Tea Culture in Old Beijing
The so-called tea culture is, in short, the sum of tea-related material and spiritual wealth created in the process of social and historical development. Tea culture is a product of a high degree of harmony and unity between material and spiritual civilization, with the material as the carrier, reflecting a clear spiritual content. Tea culture is extensive and profound, and contains a broad range of contents, such as the historical development of tea, the cultural environment of tea area, tea technology, tea types, tea sets, tea drinking customs, tea ceremony, tea art, tea paintings, tea poetry and other cultural and artistic forms, as well as the spirit of tea ceremony and tea virtue, and the influence of tea on social life. Drinking tea can be regarded as a common thing in daily life, but also as a spiritual pursuit of lofty and delicate life.
Beijing has been the capital city of China for hundreds of years. Tea was enjoyed by common people, literati, dignitaries and imperial relatives, while people from different social classes had different tea customs, making the tea culture of old Beijing rich in multi-level diversity. The old Beijingers love jasmine tea. The feelings of old Beijingers for big bowls of tea and the distinct features of teahouses all highlight the popularization of the tea culture in old Beijing and the style of the imperial capital.
Teahouses became the most prosperous in the Qing Dynasty. At that time, there were teahouses, tea parks and tea shops all around Beijing’s streets, full of tea guests from day to night. Teahouse is a social place, where all kinds of social information gather and spread, which is actually the same as the western coffee shops. Customers often spend a half day discussing tea, birds, household stuff, current events, meeting friends, and talking about business. Without spending much, they learn a lot. In order to attract customers, some teahouses set up stages, and add big drums, storytelling and Beijing Opera, making the teahouses entertainment places.
At the end of Qing and the early years of the Republic of China, the social environment changed. And the teahouses of large scale gradually depressed and shut down, replaced by all kinds of small and medium-sized teahouses. These teahouses served different customers by classifying into green teahouses which provide tea only, book teahouses where guests could enjoy storytelling and drum-playing, and chess teahouses which set chessboards. Moreover, there were some seasonal tea booths, among which Shichahai (a famous lake in Beijing) was the most famous. Every year from the Beginning of Summer (around May 6th) to the Autumn Equinox (around September 23rd), a corridor of tea booths formed along the north bank of Shichahai. Afterward, these booths kept growing and moved into some major parks, for example, the Laijinyuxuan Tea House in Zhongshan Park, the Yilan Hall in Beihai Park, and Houhe in the Ancestral Temple.
The tea-drinking culture in Beijing is all-encompassing, which integrates the tea-drinking culture of various places and then derives its own unique characteristics. With the development of history, the old Beijingers are also constantly learning and absorbing the essence of other cultures, and further promoting the development of their own one.
Jasmine Tea: A Long-Standing Charm to Beijingers
The history of tea drinking in Beijing dated back to the Sui Dynasty when the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal built under the command of Emperor Yang acted as the backbone of the inland communication system and transport of goods from south to north in China. Since then, large quantities of high-quality tea produced in the south were shipped to ports in Tianjin and then sold in Beijing. Among them, jasmine tea was said to be the favorite among native Beijingers for its quality and flavor.
During the Tomb Sweeping Festival, most types of tea were picked up and packaged up well. On the way of transit procedure, the fragrance of tea would be largely faded because of moisture. In ancient times, the royal in Beijing preferred the fresh spring water fetched in Yuquan Mountain and sweet well water in the capital city. While the ordinary people could only get access to the bitter well water. To improve the taste, a tea merchant called Chen Guqiu added dried jasmine flowered into boiled water and popularized it to the public.
According to historical records, jasmine tea had been the exclusive tea among members of the Eight Banners (Ba Qi) in the early Qing Dynasty. White jasmine flower, once favored by Empress Dowager Cixi, was forbidden to be worn except for Cixi. At that time, white jasmine flower was often used as the national gifts to foreign ambassadors and mistaken as the national flower when Empress Dowager Cixi was in power for decades. Now the time-honored brand, Wu Yu Tai Tea House, which originated from the 13th year of Guangxu’s reign(1887), features jasmine tea of diverse types.
Distinctive Teahouses in Old Beijing
Tea drinking has been a traditional custom among native Beijingers. Teahouses formed in the Tang Dynasty, flourished in the Song Dynasty and was recorded in Yuan Qu written in the Yuan Dynasty. As society developed, private teahouses, tea bars, public tea shops and teahouses with diverse features were created. Teahouses often served as centers of social interaction where people came to gossip and discussed personal issues. Teahouses have evolved into popular places for the rich and places for entertainment for the common people. Hence the culture of teahouse and the tea culture were also developed and matured.
There are different types of teahouses in China including Large Teahouse, Pure Teahouses, Teahouses for Storytelling, Chess Teahouses, Wine Teahouse and Wild Teahouses. In Purse Teahouses, people do nothing but drink tea, most of whom are unoccupied persons or the young from the rich family. Teahouses for Storytelling, or Shu Teahouses, normally in the afternoon and night, are welcomed by people who are interested in novels, pingshu and storytelling. Chess Teahouses are popular among people who are the learners and masters of playing chess or interested in gossiping chess-related issues. In the Qing Dynasty, there were also some Chess Teahouses that served scholars and officials nearby Shichahai.
The tea culture has revitalized thanks to the public attention after a long term of decline. Now there are nearly 200 teahouses different types and classes. Now teahouses with local characteristics have appeared in Beijing with the performance of Beijing Opera, with the combination of tea culture and folk customs and arts in recent years.
Laoshe Teahouse, widely famous in and beyond China, stands as the culture card in Beijing where numerous tea fans are gathered and which features rich tea culture.
