Between 26 May and 7 July, the British luxury department store Harrods is bringing its iconic afternoon tea to The Georgian restaurant as a pop-up at its The Residence Shanghai members’ club. Founded in 1911, The Georgian is named after King George V of the UK (the great-grandfather of King Charles III), whose coronation coincided with the opening of the then-largest restaurant in London. Although the London counterpart serves dinner, the Shanghai pop-up will be tea-centric.
The pop-up is, as you might expect, meticulously hyper-localised for Shanghai, with the tea serving taking inspiration from the traditional Chinese tea ceremony. Authentic English dishes like savoury tarts and scones are available, whilst a local twist can be seen in the Shanghainese duck sandwich and sweet osmanthus apricot jam for the scones.
Outside The Resident, a golden Harrods bear installation was set up to both commemorate the event and to be used as a “check-in” (打卡) point. Interestingly, the bear is wearing a purple ribbon. The space is decorated with The Georgian’s signature purple colour, symbolising luxury and is a departure from Harrods’ iconic green colour. Like its London original, the pop-up version also includes a live piano accompaniment to enjoy with your tea.
For 43 days, you can visit the Harrods Tearooms in Shanghai, where The Georgian afternoon tea pop-up is located, by reserving on Dianping. The afternoon tea will be served between 10am and 8pm. The new pop-up is part of Harrods’s celebration of its 175th anniversary, which has been ongoing since last year. For a luxury department store, a pop-up like this combines its English heritage and lifestyle with local delicacies and is a great way to raise brand awareness.