Dai pai dong
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 from Hong Kong but has been adopted outside Hong Kong as well. The official government name for these establishments is "cooked-food stalls". The more common name, dai pai dong, literally means "big licence stall" in Cantonese, referring to the stalls' license plates, which are larger than those of other licensed street vendors.
| Dai pai dong | |||||||||||
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Man Yuen Noodles, a former dai pai dong on Elgin Street, Central. The Democratic 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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Founded after the Second World War, dai pai dong are tucked next to buildings, on streets and in alleys. For instance, the dai pai dong in Central and Western districts are regard as "terrace type" dai pai dong 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 of dai pai dong in order to remove them from public streets. Some were relocated into indoor cooked food markets built by the government. After the decline of dai pai dong from the 1970s, most of them no longer operate within the family but through sole proprietorship or partnership instead.
According to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, there are only 25 dai pai dong remaining in Hong Kong. As a valuable touchstone of Hong Kong heritage and culture, the word dai pai dong was recognized by the Oxford English Dictionary in March 2016.