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Lao She Teahouse: get a unique taste of old Beijing life
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.
Former U.S. president George H. Bush and Jordanian queen Rania both paid their visit to the teahouse and found themselves amazed by what it has to offer.
Indeed, it has so much to offer that you may hope to move to Beijing enjoy everyday.
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 in ancient outfits, and welcome you in with an old-time greeting that seasoned Beijingers say invoke the feel of old Beijing teahouses.
Basically a teahouse, Lao She goes beyond a little bit to offer some of China’s finest traditional performing arts that are harder and harder to see today. 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 change their masks up to 30 times with the flick of a wrist. Today only a small number of artists in China can perform this old dance owning to the difficulty of changing masks in a time span shorter than the eyes blink. There are also occasionally such performances around the Beijing Hwa Apartment Hotel.
Another program that also amazes many is the ‘Han Deng Da Gu.Singers of this ancient form of art don’t sing the way you would usually expect. They sing with such a holder in their mouths as is mounted with a few of burning candles.
They need to somehow keep the balance of the holder using the muscles in their face, otherwise the candles will fall. Singers who perform Han Deng Da Gu at Lao She Teahouse are all masters. They sing so skillfully that their sound is hardly comprised by the holder in their mouths. Across the country, only a small number of singers are able to perform this old form of art due to the difficulty to master it.
For tea lovers, there is even more to celebrate at Lao She Teahouse. Here pouring tea is more like an acrobatic show. The pot they use is quite usual for it has a long and thin spout with the length of 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 that anyone can accomplish, and is much appreciated by the audience.
You can also enjoy a variety of Beijing snacks as you enjoy the shows. Rolling Donkey, known as Lv Da Gun in Chinese, is actually a dish of glutinous rice balls stuffed with bean paste. Millet Mush, or Mian Cha as known in Chinese, is a kind of porridge made with sesame and peanut butter. For your sweet tooth, Wan Dou Huang-small cakes made of beans-is always a good try.
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 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.
2222 Littondale Lane, Oakville Ontario HD
