Folk Art
Lao She Teahouse: sip tea at Beijing’s best teahouse
Lao She Teahouse, sitting at the center of Beijing not far from the Avic Hotel is where tourists get a taste of old Beijing life while sitting down for a good cup of tea.
Among its eminent customers are former U.S. president George H. Bush and Jordanian queen Rania.
It, indeed, has much to offer.
The building itself reminds you of a Qing dynasty loft, and as soon as you see it, you feel as if Beijing of the 19th century has come into life! The waiters are all in ancient outfits, and welcome you in with an old-time greeting that seasoned Beijingers say invoke the feel of old Beijing teahouses.
Despite being called a teahouse, Lao She is more like an entertainment venue, where some of China’s finest traditional performing arts are staged every night. Here you can watch acrobatics, Kung Fu shows, comic dialogue, Peking opera, ventriloquism, and the celebrated face-changing dance while enjoy a good cup of tea.
One of the most welcomed performances is the face-changing dance that originated in Sichuan province. A performer will wave his arms and twist his head as his painted mask changes, almost by magic, often in less than one second. The top performers can go through up to 30 different masks with the flick of a wrist. Due to difficulty of changing masks faster than the eyes blink, only a small number of artists can perform this old dance today. There are also occasionally such performances around the Beijing Hwa Apartment Hotel.
Also amazes many is a performance called ‘Han Deng Da Gu’.Singers of this art of show don’t sing the way we are familiar with. They sing with such a holder in their mouths as is mounted with a few of burning candles.
They have to keep the candles in a good balance with the face muscles, otherwise the candles will fall. Han Deng Da Gu singers here at Lao She Teahouse are all masters of this ancient art of show. Their sound appears so flawless that without watching the show you won’t know there is actually something bothersome in their mouth. Across the country, there are only a handful of singers who are able to perform this old art because it takes many years of hard training.
But that;s not all they offer at the Lao She teahouse. Here waiters pour tea in a procession that looks more like an acrobatic show. The pot they use to pour tea is pretty bizarre: it has a long spout that can measure up to 1.5 meters. When serving, the waiter will first flip the pot around his body for a while, and then pour tea from the long and thin spot without splashing a drop. This is not a task just anyone can perform, and is always met by much applause.
You can also enjoy a variety of Beijing snacks as you enjoy the shows. Rolling Donkey, or Lv Da Gun in Chinese, is a serving of glutinous rice balls stuffed with bean paste and eaten as a light meal. Millet Mush, or Mian Cha as known in Chinese, is a kind of porridge made with sesame and peanut butter. Wan Dou Huang is a serving of small bean cakes that is always popular with those sweet tooth.
Prices are affordable even by Beijing standards; an average of RMB 400 (a little over 50 dollars) should be enough for the shows, tea and a couple of snacks. The teahouse remains open from 14:00 to 22:00.
The Lao She Teahouse’s location in central Beijing is very convenient, and you can book a Beijing hotel here.