Former U.S. president George H. Bush and Jordanian queen Rania were both lured in to enjoy what the teahouse had to offer.

Indeed, it has so much to offer that you may hope to move to Beijing enjoy everyday.

The building itself is a Qing dynasty-style loft structure, so the establishment really brings you back in time at your first sight! The waiters wear ancient outfits, and greet you in a very special way that seasoned Beijingers say reminds them of the city’s old days.

Basically a teahouse, Lao She goes beyond a little bit to offer some of China’s finest traditional performing arts that are harder and harder to see today. On its third floor, you can enjoy acrobatics, Kung Fu shows, Peking opera, ventriloquism, cross-talk, and the famous face-changing dance while taking a sip of your favorite tea.

One of the biggest hit here is the well-known face-changing dance that comes from Sichuan province. A dancer will wave his arms and swag his head as his mask changes, and could do so in less than a second. The best performers can change their painted masks up to 30 times at one go. Because of difficulty of changing masks in such a short time, only a handful of artists can perform this dance today. There are also occasionally such performances around the Beijing Hwa Apartment Hotel.

Another program that also amazes many is the ‘Han Deng Da Gu.Singers of this ancient form of art don’t sing the way you would usually expect. They sing with such a holder in their mouths as is mounted with a few of burning candles.

They have to keep the candles in a good balance with the face muscles, otherwise the candles will fall. Han Deng Da Gu singers here at Lao She Teahouse are all masters of this ancient art of show. Their sound appears so flawless that without watching the show you won’t know there is actually something bothersome in their mouth. Across the country, there are only a handful of singers who are able to perform this old art because it takes many years of hard training.

But that;s not all they offer at the Lao She teahouse. Here waiters pour tea in a procession that looks more like an acrobatic show. The pot they use to pour tea is pretty bizarre: it has a long spout that can measure up to 1.5 meters. When serving, the waiter tosses the pot around before pouring your tea from the long spout without splashing even a drop. This is not a task that anyone can accomplish, and is much appreciated by the audience.

You can also enjoy a variety of Beijing snacks as you enjoy the shows. Lv Da Gun–literally means rolling donkey—is a snack of glutinous rice balls rolled with bean paste. Millet Mush, or Mian Cha as known in Chinese, is a kind of porridge made with sesame and peanut butter. For those with sweet tooth, the small bean cakes known as Wan Dou Huang is always a good try.

Prices are reasonable; an average of 50-60 dollars should be enough to cover the fare of the shows, tea and a couple of snacks. Business hours: 14:00 – 22:00.

The Lao She Teahouse’s location in central Beijing is very convenient, and you can book a Beijing hotel here.

Technorati Tags: Beijing, Beijing attractions, Beijing Avic Hotel, Beijing Hwa Apartment Hotel, China, Forbidden City, four star, hotel, Lao She teahouse, shopping, teahouse, Tiananmen Square, Travel

A testimony to this claim: there is an old Beijing saying goes as buying buy shoes at Nei Lian Sheng, hats at Ma Ju Yuan, fabrics at Rui Fu Xiang, and tea at Zhang Yi Yuan, which are all famous brands on this ancient street called Da Zha Lan. 

Right near the Forbidden City, it’s very easy to find Da Shi Lan and the shops that have been in business for hundreds of years.

Simply walk south from the Beijing Redwall Hotel, past Tian’anmen Square, and you’ll be there in five minutes.

Da Zha Lan, with its history going far back to the 1400s, is now Beijing’s oldest commercial street. The name sounds a somewhat offbeat, meaning ‘big fences’.Nearly 600 years ago, worrying the rampant thefts in Beijing, an emperor ordered fences to be built to prevent the ill phenomenon. Fences built around Da Zha Lan were taller and lasted for longer anywhere else in Being, and thus gave the area its name.

Today, as it was in the past, the street is packed with teahouses, theatres, tailor shops, silk stores, restaurants, and handicraft shops. They cluster one after another in ancient buildings that immediately bring you back in time!

