Unmatched China Tea Sets At Beijing’s Most Famous Tea House

Posted by David Cheng on October 12th, 2009 filed in Tea

Many people don't know it, but Beijing's Lao She Tea House just may be the best place in the world to admire some truly great china tea sets and drink some amazing Chinese tea.

Celebrities, politicians, and royalty have all been to this place, and they rave about the service.

It, indeed, has much to offer.

The building itself is a Qing dynasty-style loft structure, so the establishment really brings you back in time at your first sight! The waiters are all dressed in ancient outfits, and greet you in an interesting tone that immediately invokes the feel of old Beijing tea houses.

If you're looking for some entertainment with your tea, the Lao She Tea House will never disappoint. From Kung Fu to Peking Opera, you can see it all here, while a great China tea set is sitting on your table. Some art forms are never seen outside of China, like cross-talk, and are really a sight. Cross talk is actually quite funny, if you like Chinese humor.

There's one act in particular that never fails to draw large crowds. It's called Face Changing, and it comes from Sichuan province in southwestern China. In this act, the performer wears a brightly colored mask and dances around the stage. Moving his arm in front of his face, he almost magically changes his mask in just a fraction of a second. He repeats this movement over and over, and you can clearly see the bright color of his mask changing.

But thats not all they offer at the Lao She tea house. Here waiters perform a kind of acrobatics to pour tea. The China tea sets they use are quite usual and have a long and thin spouts with a length of up to 1.5 meters! When serving, the waiter will first spin the pot around his body for a while, and then pour tea from the long and thin spot without splashing a drop. This is a task few can perform, and therefore is often met by much applause.

And don't worry, there;s no shortage of snacks to go with your meal. Many China tea sets have little saucers to put the snacks on, which makes it very convenient. Many of the snacks at this tea house have interesting names, like "rolling donkey", and their taste is special to boot.

Prices are reasonable; an average of 50-60 dollars should be enough to cover the fare of the shows, tea and a couple of snacks. The tea house is open from 14:00 to 22:00.

There's no denying the appeal of a real, traditional Chinese tea house. Stop by on your next trip to Beijing, check out their china tea sets, and have a pot of great Chinese tea!

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