Encountering the 85-Year-Old Macau Tea King Who Helped Chinese Tea Reach the World During a Trip to Macau – Truly Remarkable

A trip to Macau always brings unexpected surprises. You might turn a corner and see a familiar scene from a movie, stumble upon an astonishing historic building on some street, or inadvertently meet a particularly impressive celebrity. For instance, the Macau Tea King, Uncle Zeng Zhihui, whom we will introduce in this article, is a typical example.

That day, we were strolling along Rua de Cinco de Outubro with some local Macau friends. Sometimes we encountered a century-old pastry shop, or spotted a food place that had gone viral online. Mr. Zeng Zhihui’s Hualian Tea was discovered by chance on the street. A friend said, “Look, there’s a tea shop ahead. It’s no ordinary place. The owner is Mr. Zeng Zhihui, known as the Macau Tea King. Let’s go over and see if he’s in the shop.” So we walked into his tea house. Luckily, we did meet the 85-year-old Tea King (as shown in the photo above).

Zeng Zhihui is known as the “Macau Tea King.” It is said that after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, trade blockades cut off the sales channels for Chinese tea, which had once been popular worldwide along the Maritime Silk Road. The country hoped to use Macau, a free port, to reintroduce Chinese tea to the international market. At that time, after several selections, the Macau-based Nam Kwong Company turned its attention to Zeng Zhihui, who was then running a liquor business. He was only in his twenties but had already made a name in the business world.

The Tea King told us, “Before I got into tea, I was the chairman of the Liquor Industry Association. Before I turned 30, my production accounted for 65% of Macau’s output, and I sold to Hong Kong. All the famous rice wines in Hong Kong were supplied by me. Before making tea, I was the ‘Liquor King.’” When he said this, I could feel his immense pride and confidence. Perhaps it was precisely because of his outstanding abilities, youth, and drive that he was chosen for the important task of bringing Chinese tea to the world.

Now 85 years old, the Tea King recalled, “I was the deputy minister of the Industry and Commerce Department of the Macau Chinese Chamber of Commerce. Nam Kwong Company approached me and said, ‘Xiao Zeng, take up this industry. This industry has a future.’” Fifty-five years ago, in 1965, with his father’s support, Zeng Zhihui, who had never been involved in tea marketing, resolutely took on the mantle of Macau’s tea agent and joined with several other enterprises to establish Hualian Tea Company.

He was doing well in liquor, yet he was going to switch to tea. This required not only great resolve but also great courage, as there was significant risk. Many advised him to stick with his established wine-making business. Zeng Zhihui himself worried whether the transition would succeed. Fortunately, his father, a Peruvian Chinese and a prominent figure in Macau’s business circle at the time, gave him strong support. He was the first to step forward, providing shop space and funds, strongly encouraging him to switch to the tea business, and telling him: “As a businessman, no matter what business it is, you should participate and contribute to the country’s foreign exchange!”

Thus, Zeng Zhihui, who was already well-known in Macau’s business community, resolutely switched from liquor to tea. With his intelligence, diligence, and perseverance, he quickly became an expert in tea production and marketing through continuous learning and research. He also applied the fermentation techniques he had mastered in liquor to tea. Small tea leaves from all over the country were gathered in Macau, quietly fermenting and undergoing special aging in Hualian’s warehouses, forming a uniquely flavored “Zeng’s tea,” which was then shipped overseas via ocean freighters to all parts of the world.

Through his dedicated management, Hualian Tea not only opened up a new overseas sales channel for Chinese tea but also grew into Macau’s largest tea enterprise. Currently, Hualian Tea Company accounts for nearly 90% of Macau’s tea sales market. He is truly the Macau Tea King. At his home, he treasures many decades-old teas. He told us that these teas are now very expensive. For example, this cake of tea from 60 years ago can now sell for at least 600,000, and he has many such teas, some even more valuable.

Now, the Tea King is 85 years old. Although he still holds positions such as Honorary President of the Macau Tea Industry Association and Permanent President of the Macau Tea Art Association, he has handed over the tea business to his son and grandson. He said, “Times have changed, and young people have their own new ideas.” His grandson, Zeng Bikeng, has taken advantage of the Belt and Road Initiative to set up a “Cross-border E-commerce Base” in the Hengqin Free Trade Zone of Zhuhai, bringing foreign-flavored teas to China through more convenient channels and pushing “Zeng’s products” to more distant shores across the ocean. This is the story of the Macau Tea King, and also the story hidden behind a very inconspicuous small shop on an old street in Macau. Looking at the shopfront, you would never guess that such a powerful figure in the business world is hidden here. In fact, he has large warehouses covering tens of thousands of square meters in many places in Mainland China. Although his shop in Macau is small, it is the headquarters of his entire tea empire.

Hearing the Tea King’s story is truly admirable. We wonder how many more figures like the Tea King there are on the streets of Macau—such as the Liquor King, the Medicine King, the Catering King, etc. Perhaps they are hidden in a small shop around the next corner, waiting to meet you unexpectedly during your travels.