The history of tea culture in China for more than 2,111 years didn't come for nothing. Of course, tea comes first.

Tea restaurants can be deeply rooted in people's hearts and have a far-reaching impact on Hong Kong. The inherent meaning can be discussed in many ways. When talking about local food culture, cultural sociologist John Tomlinson(1949-) pointed out:

We think that the special food in a region tells the story of moving and mixing. Only naturalized foods are foods that have been improved, accepted and blended for a long time. Furthermore, we think that the food that can represent the national characteristics often implies the complex history of trade links, cultural exchanges, especially colonialism.

according to the above, the formation of special food has different factors, starting from the circulation of the region, gradually adjusting, taking root, catering to the public through improvement, and evolving its own uniqueness, with its own history hidden behind the food. The relationship between "colonialism" and diet mentioned in the article is in line with the historical environment of Hong Kong, which deserves more attention. Hong Kong was colonized by Britain in 1841 and returned to China in 1997. During this period, it was mostly influenced by western culture. In addition, the port was free and open, and trade introduced local characteristics. For example, Liang Bingjun, a comparative writer and cultural researcher (pen name Ye Si, 1949-2113), said: "Hybridity is indeed Hong Kong. Through international channels, Hong Kong can absorb many elements, which constitutes a mixed food culture in Hong Kong.

John Tomlinson's theory of specialty food, combined with tracing, combing and analysis, provides many research directions, which is worth reference. Based on this, this paper re-integrates and tries to explore the process of tea restaurant and its food transforming from English to Hong Kong from three aspects: background, inheritance and transformation. This paper first traces the history of British food culture introduced into Hong Kong, then outlines the catering environment when tea restaurants originated, understands the evolution and development of afternoon tea in Hong Kong, and finally analyzes the situation and reasons of food transformation in tea restaurants.

Tea restaurants can be seen everywhere in Hong Kong today. By studying their origins, we can see that they were transformed and merged before their birth, and only then did they form the face of today's tea restaurants with Hong Kong characteristics. The British colonized Hong Kong, and the British brought the local food culture, and naturally there was a demand for English meals, so western restaurants gradually came into being. In 1845, the headquarters of Freemasonry was Yongren Hall, including the famous western restaurant in Hong Kong. Yongren Club has been operated as a clubhouse until now, and its membership needs to be recommended and approved. It can be seen that at the beginning, the club served mainly British people. Although there were few opportunities for western food culture to spread abroad, English food had a far-reaching impact on the future development of western food in Hong Kong.