The following article appeared in this month’s issue of Taiwan Business Topics, the magazine of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan:
On most afternoons, Henry Wong and friends sit outside A-Mui’s Noodle Shop (阿妹緬甸小吃, 41 Huaxin St.) in Little Burma, sipping tea from yellow cups. On cooler days the saucers go on top like sombreros, keeping the contents warm.
“Most Taiwanese aren’t used to this,” says Wong, pointing at his cup. “Too sweet.” Burmese milk tea, which uses condensed or evaporated milk and often contains a pinch of salt, is quite distinct from the nai cha (奶茶, milk tea) sold at typical Taiwanese drinks stores. “More like Indian style,” says Wong.
Based around Huaxin Street in New Taipei City’s Zhonghe District, Little Burma is a community of over 40,000, the majority of whom are overseas Chinese (華僑, huaqiao) and their descendants. The area emerged amid controversy in the early 1950s after Kuomintang (KMT) stragglers from the Chinese Civil War had carved out a fiefdom on Burma’s eastern border with China, further destabilizing a country riven by ethnic strife.
To read the full article, click here.
