The over 15,000 morning tea restaurants in Taizhou City of east China's Jiangsu Province have witnessed booming business during the ongoing eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday season that started on Oct 1, as holidaymakers from across the country flock to the city to enjoy local delicacies while appreciating the city's picturesque waterfront views.
Early in the morning, numerous morning tea restaurants in Taixing City of Taizhou already have many diners waiting for seats.
The manager of a well-known morning tea restaurant said that the customer flow in the past couple of days has surged by over 50 percent compared to typical weekends, with more than 60 percent of the visitors coming from Jiangsu's Changzhou City.
"The place is very popular, so I've come to experience it and try the food," said Jia Chunlan, a tourist from Changzhou.
So far during the holiday, morning tea restaurants on all streets and alleys of Taizhou have been bustling with business.
In preparation for the growing wave of customers during the holiday, the operators of the morning tea restaurants have stocked up on supplies, extended their business hours, and increased their staff.
"We estimate that today's reception will exceed 1,000 customers. The chefs began preparing supplies early this morning at around 03:00. Although it has been quite exhausting over the past two days, seeing local and out-of-town diners enjoying Taizhou's breakfast tea makes all the hard work worthwhile," said Li Wei, head of a morning tea restaurant.
Elsewhere in Jiangsu, Jingjiang, a county-level city, has frequently seen tourists lining up for a taste of the region's famous crab roe soup dumplings during the holiday season.
This delicacy, recognized as an intangible cultural heritage of Jiangsu, draws food pilgrims from across the country. Local soup dumpling restaurants are often crowded with food pilgrims from morning to evening.
"I come from Yangzhou, and I visit Jingjiang every October to enjoy the soup dumplings, which are quite delicious," said Ju Haitao, a tourist from Yangzhou City.
Morning tea restaurants in east China's Taizhou witness booming business during National Day holiday