The Shops

Nei Lian Sheng

The 160-year old shop Nei Lian Sheng near the Beijing Hwa Apartment Hotel sells handmade cloth shoes. Their shoes are famous for the excellent craftsmanship and unmatchable comfort.

In old times, shoes made in Nei Lian Sheng were great hit with officials who worked in the imperial palace not far from Da Zha Lan. Not only were the shoes of superior quality, but the name of Nei Lian Sheng spoke a wish for every official: soaring to be the top-ranked officials.

Today, workers apply techinques perfected throughout the past century to make customized shoes. Deng Xiao Ping, the late Chinese leader, was a big admirer of Nei Lian Sheng shoes and own a collection of them for its own use.

Ma Ju Yuan

The hat shop Ma Ju Yuan was built in 1817. A small stall at first, the shop soon earned a name that made it the supplier of the ‘red turf hat’ to be worn by Qing government officials.

That might explain why old Beijingers deemed owning a hat made in Ma Ju Yuan an honor or a privilege.

In the years that followed, the shop made hats for princes, religious figures as well as numberous foreign leaders. Even today, Beijingers prefer to buy their hats at Ma Ju Yuan like they have been doing over the past century.

Rui Fu Xiang

Established in 1891, the shop sells all kinds of top-quality fabric: cotton, silk, woolen cloth, and so on.

The very first flag of P.R. China, the one raised in 1949 in its nation-founding ceremony, was actually a work of Rui Fu Xiang.

Tailors of the shop make some of the most gorgeous cheongsams you are likely to find in Beijing. Many visitors to Beijing are amazed by their products and can’t resist owning one of their own to show off before friends back home.

Zhang Yi Yuan

In 1900, Zhang Yi Yuan came into business. Since then, customers have been keeping coming back for some of the best tea they can find in Beijing. Each year, they purchased tea leaves directly from tea-growing farmers. They only sell tea nurtured in a completely natural way and picked at just the right time.

They use their own method of processing tea leaves, which proved to be a big hit among tea lovers. Now there special jasmine tea is sold at a low price and is worth trying.

Da Guan Cinema

Da Guan Cinema, Beijing’s first cinema, was established in 1905. It is even found in the Guinness Book of World Records for its length of staying in business.

Today, the cinema is pretty much in its original decor, and you can enjoy a film while sipping tea like people did several decades ago. Each day more people come to for a unique experience of watching a movie in Beijing’s oldest cinema.

Technorati Tags: Beijing, Beijing Emperor Hotel, Beijing Hwa Apartment Hotel, Beijing Redwall Hotel, China, Da Zha Lanr, five star, four star, gifts, handicrafts, hotel, shopping, souvenirs, Travel

Suppose you want to shop somewhere with a little history, somewhere where you can get lost in antiques and traditional Chinese art forms. History for Beijing’s liulichang street traces back to the early Ming dynasty in the 16th century, and there is no shortage of unique Chinese gifts here.

For several hundred years, the street remained one of Beijing’s most popular places for shopping. Today people shop from window to window on this very street for unique Chinese gifts, such as fans, brush paintings, tea sets, shadow puppets, antiques, and a variety of ethnic items.

And it is just the place you’ve been looking for to buy some unique Chinese gifts for friends and family back home!

Here are some of the shops:

Pin Hu Tang – A Good Cup of Tea Made Easy

This quaint shop at the west end of Liulichang Street is where big-time tea lovers go for authentic Yixing purple clay teapots. It’s not far from the Haige International Hotel

Yixing teapots are said to be able to improve your tea by allowing tea aromas to build up right in the walls of the pot. The secret lies in the special material they use for the pots: Yixing purple clay, which is porous and absorbent.

The clay is found only in Yixing, and the shop offers a nice collection of purple clay teapots from their own kiln. The owner himself is a master potter of Yixing teapots.

