Zhang Yiyuan Teahouse

This is a renowned time-honored teahouse in the city. It consists of seven private rooms that can accommodate about 100 customers in total. The theater is run by one of the most respected tea leaf purveyors in the country, so it serves up some of the best cups in town.

Address: 18, Guangshun Beidajie, Wangjing, Chaoyang District

Tel: (8610) 6472-6514

Wuyutai Teahouse

Started in the 12th year of Qing Dynasty Emperor Guangxu, the teas here are supplied directly from such tea-producing areas as Anhui, Zhejiang and Fujian provinces. The scented Jasmine teas were specially made in the cells of Fuzhou and Suzhou and then transported or shipped to the capital and pieced together at different grades.

Address: 44 Dongsi Beidajie, Dongcheng District

Tel: (8610) 8403-0547

Colorful Beijing leaves people with many options to experience traditional Chinese culture. Drama theaters spread across the city are very much worth exploring.

Huguang Guild Hall

Founded by Beijing residents coming from Hunan and Hubei Provinces, this theater provides a place for lodging and a gathering of fellow townsmen. It has a history of more than 190 years dating back to 1807 when investments were gathered for its foundation. At that time, its premier role was to host students who came to the city to sit the Royal Exam and officials who were waiting for their nomination.

It was also one of centers of political and social life in the late Qing Dynasty, where officials and average persons had fun together, dining, chatting and watching Beijing Opera staged by famous actors.

It was renovated starting in 1990 and the Grand Theater opened to the public on May 8, 1996. Some top actors such as Mei Baojiu and Zhang Xuejin attended its debut. From then on, it has been a major stage of Beijing Opera. In 1997, the hall was opened to the public as a whole and renamed Beijing Museum of Traditional Opera. It is the only guild hall featuring a theater and the first to be renovated and opened in line with its original layout.

Address: No.3, Hufangqiao Road, Xuanwu District, Beijing

Tel: (8610) 6352-9140

Liyuan Theater

Run in conjunction with the Peking Opera Theatre, this spacious venue seats 1,000 people who cram in for the carefully-selected repertoire of Beijing Opera pieces. The ambiance is the closest you will get to the way the masses used to enjoy this art. When you sit at the old fashioned square table for eight people (Ba Xian Zhuo), appreciating the singing, recitals, dancing, acrobatics and martial arts of the performance, you will definitely feel intoxicated by its artistic beauty.

Address: 1/F, Qianmen Hotel, 175 Yong'an Lu, Xuanwu District

Tel: (8610) 6301-6688