Beijing, China: Lao She Teahouse

Lao She Teahouse comes highly recommended by many travel guides and it's not too difficult to see why tourists, especially the Westerners, would be drawn to such a place. It's that sort of cultural immersion that you would want to experience in a foreign country, and even I myself thought it would be well-worth spending an evening sitting through 2+ hours of traditional Chinese performances. What I should have remembered is that I've already had the "privilege" of watching so many Chinese orchestra and opera performances as a young student, and so the overall experience at Lao She did not excite or interest me much.


This being a food blog after all, I should make brief comments on the snacks that were served for the night. They were all boring, period. The tea was decent, and was filled throughout the night. The candies and green bean soup were... oh forget it, they were all downright pathetic.


At the end of it all, you're just paying for the performances. Much of it was yawn-inspiring, but I did enjoy the acts by the Gong Fu Cha ("Kung Fu Tea Masters") and Bian Lian (literally translated as "face-changing", a dramatic mask performance). If I could say anything more, it's really to just keep the money and buy yourself another Peking Duck to feast on.

Price
180RMB per person.

Place
No.3, Qianmen West Street,
Chongwen District, Beijing.

Pictures taken with the Canon EOS 500D.