A Powerful Driving Force: Taizhou Morning Tea as a Brand

Recently, 2023 Taizhou Morning Tea Cooking Competition was held in the Taizhou Old Street of Taizhou City, east China's Jiangsu Province. Contestants from different areas of the city gathered to pit their skills against each other, showing their talent in cooking classic dishes for the Morning Tea.

The Morning Tea Cooking Competition [Photo via the Cyberspace Administration of Taizhou] 

With a history of over one hundred years, the Morning Tea is a significant part of Taizhou's unique food culture. Foods of the Morning Tea can be divided into eight categories, including tea and other drinks, cold dishes, dried beancurd threads, as well as dishes of dim sum, among others. A classic offer for the Morning Tea consists of a pot of tea, dried beancurd threads, fish soup noodles, Baozi (steamed buns), Zhengjiao (steamed dumplings) and Shaomai (a variety of Chinese dumplings).

In recent years, some dishes for the Morning Tea were removed from the menu, and only dried beancurd threads, fish soup noodles and crab-filled Xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) remain to be popular as people tend to have the Morning Tea in a more casual way.

Taizhou Morning Tea [Photo via the Cyberspace Administration of Taizhou]

For Taizhou people, there's no better way to start a day with a portion of delicious Morning Tea. Their love for life can be easily sensed in lively Morning Tea restaurants.

Chefs preparing Taizhou Morning Tea [Photo via the Cyberspace Administration of Taizhou]

To sustain the Morning Tea culture and enable more people to experience it, Taizhou integrated the cultural resources of the Morning Tea, established the Association for the Development of Taizhou Morning Tea Industry, and formulated standard system for the Morning Tea.

The Morning Tea Market [Photo via the Cyberspace Administration of Taizhou]

Meanwhile, Taizhou has built supply chains for the industry, established "Taizhou Morning Tea Museum", and organized relevant events such as Morning Tea Forum and Morning Tea Market, hoping to expand the influence of Morning Tea as a brand.

The Morning Tea Market [Photo via the Cyberspace Administration of Taizhou]

Taizhou people at the Morning Tea Market in Hanfu (traditional Chinese clothing) [Photo via the Cyberspace Administration of Taizhou]

Nowadays, Taizhou is taking a variety of measures to combine the Morning Tea with the industrial advantages and other resources of the city to make contribution to Jiangsu's plan of being a developed, rich, beautiful and civilized modern province.