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)
