Located at the mouths of nine rivers, Tianjin has been a city with habitants from everywhere, even from abroad in the past hundreds of years. It has thus nurtured its own unique folk culture and art. Tianjin cross talk has been well-known for years, and it is famous for its satire, with a sense of humour. There is a saying: Cross talk actors are considered famous only when they are popular in Tianjin. There are so many teahouses in Tianjin. If you walk into one, you may even find performers on the stage! Teahouses are not only good for tea leaves, their water, their performers are also perfect. This is why so many people who come to Tianjin will definitely go to the teahouse for a cross talk! Drinking tea and nibbling melon seeds, listening to humorous and satirical jokes, is there anything more cheerful than this?
Celebrity Tea House
Tianjin “Celebrity Tea House” was established in 1991. It is a cross talk tea house with traditional folk custom characteristics and the nature of holding folk performances. Now it has become a representative of Tianjin tea house cross talk. At present, the Celebrity Tea House is divided into three branches. One is located at No. 177, Xinhua Road, Heping District, with a business area of about 200㎡, becoming a “Xinhua Road Store”; the other is located in Ancient Culture Street, Nankai District. In 2007, it opened in February with a business area of approximately 350㎡ and became an “Ancient Culture Street Store”; the third is located at No. 52, Gulou South Street, with a business area of approximately 340㎡. It opened in October 2009, referred to as Mingliu Gulou Store.
The Celebrity Tea House was planned and designed with the guidance and assistance of Mr. Lao She’s wife Hu Yiqing, as well as Wu Tongbin. The decoration follows the traditional Chinese tea house style, with large square tables, back chairs, carved beams and columns, and several palace lanterns hanging in the pool, presenting an antique, elegant and solemn atmosphere. Mr. Ma Sanli inscribed the plaque of “Celebrity Tea House”, and Mrs. Hu Yiqing inscribed the word “Celebrity” for the tea house, which improved the taste of the tea house.
The consistent purpose of Celebrity Tea House is: to meet the people’s cultural and entertainment needs, promote cultural exchanges at home and abroad, and provide audiences with low-consumption and high-quality artistic enjoyment for the public. It also aims to promote national culture, provide performance groups with a display of art, and train actors. It mainly provides cross talk, and at the same time, it gathers art categories such as Beijing Quyi; attracting audiences at low prices, the teahouse provides them with meticulous and thoughtful services, and actors dedicate wonderful art to audiences.
Address: 1st Floor, Heping Cultural Palace, No. 177, Xinhua Road, Heping District
Tianjie Tea House
The location of this cross talk Tea House is not very eye-catching. It is behind a restaurant in the Antique City near the Gulou, and you have to ask someone to find it. The crosstalk actors are relatively young. Performances begin with allegros, with magic shows interspersed in the middle. The strong Tianjin flavour is suitable for entertaining everyone who come to Tianjin!
This crosstalk teahouse is very famous, there are many famous cross talk performers, and it is a good choice for you to eat melon seeds, drink tea, and listen to a cross talk!
Address: Gate 6, Building 29, Antique Tea Plaza, Gulou West Street, Nankai District, Tianjin
Old Town Xiaoliyuan
This Tea House is located in the Tianjin Old Town Museum (formerly the Xujia Courtyard), which has a century-old history and is the only well-preserved typical traditional residential courtyard in Tianjin.
As the first folk art venue built in a museum in Tianjin, Old Town Xiaoliyuan has an unrepeatable regional geographical location advantage. It is a great innovation that perfectly blends historical and cultural relics with the Chinese nation’s treasure—theatrical culture. During the construction process, the designer will fully display the building components collected during the demolition of the old city, such as ingots, wood carvings, brick carvings, etc. in the newly built Old Town Xiaoliyuan, so that the audience can enjoy the audiovisual and taste at the same time, together with the unique artistic charm of the old Tianjin culture.
The tea house covers an area of 200㎡ and can accommodate more than 100 spectators at the same time. The interior is elegantly decorated and highlights the characteristics and style of traditional houses.
