Around the table are several small wooden stools. This is the complete set of a make-shift tea shop and is very popular part of Vietnamese street life. The owner skillfully lifts the cap of the tea cosy, takes out the tea in to a small cup. The owner then hands the cup of steaming tea to the customer. This kind of drink is indispensable to every inhabitant of the capital city.
Tea is drunk every day from the early morning until late at night.
People drink tea at their homes, at their work places and in tea shops on their way to and on their return from work. Whenever they feel thirsty they are likely to look for the drink. It is drunk in both the summer and the winter months. In the summer and winter a sip of hot tea makes you feel warm inside and better able to cope with the cold temperatures outside. Unlike northerners whose preference is for a cup of hot steamy tea, people in the south like to drink their tea cold and tend to have it with ice cubes.