YUM CHA: GREETING THE DAY THE GUANGDONG WAY

Cantonese chefs help to ensure traditional morning repast continues into the present

At daybreak in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, the city seems to stir itself awake to a single call — "water's boiling, tea is perfect". In the teahouses, bamboo steamers rise and cups are rinsed in practiced rhythm. Here, nothing dispels the night's fatigue quite like yum cha, or morning tea — "one pot of tea, two dim sum dishes".

For Patrick Parsons, Lord Oxmantown and heir apparent to the Earldom of Rosse in Ireland, this time-honored Lingnan ritual is not only a window to a different culture — one in which he has immersed himself for more than two decades and shared with his Chinese wife — but a deeply felt part of everyday life.