Milk tea, Hong Kong’s favourite fuel

A worker prepares pantyhose milk tea at the famed Lan Fong Yuen tea-diner in Hong Kong's Central financial district, Dec 24, 2007. Photo: Reuters

Some cities are fuelled by coffee. In Hong Kong, it’s milk tea that keeps things running – a potent nostalgia-infused caffeine hit, with fierce competition to brew the best in town.

Thousands of restaurants offer the full gamut of international cuisines, but the city’s no-frills, diner-style cafes – some decades old – remain perennial favourites with locals, and still do a roaring trade.