Learning Chinese - Served with a side of tradition

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CITYLIFE / Bars & Cafes






Served with a side of tradition


By Ye Jun (Beijing Weekend)
Updated: 2007-08-03 09:38







Teahouses have long been where Chinese literati gather for lofty
discussions of historical texts. A new teahouse has just been established
to help revive that tradition. Haohuaxing Teahouse, opened last week on
Donghuamen Dajie near the eastern gate of Forbidden City, is a two-floor,
medium-sized teahouse decorated in traditional Chinese style. From the
typically Chinese window frames and screens, stone blocks at the door, to
the characteristic, comfortable furniture, everything is made in line
with the Chinese classic style. Fittingly, it is located just 200m from
the Imperial Palace.

But what really makes this teahouse different is the precious artwork on
display, on its walls and on the second floor. Beijing has plenty of good
classical Chinese-style teahouses where you can get a decent sip of tea
in a calm environment. This teahouse is one of the few, which offers a
genuine display of ancient Chinese relics.

On the walls of the four private rooms on the ground floor, and a small
pavilion style room at the corner, as well as the entire second floor,
are the genuine painting and calligraphy works of some of the best
Chinese ancient and contemporary artists. The themes of the artworks are
diverse, but most are on landscape or scenery. There are also Qing and
Ming dynasties (1368-1911) furniture on the second floor.

These displayed paintings and calligraphy works are also for sale,
ranging from several thousand to several hundred thousand yuan. The
artworks come with a license proving their authenticity. But it should be
noted that artworks created earlier than 1911 cannot be taken out of
China.

The second floor also has a small display of the owner's personal
collection, of a bronze mirror, bronze sword, and a bronze ding, an
ancient Chinese cooking vessel.

Green tea sells 28-88 yuan a cup, or 68-980 yuan a pot. Or you can order
by the helping, which is three sachets of tea, each weighing 7-8g. There
are almost all the famous teas in China, including dragon well,
Biluochun, oolong, Pu'er, black tea, green tea, and white tea, as well as
nutritional tea. Tea performance is free of charge.

Although the tea menu is only in Chinese, the waiters are college
graduates, so you can expect them to at least speak basic English. If you
happen to be around Wangfujing or Forbidden City, and would like to savor
tea, and appreciate Chinese paintings, Haohuaxing could be a good option.

Location: 63 Donghuamennei Dajie, Dongcheng District. 200 meters east of
the eastern gate of Forbidden City, to the north of the street.
Opening hours: 9am-2pm
Tel: 010-?6522-2039























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