Drinking herbal tea is one of the characteristics of Lingnan life culture. Herbal tea was included as a representative item in the first batch of the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of China in 2006. Minor health problems such as common cold, cough, or hoarseness caused by ‘excessive heat in the body’ (shanghuo) can be healed with just one or two bowls of herbal tea, which is an affordable and easily accessible remedy for all. Employees of herbal tea shops usually have basic knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine and are able to give advice to customers. Herbal tea can be sweet or bitter, with five-flower tea and 24-flavour tea being the most common types. The sweet varieties, such as five-flower tea, can soothe the excessive heat in the body, while the bitter varieties, such as 24-flavour tea, can heal the common cold.

Back in the times when radios were not commonly affordable items, gathering with friends in an herbal tea shop was a common practice for the general public, where they could drink herbal tea and chat with their friends while listening to the broadcasts or football matches on the radio.