The designs of their teapots are quite offbeat. There you will find shapes imitating pumpkins, gourds, stumps, and castles, to name a few. And you will find skillful engravings on these teapots: a scene showing harmony between man and nature, a quotation from an ancient love poem, or an auspicious animal mounting the lid to entertain your eyes…

These really are things you won’t find in your back home! No wonder foreign tourists would like to visit and spend some travel dollars here.

Gu Miao Hua Yuan –- Pristine Beauty of Flowers Live On Your Walls

This interesting little shop is tucked away in a 600-year-old building and offers exceptional Chinese flower paintings that have found their way into the homes of many Beijingers. It is just a short ride away from the Hwa Apartment Hotel. 

There you’ll find paintings of plums, orchids, chrysanthemum, and bamboo; all skillfully done by our master – Mr. Xie.

Mr. Xie is the owner of the shop. He paints a range of flowers, but what he is best at is peony, the flower he loves the most. He’s spent more than a decade observing the flower so as to create works that are true to nature.

They are made by an ancient technique!

There are both frame and easy-to-take scroll works offered in the shop.

Qing Ci Lan Ting – A Lovely Touch To Your Home

This interesting little shop with an old-fashioned façade carries a large collection of celadon products made in Longquan, a southern Chinese town knows as the hometown of celadon.

There you will be fond of a selection of products with designs found nowhere outside of China. The engravings of bowl, for example, is inspired by a special type of fish found only in a small river in Longquan. A big river snail is what another teapot looks like. It looks so real that you wouldn’t recognize it as a teapot at first glance!

Actually, everyone will find something fitting in their own home: a hat-shaped vase for holding flowers, a pumpkin-style jar for storing CDs, and a lotus leaf platter for holding food, to name a few.

You will find crack on some products. They are the result of an ancient technique. The body keeps cracking well after a celadon is done, but never breaks into pieces because the glaze holds it into one piece. The cracks only add up to a more gorgeous looking item.

Anyone who comes in will be served a cup of tea for free. The manager is a young lady. Quite a celadon expert, she knows celadon well and is kind enough to tell whatever you hope to know.

Technorati Tags: Beijing, Beijing attractions, China, four star, Haige International Hotel, hotel, Hwa Apartment Hotel, shopping, souvenirs and gifts, Travel

If you want to break free from from the grind of the daily grind, make sure you don’t overlook Playa Del Carmen alternatives. Although these boutique hotels are less flashy than the other hotels they are still very conveniently located in the heart of Playa del Carmen.

Boutique Hotels Playa Del Carmen Cancun offer persons a wide variety of things to do for everybody! From the Mayan ruins to walking Fifth Avenue.

Playa Maya Hotel – Here Life Slows to a Peace as Gentle as the Caribbean Breeze! One thing that really strikes my fancy is that you enter this hotel from the beach and it just sets the mood of the place. The design and location make it a quiet hotel, too. Playa Maya is a cozy hotel that first opened its doors in the summer of 2002. It is located right on the beach in Playa del Carmen Mexico, the capital of the Mayan Riviera. It is a tranquil site located quite close to 5th Avenue, the heart of activity in Playa. They offer you a perfect base from which to explore all the wonders of the Mexican Caribbean. Adventure options include the wealth of scuba diving, snorkeling and deep sea fishing activities offered. There is also the archaeological ruins of the ancient Maya at Tulum, Cobá and Chichén Itzá, eco-parks such as Xcaret and Xel-Há. Nearby cities like Cancun and Cozumel offer even more attractions and facilities for your enjoyment. You can find this place less than an hour away by car and by ferry, respectively.

Your vacation will be uniquely special if you choose a boutique hotel, there is a certain feel about these places that you have to experience to understand. Whether your tastes run to the large and lavish or towards the small and boutique, Playa offers it all to the discriminating traveler. If this is you then try the Gran Porto Real Playa Del Carmen or The Royal Playa Del Carmen Resorts. Either way you will discover some awesome deals in Playa Del Carmen!

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