Lao She Teahouse
Lao She Teahouse
3.5
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- Qianmen • 5 min walk
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
3.5
94 reviews
Excellent
24
Very good
33
Average
14
Poor
12
Terrible
11
KodoDrummer
Buenos Aires, Argentina70,573 contributions
May 2019 • Friends
We tried a few special teas over an hour in a private booth, while at the same time listening to the music-rich atmosphere. It is on the expensive side. For two of us, it amount to US$160 for our tea and private room. Some of the teas offered sell for over US1,000. Not being an expert in fine tea tasting, I can’t tell the difference between a $5 and $2,000 cup of tea.
Written May 23, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
KodoDrummer
Buenos Aires, Argentina70,573 contributions
Aug 2018 • Business
This is tea-tasting at its best. I dropped in for my second visit this year, to try more varieties of LaoShe’s relaxing tea. This is much more than a place to drink tea. It is loaded with memorabilia, including visits by many world leaders, including George H. W. Bush. We booked a private tea drinking room for an hour to enjoy our selected teas and the music. There is also a dinner show which is very nice, but this time, I only stopped for the tea drinking experience and to enjoy the teahouse, which is like a museum. The tea tasting in private rooms is expensive, but understandable for the location and experience.
Written December 9, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Simon L
Singapore, Singapore38 contributions
Jun 2012 • Family
Overall, it was an enjoyable experience and I'll explain shortly why I've given it an 'average' rating with the caveat "it depends".....We were there with our two children ages 8 & 12 for the evening show on the upper floor and our RMB400 tickets got us fairly close to the stage with a good view. The tea & snacks served were of mediocre quality, but lent nicely to the atmosphere of the old-style cultural show. The performances offered short snippets and a good collage of notable traditional cultural entertainment including the Peking Opera, Changing Faces, string ensemble (pipa, erhu, etc), acrobatic / kung fu stunts, and Fast Talk - which is a comedy rap done to the beat of castanets. So it comes down to this....if you are looking to get a flavour of Chinese cultural entertainment for the first time, then I would look no further - it would be 'very good'. My kids were kept entertained the whole time and that's no mean feat! However, if you are familiar with such performances, then this show may not particularly wow you; the performers here are very skilled but not top flight talent.
Written July 2, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Y K
Shanghai, China16 contributions
Jun 2012 • Friends
When we decided to go to Lao She, we had no idea that there are two floors. On the first floor is a restaurant, where when you order your meal, you get a free show. We, unfortunately, did not go here. My husband, an out of town guest and I went to the top floor (tickets are 150 - 380 pp) and paid for the show complete with Chinese 'snacks' (we thought we were getting dinner after seeing rave reviews of the food!). The show was interesting, but keep in mind, it is a smattering of cultural entertainment and some of it was a bit touristy (cheesy!). Loved the Japanese mask changing act though! The snacks are really something to be desired! Pretty bad . . . and the tea they served that evening wasn't flavorful at all! Not saying much for a Teahouse! The funny thing is, they say this place is for tourists, but other than ONE other couple, we were the ONLY Westerners in the whole place! Many of the local people attending brought their own bags of snacks and food . . . smart people!!!!
Written June 27, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Traveler6009
West Hartford, CT30 contributions
Apr 2012 • Couples
The evening show at Lao She Teahouse is fabulous. It includes Peking Opera, Changing Faces, Acrobats, Kung Fu and comedians. It's one and a half hours long and perfect for seeing each of the different performances by very talented artists. We were told to spend the extra money to sit up front but it was full so we sat in the back and it was still fabulous. It was a highlight for us in our 4 days in Beijing.
Written June 12, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Travelantjhb
Jhb27 contributions
In my search for the Peking Opera I came across the famed Lao She Teahouse. I was taken in by their professional website and reccomendation by the Lonely Planet.
I paid Y280 (prices range from 380 - 180) to watch a motley collection of hapless performers: a magician, vocal mimes, a comedy act and a bit of Peking Opera thrown in just to keep things "authentic".
They sell themselves as an institution with pictures of famous statesmen enjoying the tea and opera. Those days are long gone along with the talent that attracted such people. Instead the place is packed with tour groups and clueless foreigners sipping insipid tea and watching mediocre "artists". I looked around me and noticed some people were just as puzzled as I was. I felt like screeming: "the Emperor has no clothes!!!" instead I gathered my things and walked out.
I paid Y280 (prices range from 380 - 180) to watch a motley collection of hapless performers: a magician, vocal mimes, a comedy act and a bit of Peking Opera thrown in just to keep things "authentic".
