Bubble tea also known as boba, is a tea beverage that originate in Taiwan in the 1980s. The literal translation from Chinese would be pearl milk tea (traditional Chinese: 珍珠奶茶; Hanyu Pinyin: zhēnzhū nǎichá; Tongyong Pinyin: jhenjhu nǎichá). The word bubble refers to "bubbling", the process by which certain types of bubble tea are made, and not the actual tapioca balls). The balls are often called "pearls." Drinks with large pearls are consumed along with the beverage through wide straws; while drinks with small pearls are consumed through normal straws. Bubble tea is especially popular in many East Asian and Southeast Asian regions such as China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Brunei, Malaysia, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and more recently popularized in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.