (Rice Noodle Roll), Cha Siu Bun (Barbecued Pork Bun), and noodles, and so many traditional Dim Sum you are able to find in most Dim Sum Restaurant around the world.
I really hate writing the blog for food, I'm extremely starving already...
Furthermore, and many people would take into account when before stepping into a restaurant like this, is the price. Yes, as I've mentioned earlier, different loges come with different taxes to your final bill, but most importantly, you won't get a whopping bill for the food. The price range is around RMB50-RMB70 for each person, more importantly, the teas and foods are damn delicious, that's why I've visited this amazing place twice.
What are you still waiting for? Enjoy the rest of the photo and go pay a visit, you wouldn't regret.
You're most welcome to share your thoughts and experiences down below:
Photo Shot On: iPhone 7
Photo Editing Software: Selfie City / Lightroom CC / Snapseed
Location: 151 Longjin W Rd, ZhongShan QiBa Lu, Liwan Qu, Guangzhou Shi, Guangdong Sheng, China, 510000
Year of production: 2019/01/27