They sell themselves as an institution with pictures of famous statesmen enjoying the tea and opera. Those days are long gone along with the talent that attracted such people. Instead the place is packed with tour groups and clueless foreigners sipping insipid tea and watching mediocre "artists". I looked around me and noticed some people were just as puzzled as I was. I felt like screeming: "the Emperor has no clothes!!!" instead I gathered my things and walked out.
Written July 30, 2009
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
dawnx16
uk8 contributions
Aug 2013 • Couples
the tea was about 2-3 times more expensive that other tea houses or tea in the park in china... and mine came in a tall glass rather than the traditional tea cups which I really wanted.
the format is such that they have small 5-10min performances while you drink and it's quite nice that way, so you get a sense of beijing/china style all in one if you have no time to see big theatre shows. We saw 3 piece instrumental performance, face changing, tea dance and shadow puppet performance.
We were there early afternoon and it was pretty quiet. Was nice because we got some respite from the heat and crowd everywhere else in Beijing!
the format is such that they have small 5-10min performances while you drink and it's quite nice that way, so you get a sense of beijing/china style all in one if you have no time to see big theatre shows. We saw 3 piece instrumental performance, face changing, tea dance and shadow puppet performance.
We were there early afternoon and it was pretty quiet. Was nice because we got some respite from the heat and crowd everywhere else in Beijing!
Written August 15, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
PLPP
19 contributions
Apr 2019 • Couples
Had dinner in the restaurant, service was bad and food was nothing to shout about. After 3 reminders, our water did not come and we gave up asking for it. A big disappointment given the reviews I heard about this place.
Watched the cultural show and it was entertaining. Hefty ticket prices though. Recommend to watch only if you understand mandarin.
Watched the cultural show and it was entertaining. Hefty ticket prices though. Recommend to watch only if you understand mandarin.
Written April 22, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
KarimiA K
London, UK60 contributions
My partner and I travelled around china for a month and heard great things about the laoshe tea house, and after a few days of getting lost trying to find the tea house we found it on the last day. It was a terrible experience. We booked 2 seats for tea and showing paying 360yuan for the both of us (£36 together) which was the cheapest seats, but when you compare the price of everything else in china like food, travel and tourism entry ticket this was quiet expensive. But we didn't mind the money as it was a was a tea house plus a live show. staff welcome you outside the restaurant and direct you to the 1st floor where the theatre is (that part was fine and expected) When you get to the theatre there is so many tables and whilst holding a ticket in your hand stating you are at table 9-2-5 and with no table numbers as well as there being no one to show you your table, I ended up sitting at any table. Then after 10mins someone showed us to our table. The table is square with seats on all sides except the side closest to the stage. So you can fit 6 people around these tables (2 seats per side) but the tables were 8 people per table with an extra person sitting on each of the 2 corners opposite the stage. So very cramped and best to avoid the corner seats or you get no leg room and a blocked view. Being a tea house my partner and I expected to get a menu of some sort showing the varies teas we could choose from. Nope. We got a waiter who gave us a cup of tea which had tea leaves in (coincidently the same type of tea that my partner and I had purchases in a tea shop during our first week in Beijing, so must be a common tea) and throughout the evening came round refilling the our cups with hot water. Which personally I thought they should have left it on the tables for people to help themselves, instead of the waiters coming every 15mins to refill the tables which blocked peoples views. Next the show itself was a combination of acts for example we watched: a man doing a puppet show using his hands to make animals, (I expected a puppet show with a Chinese story which was far from it) 3 girls doing a transitional Chinese dance (which was the only 5 mins we enjoyed) a man rapping/singing/reciting poetry while using maracas (all in Chinese and no English sub on the screens) a young man doing a yoyo show, 2 ladies singing "opera" (my partner enjoy opera very much and I have been to many types of opera) but that was honestly screeching. The theatre has a screen on each side with English subtitles but only some of the performances were subbed. It was an hour and a half show and after an hour my partner and I couldn't bare to stay any longer and quietly left. Defiantly not worth the money, and would never go back again. I think the reason why people say it's a must see must be because it's different from other tea houses as it has a live show but and the interior is very beautiful and traditional but honestly not worth the tea or content.
Written October 1, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kay L
Phnom Penh, Cambodia99 contributions
Dec 2013 • Couples
It's a lovely building and we enjoyed a night at the opera, with about 8 acts of very different types including shadow puppets. Tea and snacks are included in the opera ticket.
Written January 8, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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