Unknown Places for Teatasting in Chongqing

Hou Cha: Good Tea in Well Water

Secret and tranquil, Hou Cha locates in the faculty housing estate in Chongqing Technology and Business University without even a house number, hardly to be found without acquaintances’guiding. As the Chinese saying goes, “good wine needs no bush”, the teahouse is quite popular in spite of its location. Compared to those noisy old teahouses, Hou Cha is less vulgar and more elegant. With simple cloth gown and peaceful look, the owner has learned tea ceremony from a master for nearly ten years.

“Hou Cha” (Hou means generosity in Chinese) originates from being generous to people. Having a homophonic pronunciation to the Chinese character “候” (waiting), it also means waiting for the tea lovers. The small teahouse has four distinct tearooms which all share the same atmosphere of Buddhahood, calming people by the magical power of its antique furnishings. Time slows down in it. Without eye-catching show of tea ceremony, Hou Cha’s subtlety comes from the water it use besides which good tea leaves. As the saying goes, “good tea should match good water.” The water used by Hou Cha is from a nearby old well which is called Meng Xuan Shui (meaning “dream spring” in Chinese). People are willing to drive long way to get there, just to take the water from the well, and Hou Cha enjoys the advantage of it. Every month, the teahouse will have book club meetings, offering people the opportunity to make friends by tea and book, which all depends on karma.

Location Chongqing Technology and Business University, Xuefu Avenue, Nan’an District

Dong Lu Fang: Enjoying Time on Streets

Standing on the end of Dongshuimen Bridge and looking into the direction of Xiahao on the Nanbin Road, you will find among the low rise old houses a conspicuous three-story old house surrounded by bamboos. Walking along the sinuous flagstone road, passing through the old streets with grey tiles and looking for its house number, you can fi nd it easily.

Its owner is obsessed with old buildings in Chongqing. Drinking tea here, you can talk with her about the culture of old buildings. Tea bills are not available here, so just leave how much you like. Sitting in the small tearoom beside the hallway, you can feel the intimacy among the neighbors by watching them passing by, dropping around and chatting with each other. Old cane chair with handmade cotton pillow, tie-dyed blue cloth on the old tea table, green plants in a used pot—time goes away on these gadgets and the imperfect refl ects the beauty of peaceful time here. This is the character of Dong Lu Fang, where you can feel the peaceful and slow lifestyle on the old streets and enjoy the tranquility and beauty of life.

Location No.47, Dongjia Bridge, Xiahao Street, Nan’an District

Jiaotong Teahouse: Drinking a Kind of Feeling

Jiaotong Teahouse, located in a remote place, is very famous in Chongqing. The teahouse has a long history, and is very economical. You can stay here for a whole afternoon with only 4 yuan. It has a history of 29 years since 1987 which was the staff canteen of Huangjueping Transportation Company Limited in the past.

For now, the furnishings of the house still remain the old style of 1980s. The owner, Mr. Chen, doesn’t run this teahouse for commercial purpose, thus the teahouse just has seen a rise in price for only once in nearly 10 years. Without the help of Chen Anjian, Mr. Chen would have transferred the possession of the teahouse for several times because of economic loss. Thanks to Chen Anjian, a professor of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute (SFAI), the teahouse survives until now. The professor bears half the rent of the teahouse, and he only requires Mr.Chen to maintain it in the old way without any change. As a result, the overall arrangement of the teahouse has never been altered. The house owns numerous fans. Students and professors of SFAI often come here to sketch. Moreover, Ning Hao, a fi lm director, drank here and shot some scenes here for his movie

Crazy Stone. People come here not only for tea-tasting, but also for a kind of feeling. Without impetuous business or feasting and revelry, you can feel the owner’s enthusiasm and pursuit of life and customer’s contemplation on life.

Location No.20, Zhengjie Street, huangjueping, Jiulongpo District, Chongqing

Bai Lu Yuan: Enjoying Chinese Operal While Tasting New Tea

Every day in Bai Lu Yuan, various famous tea ceremonies are performed here, including copper kettle tea ceremony of Sichuan and Chongqing area, Zen teaism of monks and Taoist priests, Kongfu tea of Fujian, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces and classical tea during the Song and Yuan Dynasties. Every gesture and motion of performers is elegant. The teahouse is fi lled with tea fragrance and classical music which attracts many customers every day. A lot of literati arrive here to talk about the ancient and modern times or the gain and loss of life, reaching an innocent and natural tranquility in harmonious atmosphere.

The hall of Bai Lu Yuan looks like the small theater built by big families in their courts in the past, with capacious hall at downstairs and exquisite private rooms at upstairs. In the evening, its lights are suddenly lit with elegant women steping up onto the stage slowly. The big peony fl owers on the background flatter their good figures and the spreading aroma of tea accompanies their elegant movements. With a sudden sound of Pipa (a plucked string instrument with a fretted fi ngerboard), a beauty in superb dress plays it skillfully and emotionally. And the sound of Pipa is so euphonic that touches all the customers. In this intoxicating spring night, everyone can be a literatus or romantic in this teahouse, feeling the tea scent between lips and teeth and getting rid of all the worries in the atmosphere.

□ Written by Yang Yan Photo by Ma Yanyan， Ni Xiaoke Part pictures provided by interviewees

Location No.9, Chongqing Image, No.66 Nanping Xi Road