SuYin Liang

Abstract: For my thesis project, I have designed a Chinese herbal tea pop-up shop and UX/UI app that promotes Cantonese’s traditional Leung-cha drinking culture. Ah-Ma Herbal Tea (阿嬷凉茶铺) incorporates cultural elements from the old T.V series Seventy-Two Tenants (2008) and Scavengers’ Paradise (2005), Eastern medicine packaging, artifacts, and everyday life items from the mid-twentieth century in Guangdong, China. Many traditional herbal tea shops have gradually disappeared in China, and fewer shops contain Guangdong characteristics (Eight Immortals table, big gourd, a big bowl of tea). Less known local brands struggle to survive and are replaced by larger corporations, like milk tea brands and tea beverage brands. Leung-cha is a unique, bittersweet drink made from traditional medicinal herbs that provide a soothing and comforting healing effect. This project aims to protect and bring back the disappearing Leung-cha drinking culture by incorporating contemporary style and traditional Chinese icons to catch young audiences’ eyes. My target audience ranges from locals to tourists between 18 and 29-years-old in New York City. It will be beneficial for people who live a pressured lifestyle and people who tend to eat a lot of junk food, stay up late, and work overtime. I am bringing Leung-cha to New York, a culturally diverse city, to give a broader audience an understanding of the Leung-cha drinking culture.