It is worth mentioning that the comedians in this tea house are all boys born in the 1980s and they are quite famous on the Internet!
Address: Tianjin Old Town Museum, 202 Gulou East Street, Nankai District, Tianjin
Qian Xiang Yi Wen Yuan
Qian Xiang Yi Wen Yuan is located in the middle section of Guyi Street, a century-old street in Hongqiao District, Tianjin. It is located in the “Big Hutong” commercial area, a famous small commodity distribution centre in the north, with convenient transportation. It locates in the site of the “Qian Xiang Yi” century-old silk and satin store. It was announced by the State Council in 2013 to be upgraded to a national key cultural relics protection unit. Mr. Jiang Kun has wrote the characters “Home of Cross Talk” for Qian Xiang Yi Wen Yuan. Many famous cross-talkers in Tianjin have performed here. “Listening to cross talks, admiring ancient architecture, and tasting tea” in Qian Xiangyi has become a way for Tianjin citizens and tourists from other places to relax and entertain.
Address: No. 64, Guyi Street, Hongqiao District, Tianjin
West Bund Crosstalk Hall
This comic hall is located in the People’s Park, and you can find it easily according to the signs. The guild hall is not big, but it is quite distinctive. There is a statue of the cross-talker Ma Sanli inside. The decoration is antique and similar to the movie scene.
The hall is divided into upper and lower floors. The first floor is the performance hall, which can accommodate more than 200 people at the same time. The second floor is the VIP area, with 7 VIP single rooms in total. The Hall combines Chinese style with modern stage elements, such as adopting advanced stage lighting and audio equipment, with Chinese-style sofas but no traditional teahouse configurations such as the Eight Immortals table. During the decoration of the crosstalk hall, the special materials on the ceiling and side walls will make the sound field evenly distributed and diffuse the reverberation sound field, which is comparable to the Xiaobailou Concert Hall in terms of stage acoustics.
Address: People’s Park, Tianjin
Chinese Qu Yuan Crosstalk Hall
Chinese Qu Yuan was built during the Guangxu’s reign in the Qing Dynasty, and is located on Nanshi Xu Street (now Heping Road). In the 27th year of Guangxu, it was rebuilt into a dark brick and gray roof building. It was called Zhonghua Laozi Hall, which was mainly used for performances of lotus flowers. It was combined with Quanle Laozi Hall, Qunying Laozi Hall, and Huale Laozi Hall into the “Four Departments of Nanshi”. Due to the moderate terrain and the north-south main road, after the outbreak of the Pacific War in 1942, the Zhonghua Tea Garden was transformed into the Zhonghua Theatre, performing dramas such as Pingxi and Hebei Bangzi, Jin Gang Zuan, Yin Dazi, Han Junqing, Xin Fengxia, Famous actors such as Ma Sanli have performed here.
In the 1960s, the theatre was changed to the Xinhua Bookstore Auditorium, and later renamed the Chinese Theatre, which is now Chinese Qu Yuan. In 1998, the famous cross-talker Yu Baolin advocated and organized the actors to resume the crosstalk conference at Chinese Qu Yuan and other teahouses. The first performance was a hit that makes the cross talk returned to its fertile soil. After the efforts of many crosstalk actors, it became more prosperous. Today, it has become a landmark cultural tourism project in Tianjin.
Address: Intersection of Nanshi Street and Qinghe Street, Heping District, Tianjin
Fule Gulou Teahouse
Fule Gulou Cross Talk Teahouse is located in Gulou South Street, Nankai District. Gulou is Tianjin’s AAAA scenic spot and one of Tianjin’s cultural landscapes.
The architectural style of the tea house is ancient and elegant, in sharp contrast with the modern city. The surrounding area is very lively, and there are many famous cross-talkers here. Traditional comic cross talk, so you can relieve stress and relax in the laughter.
Address: No. 52, Gulou Commercial Street, Nankai District, Tianjin
In Tianjin, you can walk into a cross talk tea house casually, order a pot of tea and some snacks. It will definitely be a pleasant afternoon!
