On a corner of a Pancoran street in Glodok, Chinatown in West Jakarta, lies a white, octagonal two-story building with tapered roof.

From the look of the building, people can tell that it was built decades ago. The building, was built in 1928 as a pharmacy named Chung Hwa before it was revitalized in 2016 and became the Pantjoran Tea House.

In front of the tea house, there’s a long table with eight teapots with a classical white-green pattern and several cups, letting anyone passing by to serve themselves a cup of green tea or two. As the teapots are exposed to sunlight, the light naturally keeps the tea warm.

Pardi, 50, a ride-hailing motorcycle taxi driver walked into the tea house that sunny Wednesday noon and grabbed a teapot on a table in front of the shop, poured himself a cup of tea and drank it.

“It’s common for locals here; the shop offers free tea every day,” Pardi said.

As the whole area is a touristy spot, including the Petak Sembilan and Gloria Alley, tourists are also welcomed to enjoy the free tea.

One tourist from Bogor, West Java, Ahun, 48, said the free tea for everyone was unique and generous. “This is my first time drinking tea without sugar. Surprisingly, I like the taste of the tea, it is light,” she said.

The tea-for-all tradition called patekoan was reintroduced and has been preserved by the Pantjoran Tea House since its establishment.

According to teashop employee Agus Rudy, the term patekoan comes from the Chinese ba or pa, meaning eight, and the Indonesian word teko (teapot). Hence, the eight teapots. Eight is considered a lucky number in Chinese culture because it sounds like the word fā (to generate wealth).

Patekoan itself is not a pure Chinese tradition he said. It was a local tradition started by Capt. Gan Djie, a Kapitein der Chineezen (captain of the Chinese), the headman of the Chinese community in the civil administration of colonial Indonesia in the 17th century. Gan Djie was the third captain of the Chinese in Batavia (now Jakarta).

Gan Djie and his wife were known for their generosity and solidarity with the local people. It was actually the wife’s idea to put eight teapots in front of Gan Djie’s office for hawkers, travelers or anyone who took shelter at the office who was tired and thirsty.

People could sip tea for free. At that time, there were not as many food and drink vendors in the area as there are now. The area has been known as Patekoan ever since. Even until now when the street has changed name to
Jl. Perniagaan, some locals still refer to it as Patekoan.

Paying tribute to Gan Djie and wife’s kindness, the Pantjoran Tea House continues the patekoan tradition, even though the old Indonesians of Chinese descent in the area are not aware of the origin of the tradition.

One of them is Yang Mei Zi, an 81-year-old Chinese woman who speaks Hokkien. She is the wife of a 10th-generation great-grandchild of Capt. Souw Beng Kong, the first captain of the Chinese. Her husband passed away three years ago.

She said she only knew patekoan as the name of the area where she currently lived.

“This house is the Souw’s, I only moved here after marrying my husband. But after living here for more than 50 years, I had no idea about the tea tradition, or even who Gan Djie was,” she told The Jakarta Post in her house, a 300-year-old building near the teahouse.

Agus said the teashop owner just wanted to preserve the value of sharing through the tradition.

Every day from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., the shop refills the teapots five to six times a day. On the days leading up to Chinese New Year, more people, including Chinese families, drop by to try the free tea, and the tea is depleted earlier at 3 p.m. (aly)

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