So you’ve seen the pandas and dipped into the hotpot. Jolly good. But you have not properly experienced Chengdu culture until you’ve slowed down and stopped at a Chinese tea house. Let go of the urge to do more sightseeing, slouch into a little bamboo chair, order some tea and sunflower seeds to nibble on, and you’ll be well on your way to experience Chengdu the way it should be.
Chengdu has the most tea houses in the whole country. It’s while sipping tea at a Chinese tea house when you’ll get to experience the true laid-back charisma of Sichuan province. There are thousands of traditional tea houses scattered around Chengdu where you can embrace the city’s slower pace and cultural charms.
If you’re looking for the most unique, and the most photogenic Chinese tea house in Chengdu, we suggest you go check out the Old Tea House in Pengzhen.
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What’s the Name of Chengdu’s Most Beautiful Chinese Tea House?
This captivating tea house goes by different names. Some call it the Old Tea House, Guanyinege Old Teahouse, or Guanyin Pavilion while some simply call it the Pengzhen Tea House. The Chinese name (双流彭镇老茶馆) translates to Shuangliu Pengzhen Old Teahouse.
Regardless of what you choose to call it, this tea house is pure magic for those of you who are searching for an authentic glimpse into China very few tourists get to see.
This tea house is believed to be one of the oldest surviving tea houses in China. No one can tell us exactly how old though, which is strange in a country where they can tell you exactly who did what 3 000 years ago. But we’ve been told either over a hundred years or three hundred years old by different people.
Pengzhen Old Tea House in Pictures
Faded colours and the sense that time has stood still here: those are the first things that I recall when I think of the village of Pengzhen.
It’s an early December morning when our taxi drops us off at the entrance to Pengzhen village. We must look out of place with our large suitcase on wheels (we were going straight to the airport after), but who cares?
It’s easy to find the tea house, as there’s a convivial throng of elderly men sitting outside already playing cards, smoking, and drinking tea. We look for a sign outside without success. Not sure if that is the Old Tea House that we’re looking for, so we take a peek inside.
Looking inside, faded propaganda posters and murals from the Cultural Revolution greet us. More seniors sitting on low bamboo chairs smoking pipes and playing cards around little square tables. We’ve found the Old Tea House of Pengzhen!
The customers of the tea house are mostly made up of senior men. For them, this is more than a tea house. It is their community centre where they come every day to see their friends, talk about the weather, get advice for noisy roosters or simply sit and stare vacantly and reminisce about days gone past. In one corner there is a pre-flatscreen era TV where three old friends and a dog sit and watch what looks like a soap opera.
It’s refreshingly beautiful to see a place like this in a country that has a fetish for the future.
In the middle of the tea house is a large, coal-fired stove where kettles boil and steam away. The soft morning light, the steam, the dust in the cold air, the aroma of freshly brewed tea and the quiet chatter of old men are all too much to capture in pictures.
For centuries, the tea houses of Sichuan have been the centre of entertainment, storytelling and getting together. The Old Teahouse in Pengzhen is no different.
This Chinese tea house is the epicentre of this community and gives these old men a place to come and tell their stories and listen to others. It gives them a reason to get up in the morning and go outside.
Every so often the young manager, Li Quiang, will take a boiling kettle and swing it through the air. The boiling hot water flies through the air and sizzles as it lands on the stove. After a moment of distractions, everyone goes back to playing cards, smoking pipes and discussing noisy roosters.
Manager Li Quiang wearing a backwards baseball cap and bright red headphones is the only real sign that we’re in modern-day and age.
Photographing the Old Tea House
Chengdu’s tea houses are no-frills venues that stand out for their convivial atmosphere and would be the equivalent to a pub in the UK. It’s more than just about drinking tea – it’s the gathering place of the community where they come to relax and socialize.
The people of Pengzhen Tea House are just wonderful. They will probably be genuinely intrigued by a foreigner being here in their teahouse. Why on earth would a foreigner come out all this way to sleepy Pengzhen for a cup of tea instead of Starbucks in the city?
The location has become popular with small groups of amateur Chinese photographers in recent times. Yet the seniors go about their business as usual: playing cards, smoking pipes, chatting and…yes, talking about noisy roosters. Everything still looks and feels natural and unforced.
Thank goodness Instagram is banned in China – there are definitely no young blondes prancing around in white crochet tops and oversized yellow skirts.
One middle-aged customer took me under his wing and took me around the tea house, pointing out the best viewpoints, or called me over when manager Li Quiang was about to do his hot water splashing stunt.
He took me by the hand and dragged me outside to take a picture of his friend shaving heads just outside.
As we were getting ready to leave for the airport, he came over and shyly gestures that we should take a picture together. Unhappy with the first photo, he gestures that I should make the V-sign.
For the best photos, come here early in the morning when the light is good.
Please remember that this is THEIR tea house and you’re a guest. Please don’t ruin it for them, or those coming after you. Be respectful, and for god’s sake: don’t wear a white crochet top!
Oh, And Don’t Forget About the Tea
A cup of tea goes for RMB 2, while a bottomless thermos will set you back RMB 10 (that’s about USD 1.50). The favourite here, as elsewhere in Chengdu, is Maofeng green tea infused with jasmine blossoms.
Your cup comes with a saucer and lid. Use the lid to keep floating tea leaves out of your mouth as you take sips, and to cover the cup to keep the tea warm.
Keep adding more water from the thermos to prevent your brew from going bitter. You can spend the whole day at the tea house nurturing your thermos and green tea brew without the obligation to buy anything else.
If you get peckish or your hands need to do something (and you don’t smoke), you can always get a bowl of sunflower or melon seeds to crack open and chew on while sipping tea and people watching.
If you want to experience the good life in Chengdu, make time for a tea house. But not any tea house – make time for the Old Tea House in Pengzhen!
How to Get to Pengzhen & Other Info
The village of Pengzhen is about 30 km outside central Chengdu, on the way to the airport. The easiest way to get to Pengzhen is by Didi (Chinese Uber). The ride from our hotel in Tianfu Square took about 40 minutes and about RMB 90 (about 13 USD).
Adress in Chinese: 彭镇观音阁老茶馆, 双流区彭镇马市坝街近交通路三段
Hours: 5:00-17:00 (mornings are better since it’s busier)
So What’s Your Advice For Noisy Roosters?
Have you been to a Chinese tea house before? What are they talking about, considering that they see each other every single day? If you know or have advice for noisy roosters, let us know in the comments below.
What a wonderful post, which I found looking for photographs of third places around the world. As someone who knows Beijing and Shanghai, it’s hard to believe these photos are recent. I’m going to browse your travel posts for more third places. (This is for a book, The Great Good Place, which I’m writing as coauthor to sociologist Ray Oldenburg.)
Hi Karen,
I’m glad you liked it. You’ll find pockets like this in most Chinese cities, although it’s getting rarer.
As for Chengdu, the tea house culture is so intertwined with daily life that you still find many authentic ones in the city.
You might also want to look into the Mahjong houses, especially in Guangdong province, when researching third places. That’s where most of my male colleagues spend their free time until the wife calls them home.
Good luck with your book.