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.

From pure china tea sets to amazing performances, there's plenty to see here!

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.

Despite being called a tea house, Lao She is more like an entertainment venue, where some of China's finest traditional performing arts are staged every night. On its third floor, you can enjoy acrobatics, Kung Fu shows, Peking opera, ventriloquism, cross-talk, and the famous face-changing dance while taking a sip of your favorite tea.

One of the most welcomed performances is the face-changing dance that originated in Sichuan province. A dancer will change his mask by waving his arms and swaying his head, and complete it in less than a second. The top performers can change their masks up to 30 times 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.

But that's not you'll get at the Lao She tea house.The waiters here perform a kind of acrobatics when they pour your tea. But before even beginning, the China tea sets they use are quite usual and have a long, thin spouts with a length of over 5 feet! To serve your tea, the waiter spins the pot around his body, and then pours tea into each and every cup, never spilling a drop. It takes years of study to serve tea in this way, and you'll never see anything like it anywhere else in the world.

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.

By western standards, enjoying Chinese tea at the Lao She Tea House is quite affordable. Less than $100 will get you some snacks, a performance, and of course a lot of great Chinese tea from the amazing china tea set.

The Lao She Tea House's location in central Beijing is very convenient, so stop buy, check out their authentic China tea sets, and enjoy some Chinese tea!

Author D. Cheng has studied Chinese history and handicrafts such as porcelain china tea sets for years. Once in a while, he endorses skilled Chinese craftsmen. Check out some excellent Chinese tea sets.

Posted under 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.

Former U.S. Former U.S president George H. and Jordanian queen Rania have even been here and rave about the service.

There's just so much here, you can never be bored.

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.

But one of the most loved performance is the "Face Changing" act. The dancer moves around the stage wearing a mask, and with swift, almost invisible movements, he changes the mask instantly. With just a flick of the wrist, you can see different colors on his face, as the mask changes from red, blue, white, and other colors. Altogether, some performers change their masks almost 40 times.

But that's not you'll get at the Lao She tea house.The waiters here perform a kind of acrobatics when they pour your tea. But before even beginning, the China tea sets they use are quite usual and have a long, thin spouts with a length of over 5 feet! To serve your tea, the waiter spins the pot around his body, and then pours tea into each and every cup, never spilling a drop. It takes years of study to serve tea in this way, and you'll never see anything like it anywhere else in the world.

You can also snack on a variety of Beijing snacks as you enjoy the shows. Lv Da Gun-literally meaning rolling donkey-is a snack of glutinous rice balls rolled with bean paste. 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 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.

The Lao She Tea House's location in central Beijing is very convenient, so stop buy, check out their authentic China tea sets, and enjoy some Chinese tea!

Posted under Tea

Several hundreds of years ago, Chinese tea sets were introduced to Europe and people there loved them. It seemed they just couldn't get enough. And who could blame them? The thin, paper-like items and beautiful Chinese colors were something that most people had never even dreamed of before. But there were very few around who could afford them.

And then a new kind of porcelain was made in the 18th century that sent everyone wild. Merchants immediately set off for Jingdezhen, China's porcelain capital, to see if they could get their hands on some truly great items.

What was the invention? Famille rose porcelain, which was celebrated for its colorful motifs.

When compared to earlier porcelain, Famille Rose was remarkable for how many colors it incorporated. Making such vibrant colors required much more sophisticated techniques. Painters applied their skills to these tea sets, and potters had to come up with new ways of firing the porcelain so as not to damage the delicate color pigments. The result was truly remarkable.

This caused some emperors to send their best painters down the Jingdezhen to create some truly remarkable Famille rose porcelain items.

Today, few Europeans know that Europe made its own contributions to the irresistible Famille Rose porcelain.

Obviously the new colors used in the famille rose china tea sets had to come from somewhere, but where? Historians say enamels were brought into China by European Jesuit missionaries.

Also, pigments for the colorful Famille Rose porcelain was something China needed to ship from Europe. It wasnt until much later that China learned the techniques to make them.

Famille Rose is still exported from China and across the word to this day. Sometimes, auctions are help selling antique Famille Rose china tea sets. These sets can fetch millions of dollars, as a very specialized set of collectors and Chinese tea set lovers has emerged.

Author D. Cheng has written about Chinese culture, calligraphy, and arts & crafts such as Jingdezhen china tea sets for ages. From time to time, he endorses skilled Chinese craftsmen. See samples of quality Chinese tea sets.

Posted under Tea