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

Given the apparent love affair most Chinese people have with tea, you shouldn't be shocked to learn that certain people have also found a deep connection with their teapots and other teaware. And these may not be the kind of people you're thinking of: everyone from emperors to artists, writers to laymen have found joy in a special kind of tea pot: those crafted out of Yixing purple clay.

Eminent writer Su Dongpo (1037 - 1101) and his teapot

In the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279), the title of the most outstanding poet belongs to Su Dongpo (Also: Su Shi). If you wonder how many literary works he had created, listen up. Apart from the lost works, he still passed more than four thousand ancient poems and three thousand ancient separate works of prose on to contemporary Chinese. The artistic appeal of his work lies in its great imagination and enthusiasm. And what is more, he was a brilliant artist and calligrapher too.

The funny thing is that Su enjoyed tea and purple clay teapots very much, and he created a well-known pot of his own style called a Dongpo Cross Beam Pot.

For a period of time, Su used to live at Yixing, the only place that has natural purple clay. He would savor the joy of tea while doing his work. However, the teapots at that time were all so small that he had to keep drinking one pot after another after another. This caused much trouble for him, as his creative inspiration had to be interrupted time after time.

To solve this problem, Su decided to make a large teapot with his own hands. He purchased some local earthenware clay -- Yixing purple clay, and got his plan under way. However, after a few months' effort, not a single satisfactory pot showed up. It became a secret trouble to him.

Then finally, as the poor poet was still worrying about the pot, a boy attendant came over and invited Su to enjoy a small meal with him. Su's face lit up as soon as he took notice of a lantern in the boy's hand. "Great! I will make a large teapot based on this lantern!" he thought.

The next day, Su bought more purple clay, and carried out his new plan eagerly. Before long, a lantern-like pot took shape. But another problem emerged: The pot was so large and smooth that no one could pick it up with one hand. He then crafted a huge clay handle, and attached it to both sides of the teapot. As the pot was fired and brought out of a kiln, the handle seemed just like a cross beam that was easy to grip.

Following his success, it is said that Su was always seen with his new favorite teapot. Some say he even loved it more than his own son. Many artisans have copied Su's design, and nowadays the pots are called Dongpo Cross Beam Pots.

Take a look at the photo of a real Dongpo Cross Beam Pot. It was taken at San Su Temple, the former residence of Su Dongpo, in the southwestern part of Sichuan province.

A famous emperor and purple clay teapots

Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799) was on the throne for 60 years. He lived to be 89 years old and was the oldest emperor in Chinese imperial history.

This emperor was addicted to tea all throughout his old age. He once said, "A monarch should not go without tea for even one day." Apparently, he saw drinking tea as a vital element to his health. In his lifetime, he traveled all around the country and tasted various varieties of famous tea.

To go with his fanaticism over tea, Qianlong was also serious about his teaware. He thought Yixing purple clay teapots were the finest in the world. Almost every time he had a cup of tea, he demanded that it be brewed from a purple clay teapot. He thought these teapots brought the best out of his tea.

Emperor Qianlong appointed specialists to select the best purple clay teapots from Yixing, or to design the most appealing styles. Favored by emperors like Qianlong, Yixing purple clay teapots earned a great reputation soon. Nowadays, people are proud of owning good purple clay teapots. Although we have no chance to being an emperor for even one day, we can pick a purple clay teapot and experience the pleasure that emperors used to have.

Posted under Tea