Tea is the organising principle of Chengdu life. The city is said to have more teahouses than any other in China, and the older ones are not cafes in any sense - they are places where a cup buys you an entire afternoon of sitting, talking, playing cards and being left alone.
Pengzhen
About thirty minutes west of the city, in Shuangliu district, Pengzhen village has a teahouse that has been running for well over a century under a wooden temple-like structure. The floor is packed earth, worn into hollows by decades of feet. The benches are dark wood, the teapots are enamel, the walls carry portraits and old slogans, and the tea costs a symbolic amount with unlimited refills from a big kettle. Regulars in flat caps arrive at dawn and stay most of the day, smoking, arguing and playing cards. It is a working, unpolished place, and photographers are tolerated as long as they buy tea and do not behave like a tour group.
How the tea works
Order jasmine or green tea and you get a lidded porcelain cup - a gaiwan - with a handful of leaves and a thermos or kettle within reach. You top it up yourself, all afternoon. Snacks such as sunflower seeds, peanuts or melon seeds are part of the ritual and part of the price. Nobody will hurry you out, and nobody will ask if you want a second cup: the point is that you have bought the seat, not the drink.
The other classic teahouses
Inside the city, the teahouse in People's Park is the most famous, with bamboo chairs, a lake and the occasional ear cleaner walking around with long steel tools. It is now busy with visitors, so if you want something closer to the everyday version, look for a neighbourhood teahouse in the lanes off Kuanzhai Alley or along the Jinjiang river, where the clientele is local and the pace is slower.
Practical notes
A cup of tea in an old-style teahouse costs between 10 and 40 yuan depending on the leaf and the location. Cash is still welcome in the village places and mobile payment works everywhere. Mornings are the best time for atmosphere; afternoons are the best time for photography.
