Located at west Qianmen Street in Beijing,
Lao She Tea
House again sold its big bowl of tea that only costs two cents
during the National Day holidays (October 1-7). Over 1,500
tourists, foreigners or Chinese, came to drink the tea every day.
Certainly, the most appreciative people were the old Beijingers who
said they found memories in the bowl.
Today, people would’t stop to pick up two cents if it dropped to
the ground. But sometimes it is hard for people to really take out
two cents from their pockets, and when that happened to tourists
over the holidays, the teahouse staff offered the brew as well.
Some tourists felt so embarrassed that they instead offered one
jiao (equals to ten cents), saying, "We will drink it again next
time."
As
everybody knows, Lao She Tea House made its start by selling the
big bowl of tea at a price of two cents. Now the establishment has
grown and prospered into a business worth hundreds of million yuan.
The teahouse again sold the "big bowl of tea" at the same site
where they started their business, offering tourists and Beijingers
a place to sip and recall the past.
As
a famous cultural establishment, Lao She Tea House offers opera,
tea, food, and culture. In recent years, the teahouse also
confronted the problem of how to meet fierce market competition. In
2000, the teahouse staged multiple theatrical performances called
"Beijing Affection" which has been well received. Over 80 thousand
tourists last year visited the tea house.
After entering the main gate of the teahouse and going upstairs,
tourists can see lovely traditional Chinese pictures, calligraphy,
and clay figures and other artifacts. After sitting down at the
Baxian table and tasting the royal cakes and Beijing snacks,
tourists can also hear Chinese ethnical music, peacefully and
leisurely.
Lao She Tea House has really become a hot scenic spot in
Beijing
(China Tourism Newspaper report on October 8, 2001 translated for
china.org.cn by unisumoon on October 12, 2001)