Beijing Teahouse 1 oz. Silver Coin

The image on the reverse of Series 3 silver coins focuses on the rich and vibrant Chinese culture. This coin features the traditional scene in local teahouse in Beijing. Featuring a design of tea drinking, eating, and cross talking, Beijing Tea Stall has been a place of popular entertainment for citizens of old Beijing.

The right side of the coin, about 1/3 of the area, is divided by the traditional Chinese window lattice features a colored design with the Spring Festival picture. Watch the official series III video!

Chinese tea culture is among the best of Chinese culture. The tea ceremony is a very profound and complex thing, and it seems that only with a pure heart and few worldly desires can a man get its quintessence.

However, for the common people, at least those in Beijing, such a state free from vulgarity can never be attained. Therefore, the teahouses in Beijing, different from those in other places, have never been places of peace and quiet. Instead, they are always hustling and bustling. Perhaps this has something with the Beijingers' disposition: fearful of quiet, and fond of communication, especially that of group chatting. Hence, the teahouses provide perfect venues for them to gather together and talk of everything under the sun with great gusto. (Source: chinaculture.org)

Lao She Teahouse

The teahouse, located on the southwest of Tiananmen Square, is named after Lao She, a renowned writer known as peoples artist. It was created in 1988 bysome zhiqings (educated young people sent to rural areas for reeducation during the Cultural Revolution) who had returned to Beijing led by Yin Shenxi, a pioneer reformer of commerce in Beijing. Today the teahouse has become a comprehensive cultural enterprise which blends Chinese opera, food, tea, and Beijing culture, and which features various forms of teahouses found in old Beijing, such as the plain teahouse, the teahouse-restaurant, the roadside tea stall, and the teahouse with story tellers.

The three-story teahouse has a business area of 2,600 square meters. The Qianmen Sihe Teahouse on the second floor follows the layout of Siheyuan (Quadrangle Dwelling) in Beijing, and combines the styles of north and south China. Whereas the main house follows the traditional style, the wing rooms are of varied designs, blending traditional art and modern technology. Lush grass and singing birds add to its natural gracefulness and liveliness.

Every day, in the theatre on the third floor you may watch performances of traditional folk arts, such as Peking opera, folk shows, acrobatic, magic, and face switching. The shows are accompanied by such refreshments as famous kinds of tea, court and local snacks, and Beijing-style delicacies. In the east of the third floor is the Big-bowl Tea Restaurant, which offers old-Beijing cuisine, specially fashioned tea-accompanying dishes, and tea banquet.

Since its open, Lao She Teahouse has received 47 foreign leaders, wives of ambassadors from over 40 countries, a number of celebrities, and over 3 million tourists from home and abroad. It has become a special window to Chinese culture and a tie of friendship between China and other countries of the world. Address:No. 3 Qianmen West Street, Xuanwu District, Beijing (Source: beijingbirdnest.com)

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