The Chinese Tea Shop

Daniel Lui moved to Vancouver from Hong Kong in 1997, after studying Chinese tea since his teens, an interest that came from his father, Ken Lui. He began selling tea in 2001, and in 2004 opened Arts de Chine at 101 East Pender Street, in Chinatown. In the summer of 2009 the shop took its present name and changed its layout to make more room and put the focus on tea. It sits at the corner of Columbia Street, one block east of the Sun Yat-Sen Gardens.

The shop describes itself as a gathering place as much as a store: on any day, people from different parts of the world sit at Daniel's tea desk to try the newest teas and talk about tea and Chinese antiques. Every spring he travels to China for the harvest to meet his contacts and taste the new teas in person, and the shop also supplies tea and teaware to tea shops and restaurants around the world. Online, an Ask the Tea Wizard quiz suggests teas by taste, and orders ship worldwide.

The spring trip shows on the shelf. The 2026 Long Jing and a 2026 Cloud Mist from Yuntai Mountain, in Jiangsu, were both picked in early April, and the Jin Jun Mei from Tongmu Village, in the Wuyi mountains, is from the 2026 harvest. Older leaf sits beside them: a Wuyi Zheng Yan Shui Xian from 2023, and a Shou Mei white harvested in Fuding in 2013 and brought to Vancouver in 2019. Taiwan is represented by a Long Feng Xia high mountain oolong. Most teas start at 50 g.