Born in the Loon Shan Tea House, the idea of one day starting his own tea company was planted in John Cassidy's mind. Being responsible for building relations with tea plantations and assisting Quong successfully trade tea in Australia, the family networks were passed to his kin.

In December 1889, Quong Tart opened the Loong Shan Tea House at 137 King Street, Sydney. It was his grandest tea room, with marble fountains and ponds with golden carp. The tea and grill rooms occupied the ground floor, while on the first floor, there was a reading room. It soon became one of Sydney's most important meeting places. The site is now part of the Glasshouse shopping complex, home to the Tea Centre.

Mei Quong Tart ( 1850–26 July 1903) was a prominent nineteenth-century Sydney merchant from China. He was one of Sydney's most famous and well-loved personalities and the inspiration for Hibiscus Tea House.