Nihao Teahouse is the name of an Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

 based company that sells products such as tea

Tea

Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...

 (loose leaf and liquid), bubble tea

Bubble tea

Bubble tea is the name for pearl milk tea and other similar tea and juice beverages that originated in tea shops in Taichung, Taiwan during the 1980s. Drink recipes may vary, but most bubble teas contain a tea base mixed with fruit and/or milk...

, and various tea accessories. Originally, the company sold products only via its website, but in October 2005 the company's first outlet was established in the Gloucester Centre mall.

In April 2007, the company opened a second location on Holland Avenue, near Tunney's Pasture. This second location did not last and was gone before the end of 2008.

Name

Nihao is the transliteration of the Chinese word for hello (你好). According to the owners of the company, the inclusion of this word in the name is meant to make the clientelle feel more welcome.

Trivia

Nihao Teahouse is also the name of a teahouse in the Dreamcast game Shenmue

Shenmue

is a 1999 open-world adventure video game developed by Sega AM2 and published by Sega for the Dreamcast, produced and directed by Yu Suzuki. Suzuki coined a genre title, "FREE" , for the game, based on the interactivity and freedom he wanted to give to the player...

. According to the owners of the store, this is a complete coincidence.

External links

• Nihao's Website
• Mayak Digest