| Dai pai dong | |||||||||||
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 Man Yuen Noodles, a formerdai pai dong onElgin Street,Central. TheDemocratic Party banner calls for preservation of the stall. | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 大牌檔 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 大牌档 | ||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Big Plate Stalls | ||||||||||
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| Cooked-food stalls | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 大排檔 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 大排档 | ||||||||||
| Literal meaning | large-row stalls | ||||||||||
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Dai pai dong (traditional Chinese:大牌檔;simplified Chinese:大牌档;Jyutping:daai6 paai4 dong3;pinyin:dàpáidàng) is a type of open-air food stall. The term originates fromHong Kong[1] but has been adopted outside Hong Kong as well.[2][3] The official government name for these establishments is "cooked-food stalls". The more common name ofdai pai dong literally means 'big licence stall' inCantonese, referring to the stalls' license plates, which are larger than those of other licensed street vendors.[4]
Founded after theSecond World War,dai pai dong are tucked next to buildings, on streets, and in alleys. For instance,the dai pai dong in theCentral and Western District are regard as "terrace type"dai pai dong[5] since most of the streets are sloped, meaning the stalls occupy different terraces. In the late 20th century, the Hong Kong government decided to restrict the operation and license ofdai pai dong in order to remove them from public streets. Some were relocated into indoor cooked food markets built by the government.[6] After the decline ofdai pai dong from the 1970s, most of them no longer operate within the family but through sole proprietorship or partnership instead.[7]
According to theFood and Environmental Hygiene Department, only 17dai pai dong remained in Hong Kong as of July 2024[update],[8] down from the 25 in 2014.[9] As a valuable touchstone of Hong Kong heritage and culture, the worddai pai dong was recognized by the Oxford English Dictionary in March 2016.[10]
Adai pai dong is characterized by its green-painted steel kitchen, untidy atmosphere, the lack ofair conditioning, as well as a variety of low priced great-wok hei dishes. Regarded by some as part of thecollective memory of Hong Kong people,[11] officialdai pai dong are scarce, numbering only 28, situated inCentral (10),Sham Shui Po (14),Wan Chai (1),Tai Hang (2), andTai O (1) as of November 2005[update].[12]
Although the termdai pai dong is often used generically to refer to any food stall operating on the roadside with foldable tables, chairs, and no air-conditioning (like those onTemple Street), legally speaking the term can only refer to the ones which have the "big licences".[13]
Unlicensed food stalls, which provide cheap everyday food such ascongee, rice andnoodles to the general public of humble income, appeared as early as the late 19th century in Hong Kong. The stalls could be found not only in Central, but also inWan Chai and the peripheries ofHappy Valley Racecourse around Wong Nai Chung Road. In fact, the fire at the racecourse in 1918 was caused by food stalls set beside the podium.[14] There were also stalls assembled by wharf piers, which formed the so-calledWaisik Matau (為食碼頭 lit. "Gluttonous Pier"), to serve ferry passengers.
AfterWorld War II came to an end in 1945, the colonial Hong Kong government issuedad hoc licenses to families of deceased and injured civil servants, allowing them to operate food stalls in public and thereby earn a living. This type of license was physically considerably larger than the ones normally issued, as a photograph of the licensee was required to appear on them. The licence, therefore, was jocularly called "dai pai" (big license) by the locals. From then on, the "big license stalls" began to flourish on every busy street and lane in Hong Kong.
However,dai pai dong soon became the cause of traffic congestion and hygiene problems, and some licensees even began to let out their stalls on the black market. In response, the government stopped issuing new "big licenses" in 1956, and limited their transfer. The licences could no longer be inherited, and could only be passed on to spouses upon the licensee's death. If the licensee did not have a spouse, the licence would simply expire.
Since 1975, manydai pai dong have been moved into temporary markets, like the ones onHaiphong Road,Tsim Sha Tsui, or into cooked food centres, usually located in municipal services complexes managed by theUrban Council, for easier control. To improve worsening public hygiene, the government began to buy back "big licenses" from the license-holders in 1983. Since most of the licensees were aged, and the licenses are only legally transferable to their spouses, many of the licensees were willing to return their licenses for compensation. Since then, the number of traditionaldai pai dong has declined rapidly.
Today, mostdai pai dong survive by operating in cooked food centers, while the more successful ones have reinvented themselves as air-conditioned restaurants (some of them keep their original stalls operating at the same time, like Lan Fong Yuen (蘭芳園) inGage Street, Central).
It was reported that revenues ofdai pai dong increased considerably in 2003 when Hong Kong was plagued bySARS; as people regarded air-conditioned places as hotbeds of the virus and patronised open-air and sun-lit stalls instead.[15]
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In May 2005, the existence ofdai pai dong in Hong Kong caught considerable public attention, as Man Yuen Noodles, adai pai dong selling noodles in Central, faced imminent closure due to the death of the licensee. The news came after the closure of a bakery notable for itsegg tarts, also located in Central and forced to close because of the rise of rent.
Despite calls for its preservation by many locals, including some politicians, the stall was closed on 30 July 2005. The Hong Kong government was criticised for not trying its best to preservedai pai dong as part of the Hong Kong culture. The news of the closure coincided with the government's proposal of the development ofWest Kowloon Cultural District. The bakery reopened in October 2005.[19] The stall unexpectedly reopened at a nearby shop on 1 December 2005.[20]
