HONG KONG (AP) -- Nearly 70 percent of Hong Kong residents think sidewalk tea cafes are an intrinsic part of their cultural heritage and want them given protected status by the United Nations, according to a recent poll.

The cafes, where you can sit street-side and sip strong milky tea strained through what looks like pantyhose, or feast on carbohydrates with a slice of buttery toast as thick as a book, are hugely popular in Hong Kong.

Many have been around for decades and are crammed morning to night with students, housewives, businessmen and tourists, slurping up lunchtime bowls of instant noodles and watching the world go by.

But many fear this unique aspect of Hong Kong's culture - a quirky blend of traditional Chinese and British colonialism - will be lost amid a modernization drive that has already seen many heritage sites torn down for property development.

A survey carried out earlier this month by the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, a political party, found nearly 70 percent thought the tea cafes should be included on a list of Hong Kong's "intangible cultural heritage."

The government is compiling a list to submit to the territory's rulers in Beijing. An application is then made to the United Nations' cultural department for protected status.

"I'm glad to see that the interest has been raised about what has cultural value in Hong Kong," Ho Loy, a conservationist said Saturday.

"These cafes are a reminder of a type of lifestyle going back 50 years. It's a combination of the traditional Chinese teahouse with its strong community role and Western cafes with their toasters and fast food.

"It's not about preserving the tea, or the style of tea, but remembering the history that is associated with it," she said.

Hong Kong was ruled by Britain for 155 years until it was handed back to China in 1997. Over the last decade, many colonial landmarks have been bulldozed by developers to make way for new highways or apartment buildings.

Ho was one of several activists who failed to prevent the government tearing down a 50-year-old pier that was the traditional landing post for British royalty.

Several old Chinese style streets and outdoor food markets are also earmarked for demolition.

The DAB, the political party that carried out the survey, said it would press the government on Wednesday to include the cafes on Hong Kong's cultural heritage list.

More than three quarters of the 700 people questioned by the DAB survey said they visited a tea cafe at least once every month, while nearly 40 percent said they went between three and five times a month.

The most popular drink was milky tea - poured through a strainer so fine it's been dubbed pantyhose tea - followed by ying yang - another uniquely Hong Kong drink made with both coffee and tea.

"The service is fast, and the food is cheap and delicious," said Adelaide Chu, a 40-year-old business analyst, as she lined up behind a dozen or so other Hong Kongers to wait for a seat at one of the six communal tables in the tiny Lan Fong Yuen tea shop.

"These places really are part of our history, we shouldn't let them disappear," she said. "We came here as young children with our families, and so we need to be able to bring our children here too."