Teahouse & Nostalgia

　　Stepping back into 1930s Beijing in all its colorful rough-and-ready glory is now as easy as visiting Xicheng Culture Palace in Xidan, a fascinating new entertainment spot-the theater-style Old Beijing Teahous.

　　So authentic is the ambience, decor and entertainment that some local senior citizens in the audience weep as memories of their youth come flooding back ... ... recollections of their courting days when , like as not, they and their partner would visit just such a teahouse to eat and be vastly entertained by an MC, comedians, singers, jugglers, strongmen, magicians and all manner of bizarre novelty acts. Even the waiters had a part to play, bellowing welcomes as they showed customers to their tables-a tradition now being carried on at the new teahous, and echoed by the cries of old-time street vendors. The waiters add to the authenticity by wearing traditional suits.

　　Teahouse manager/MC Feng Jianhua, 34, widely known in Beijing as the "little teahouse waiter", personally welcomes guests at the door and leads them to their seats before donning a traditional long gown (chanpao) and hat of the 1930s. It positively reeks of nostalgia, reflecting its owners' successful efforts to care as much about the fine detail as bigger things. The result is a perfect setting for the nightly highlight, a two-hour stage show of highly entertaining acts, some good enough to grace a world stage. Many of the performers are elderly but lack nothing in stagecraft.

　　今年34岁的民俗学家冯建华先生在京城开办的两个“老北京茶馆”颇具特色。“别看我叫‘小茶坊’，我自打17岁起就开始有关北京民俗的研究了。”这位老北京茶馆掌柜的说。

　　现在开办的老北京茶馆有两处，一处在西琉璃厂大街，另一处在西单的西城文化馆。每周末，老北京茶馆的西单茶馆里，文化实景表演使茶客们在笑谈中置身于二三十年代的老北京氛围之中；而琉璃厂茶馆的周末相声大会，让茶客们有机会体会到一些精彩段子。