TEAHOUSES have been popular since the end of the Ming Dynasty. Besides tea, they served snacks such as dried fruits and nuts, or small dishes of cooked meats and vegetables. They often had a little stage for shows.
Such shows can be seen at the Zhengyici（正义祠） and Huguang Huiguan（湖广会馆）, and at the Liyuan（梨园）, foreigners can follow the plot of Beijing operas by reading the English subtitles. Near Qianmen is Dawancha (大碗茶), where shows like xiangsheng (相声，comic dialogue), kuaibar (快板，a kind of rap) and Beijing opera can be seen. Dawancha is called Lao She Teahouse in English to commemorate Lao She (老舍，1899-1966), the famous writer whose novels have been compared to those of Tolstoy（托尔斯泰）and Dickens（狄更斯）. His play Tea House , tells a fascinating story of life in Beijing from the end of the Qing Dynasty, through the Warlord period（军阀时期）.
Now old style teahouses are not so common in Beijing. There are many new teahouses, serving various new kinds of tea. Some serve English tea. When English traders took tea to England about 400 years ago, they got it from the south, where it was-and still is - pronounced （发音）"tei". This gave rise to the English word "tea". About 200 years ago, a British embassy（外交使团） came to China, and were offered milk tea by a Mongol（蒙古人） prince. They liked it, and took it back to England. Soon most English were drinking tea with milk. Some even add sugar, though in Mongolia they usually add a little salt. Now "English Tea" is becoming popular with some Chinese!
