"China has the best teahouses in the world and Chengdu has the best teahouses in China." No wonder you will see numerous teahouses when strolling on the streets in Chengdu. The well-deserved reputation bestowed upon teahouses mushrooming all around the city is reflected in their quantity, quality, dimension and diversity.

As one of the biggest birthplaces of tea in China, Sichuan has a history of tea growing, producing and drinking for centuries. Teahouses used to be the center of folks' social life. Even nowadays they still play an indispensable role in the local culture.

As far as I know, there are currently more than 6,000 teahouses in Chengdu, varying from the shabby ones where you only spend 5 yuan for a cup of tea enjoying yourself for a whole day to the luxurious ones where you'd better not go unless your wallet is full. However, the various teahouses co-exist in such a harmony that they constitute a magnificent landscape of Chengdu.

The teahouse is a place of relaxation for whomever from retirement pension holders to millionaires, even billionaires. When sitting in a teahouse sipping down China's most popular beverage, you enjoy the unique atmosphere? absolutely relaxing, rather peaceful and a little lazy...

As one of the biggest teahouses in Chengdu, the People's Park Teahouse, located downtown, with a history of more than a hundred years, is a legacy from the Qing Dynasty. It is a symbol of the city's prominent teahouse culture, whose dedicated customers spend countless hours each day kicking back in its tranquil atmosphere discussing current affairs, playing mahjong, poker or Chinese chess, enjoying chair massage and some of China's unique traditional treatment such as ear cleaning. They sit in simple and crude bamboo chairs at stone tables by the lake surrounded by willows, overlooking the cheerful children and young lovers rowing boats on the lake. Nearby, rows of birdcages are hung up on the trees. A steady chirping mingles with the chat of the birds' owners. Tea, however, is of secondary importance to the hordes of retired folk who represent the traditional Chengdu's teahouse culture. For most loyal teahouse regular customers, enjoying each other's company in a relaxing atmosphere counts more than anything else.

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