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T
As a highly social space, the experience of a tradition-
al Chinese teahouse goes beyond just drinking tea. In the Photo / Simon Sun
past, Pengzhen old teahouse has organized theatrical perfor-
mances such as Sichuan face-changing opera, Sichuan allegro
and Pingshu (book talk) to entertain the tea lovers. After
being able to continue running its business, Jiaotong
Teahouse also moved in a few mahjong tables to enrich the
way tea drinkers spend their time. And when the real econ-
omy was still prevalent in people’s consumption preferenc-
es, these teahouses allowed a lot of small business to “join”,
such as selling newspaper, shoe shining, ear picking, and
even snack sellers can meet their customers here.
On the other hand, the programs in modern teahouses
that emphasize culture and experiences would be either a
private tea table or a marketing for incense art sessions that
cultivates an elegant temperament. These do not allow vis-
itors to relax and enjoy, only imposing the sense of burden
in the name of culture. They seem classy in texture, but
other than raising the barrier as well as your bills don’t inspire
any resolve to visit again.
Moreover, the friendly open-door attitude of the tra-
ditional teahouses has encouraged people of all professions
and social status to visit and take a break there. A shirtless
man chatting away in his hometown tea house, matchmaking
Naturally, under the ongoing economic development, enthusiasts, a granny catching up with her sisters and friends
there is no problem with the high charges of the modern - whoever you are, everyone is welcome here. Nowadays,
teahouses. With the idea of spreading Chinese tea culture, there are students who come to witness this flavor of life,
teahouses that spent a lot of money on decoration and staff influencers who are trying to take good pictures to get thou-
training, also need to break even. But they seem to miss the sands of likes on social media, and young people who’d like
point that the amount of the money spent is proportional to to take a break from the city and the work.
the sense of distance. The higher the pricing, the more like- There is an old saying among tea lovers that “the char-
ly that the teahouse will expect the customers to have a high acter of a teahouse depends on the teahouse owners and the
level of affordability and education, far less friendly than an teahouse guests.” Perhaps the reverse proposition of that
affordable teahouse. The popularity of cheap milk tea and statement holds equally true. The teahouse you go to, the
the obsessions of the obstinate tea drinkers who don’t drink attitude of life you have, the kind of person you become.
tea at low prices are mostly both due to these reasons.
When it comes to costs, the Jiaotong Teahouse has
another story to tell. In 2005, the teahouse, which had been
running at low pricing, almost lost its business due to the
rising house prices. An oil painting professor from the adja-
cent old campus of the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, Chen
Anjian, bought an old teahouse to keep it open. He also
created a painting on the theme of “Life in a Teahouse”, which
attracted many students and artists to visit for inspiration.

The“Third Places”of China

The “Third Place” concept, coined by American sociol- Tea Classics
ogist Ray Oldenburg and adopted by Starbucks, has actually
taken root in Chinese teahouses. Either the anise beans in “Its liquor is like the sweetest dew from heaven,” wrote Lu Yu
Lu Xun’s novel that made Kong Yiji’ mouth water, or the in his classic work Ch’a Ching. The 8th century scholar
place for feeding birds and having snacks in Lao She’s novels, produced the first authoritative book on tea, providing details
on every aspect of tea growing and manufacture, as well as
it’s in the teahouse.
wisdom on the art of drinking tea.

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