Paper short abstract:

This paper argues for a semi-anonymous relationship among community dwellers (gaaifong) in Hong Kong Tea Restaurant as a form of guanxi-friendship. Focusing on its semi-anonymity and exchange of embodied concern, it wishes to shed light on anthropology of friendship, China and restaurant.

Paper long abstract:

Friendship has been understood to be based ‘on spontaneous and unconstrained sentiment or affection of some sort,’ (Carrier, 1999) with a strong Cartesian tradition. Previous scholarship in greater China region has continued such tradition, leading to the notion of guanxi (Yang, 1994), which ‘absorbed much of the attention that might be devoted to [friendship].’ (Smart, 126) Other understandings (ie Kipnis, 1997) saw guanxi and friendship as one totality, opposing the divide between emotion and instrumentality. The importance of 'tong' in Chinese character (同; common) and relationships, namely tongxue (classmates) and tongshi (colleagues), demonstrate how shared identity forms basis of friendships. (Smart, 1999)

Based upon my 14-month fieldwork as a waiter in a Hong Kong caacaanteng (茶餐廳; Tea Restaurant), a casual dining restaurant serving an eclectic menu of mixed origins for the public at a reasonable price, this paper interrogates the relationship develops among waiters and customers. It argues that the relationship thus emerged, gaaifong (街坊; community dwellers), should be understood as a form of semi-anonymous guanxi-friendship, based upon the constraint of server-customer relationship. It focuses on how greeting and naming one another forms a face-to-face gaaifong community through long-term patronage and exchange of embodied concern (關心;guanxin). Anonymity affords such relationship where people break off from their daily roles and backgrounds, fostering friendships among regulars and workers. This paper wishes to shed light on anthropology of Friendship, China and restaurant.