It was 9 am, half an hour after the Yuelai Teahouse in the Huaxing Street in the center of Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan Province, opened its doors. But Wang Luan had already been there for almost 20 minutes.

Sitting alone in a corner, the 81-year-old retired worker, quietly sipped a cup of jasmine tea.

"Since I visited the teahouse for the first time nearly 60 years ago, I have been its constant patron," he said.

The grandfather said he visits the teahouse once a week because of his love for its jasmine tea and its architecture; and also because the surroundings are steeped in the trappings of Sichuan Opera.

Completed in 1909, Yuelai, the oldest teahouse in Chengdu, reinforces the city's reputation as a leisurely place.

With business hours from 8:30 am to midnight, the 95-year-old Yuelai Teahouse, which means "happy to come" in Chinese, is very popular although new and chic teahouses have mushroomed in Chengdu in the past two decades.

"On some peak days, the teahouse has to provide 200 additional seats on the first floor, which is designed for 300 people," said Wang Xia, the teahouse's deputy manager.

With ages ranging between 20 and 80, patrons include retirees, businessmen, public servants, and players of mahjong, cards, Chinese chess and go. Some spend most of the day here.

Like most teahouses in Chengdu, Yuelai appeals to customers for its low prices. "The price for a cup of tea ranges from 5 yuan (US$0.6) to 20 yuan (US$2.40)," said Wang.

Having worked in Yuelai for 20 years, 49-year-old Wang was a Sichuan Opera performer for 15 years.

Chengdu had some 1,000 teahouses 20 years ago. Now, "it's not exaggerating to say the city has 10,000 teahouses," said Yuan Tingdong, a researcher with the Sichuan Bashu Culture Research Centre.

"On Huaxing Street, Yuelai was the only teahouse in 1984. But the street has more than 10 teahouses now," Wang said.

The popularity of teahouses has much to do with the rise in people's income in the past two decades, Sichuan's geographic location and weather, historical reasons, Chengdu's water quality and its people's dietary habits, according to researchers.

Located in a basin, Sichuan is surrounded by rolling mountains. Its geography made it possible for the province to escape from wars waged in other parts of the country and to enjoy social stability in ancient times.

In addition, Sichuan, known as the "land of abundance," has been one of the country's major farming areas since the construction of the Dujiangyan Irrigation Project in the outskirts of Chengdu around 250BC. With a rich supply of farm produce and social stability, locals have been accustomed to a leisurely lifestyle.

As the most important birthplace of tea drinking, Sichuan was the first in China to turn wild tea plants into domestically cultivated ones. It was the first to set up large commercial tea plantations. With a high tea output, Sichuan people formed a tradition of tea drinking from ancient times.

The biggest problem with Chengdu's weather is the scarcity of sunshine. A popular saying goes that even the dog would bark merrily if the sun rises in Sichuan.

Because of inadequate sunshine, locals in Chengdu have been used to staying indoors, which has boosted teahouse development.

As water in the city abounds in alkali, locals have to boil it before drinking and teahouses in the city satisfy the demand for boiled water.

Chengdu people like eating hot peppers and prickly ash. Drinking water can reduce the intense stimulation.

Teahouses are found in different parts of China, a big tea consuming country. But Chengdu's teahouses have four special characteristics.

First, Chengdu has more tea drinkers than most other Chinese cities. It is estimated that some 200,000 people visit teahouses every day. It is quite a number when the city's population of 10 million is taken into consideration.

Second, the tea set in Chengdu teahouses is special.

The tea set consists of three parts: teacup, tea cover and saucer. According to historical records, the tea set was invented in the eighth century in the Tang Dynasty (AD618-907) by Cui Ning, governor and top military commander of Sichuan.

The tea set has many advantages.

The saucer holds the bottom of the teacup firmly, and the drinker can move it without being scalded. Thanks to the saucer, tea will not spill on the table or the drinker's clothes.

The teacup is large on the top and small on the bottom. The shape enables tea leaves to roll in the teacup when boiling water is poured in.

The tea cover can enclose the teacup, but there is a slot between it and the teacup. While keeping tea hot and keeping away dust, the cover keeps air flowing. It is used as a tool to stir tea and also to prevent tea leaves entering the drinker's mouth.

Third, how the tea is served is special.

Holding a kettle in one hand, a waiter can pour boiling water into a teacup 50 centimetres away without spilling any on the table. Some waiters can even do so while holding more than 10 teacups in the other hand.

Fourth, the leisurely "Chengdu culture" finds its best expression in teahouses.

As a place to relax, the teahouse is where consumers drink tea, chat, smoke, play chess, cards and mahjong, take a nap, hang bird cages, read books and newspapers and eat snacks.

As a place for people to socialize, it is where consumers meet friends, negotiate over business, seek information and settle disputes.

As a place for people to earn a living, the teahouse is where vendors sell cigarettes, fruit and candy. The fortune tellers, barbers, shoe polishers and people who help consumers get rid of cerumen also do their job.

"As a place to entertain, the teahouse can have a stage for Sichuan Opera. The Yuelai Teahouse was first built for the performance of Sichuan Opera," Wang said.

In 1795, Wei Changsheng, a famous Shaanxi Opera performer in Chengdu, raised funds to build a temple for the god of drama on a piece of land in Huaxing Street that had been used for growing vegetables.

In addition to venerating the god, the temple served as a place for performers of Sichuan Opera to meet.

In 1908, Fan Kongzhou, a businessman, raised 80,000 taels of silver to set up the Yuelai company that finished construction of the Yuelai teahouse the next year.

"Since then, several generations of Sichuan Opera lovers have visited the Yuelai Teahouse," said Yuan, who watched the first performance of Sichuan Opera in the teahouse in 1957.

The teahouse has two stages and a Sichuan Opera museum. The museum introduces the history of Sichuan Opera and displays props and costumes of late, famous Sichuan Opera masters.

Sichuan Opera was developed between 1661 and 1735 on the basis of the local drama form and drama forms in Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Anhui, Hubei, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces.

Sichuan Opera is best known for such stunts as fire eating and the change of the performer's facial masks.

(China Daily May 9, 2004)