Chinese Drink

Introduction

Chinese drinks range from traditional teas and distilled spirits to modern soft drinks and dairy alternatives. Tea culture is central to daily life, while Baijiu is the most widely consumed spirit at banquets. Regional specialties such as sour plum drink (酸梅汤) and herbal cooling teas (凉茶) are especially popular in summer. Café and street culture adds Hong Kong Milk Tea, Yuenyeung, Bubble Tea, and warm Soy Milk breakfast cups.

This hub is a map of beverage pages on Chinese Food Wiki—not a complete brand catalog. Leaf-tea processing detail lives on Tea; aroma styles of spirits live on Baijiu. Snack pairings often sit on Chinese Snack and Chinese Rice Snack.

Tea and infusions

Tea 茶 — green, oolong, black (红茶), white, yellow, dark/pu-erh, and flower teas; Longjing-style green tea is shown on the Tea page image
Tieguanyin 铁观音 and other named oolongs (covered under Tea types)
Chrysanthemum tea 菊花茶 — floral herbal infusion
Herbal / cooling teas 凉茶 — common in southern China, especially Guangdong and Hong Kong
Butter Tea — highland buttered tea tradition
Tea Egg — tea-braised egg (food that uses tea as seasoning)

Alcoholic drinks

Baijiu 白酒 — Chinese distilled grain spirit; banquet staple
Osmanthus wine 桂花酒 — lightly aromatic fruit/flower wine style
Beer brands widely sold in China (e.g. Tsingtao 青岛啤酒, regional labels such as Chongqing Beer and Xinjiang dark beer) — everyday meal drinks rather than spirit toasts

Soft drinks, dairy, and café mixes

Suanmeitang 酸梅汤 — sour plum drink
Soy Milk 豆浆 — fresh soybean milk; classic with fried dough breakfasts
Douzhi — Beijing fermented mung-bean drink (distinct from soy milk)
Coconut milk 椰奶 — southern and tropical-fruit dessert accompaniment
Hong Kong Milk Tea — silk-stocking style milk tea
Yuenyeung 鸳鸯 — coffee mixed with Hong Kong milk tea
Bubble Tea — tea or milk tea with tapioca pearls (globalized from Taiwan café culture)
Packaged brands such as Wahaha and Jianlibao — modern bottled drinks listed elsewhere on the wiki

Serving culture

At home and in restaurants, plain hot Tea is the default table drink for many meals. Banquets may sequence tea with Baijiu toasts. Breakfast streets in many cities sell Soy Milk with youtiao; Hong Kong cha chaan teng culture centers on Hong Kong Milk Tea and Yuenyeung; night markets and global Chinese cafés popularized Bubble Tea. Summer stalls push Suanmeitang and herbal coolers.

Sweetness and dairy are optional in traditional leaf tea, but expected in milk-tea and pudding-adjacent café drinks. For confectionery that uses sugar as a main ingredient rather than a drink base, see Chinese Candy and Chinese Sugar.