There’s no shortage of places to drink tea or play mahjong in a city with over six thousand tea houses – but there is one place that has remained in the same spot for 120 years.

The Guanyinge Teahouse has uneven mud floors, wood burning stoves and faded murals of portraits and slogans of Chairman Mao from the Cultural Revolution era. The air is thick with nostalgia, dust and pipe smoke from the elderly patrons that look as if they too, haven’t moved in years.

The owner, Li Qiang, is rarely seen without a pair of headphones round his neck, and a blue apron – returned to the area and took over the tea touse almost twenty three years ago, after a self confessed midlife crisis.

“After my midlife crisis, there were some ups and downs, and some people just didn’t understand why I wanted to take over the tea house – even my family weren’t supportive in the beginning. But I’ve always have strong connection to old things – and a tea house is like a microcosm, a safer version of the world outside.

People come and go over the years, but I try to create a comfortable bubble for my customers, a forum for elderly people to escape to a different world, a place like home to them, when they have no one left and no where else to go.

Normally I get up at 4am, open the teahouse at 4:30am, then start the fire and boil the water, putting tea leaves into cups. I close up at 6:30pm. Today I was running late and arrived at 5am, but some of the elderly patrons had already opened up the teahouse.

I don’t really have days off, we only close for one day every year. I can’t really close the teahouse, because then I will worry about those elderly folks, where will they go? To me life is not all about earning lots of money. The elderly regulars just toss 5 jiao into a basket on the side. Life is more about happiness and being content. Think about how you want your life to be and make it happen. I did.”

Photos courtesy of Li Qiang

Chengdu may be famous for many things, but you don’t have to have been here for long to know it’s really the people that make the city so special. Inspired by other Human’s of movements around the world, originating in New York – we wanted to document some of the voices of the people in the city. If you know someone with a story to tell, get in touch.

Interview by Amiee Cai

Amiee, originally from Zhejiang – is enchanted with all things Chengdu. An aspiring street photographer, she loves to capture the stories of the people that pump life into the city.

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Photo Caption: Visit on of the many traditional tea houses in Chengdu! ?@nunalin

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“As young Chengdu people are living life faster than before and more extravagantly, stylishly chic and elegant places with distinctive decor have opened up recently.”

Here we have created a list of special places with unique atmosphere for you to check out.

Fang Suo Commune Bookstore 方所书店

Book and art lovers in Chengdu now have one more choice in the city: the Fang Suo Commune, an innovative and a top-end bookstore selling books, drinks, clothes, and creative houseware and gadgets. Located downtown adjacent to the Daci Temple, the bookstore, an underground space in Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li, covers an area of nearly 4,000m² and consists of several functional sections for book retailing, boutiques, a café and a reading & interactive zone. Drawing inspiration from the classic style of European libraries and combining a modern design concept of space, the bookstore is designed by a group of renowned home and overseas designers.

Address: Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li, 8 Middle Shamao Street, Jinjiang District

地址:  锦江区中纱帽街8号远洋太古里M68-70号铺

Tel: 028-86586858

Wuzao Bookstore 无早书店

Aimed at offering interesting and high-quality niche magazines to specific customers, the bookstore has a large collection of design, art and lifestyle-themed domestic and foreign periodicals. Decorated as a Japanese-style teahouse, the first floor of the store provides brunch.

Address: 5-1 Upper Qinglian Street, Jinjiang District 地址:  锦江区青莲上街5号附1号

Website: www.rosabooks.com

Old Congde Alley 崇德里

Originally built in 1925, the Old Congde Alley is an old cultural block offering different places for drinking tea, having home-cooked Sichuan dishes and lodging. Featuring traditional architecture and unique and exquisite homeware, the block is located downtown, next to Tangpa Street by the Jinjiang River and not far from the Shangri-La Hotel Chengdu. The place is now a very popular venue for local artists and intellectuals to meet and host parties.

Address: 1 Old Congde Alley, Tangpa Street, Jinjiang District 地址:  锦江区崇德里1号

Tel: 028-86002200

 Youcha Teahouse 有茶

The Youcha Teahouse is nestled nicely in the tree-shaded Lidu Park in southeast Chengdu. Operated by three female designers, it is a three-story building with the third floor serving as an office space. Different from those which can be seen everywhere in the city, the teahouse has a tranquil Zen-like atmosphere where time seems to creep past on tiptoes.

Address: 1 Lidu Road, Lidu Park, Wuhou District

地址:  Tel: 028-85009120

iBOX Creative Space 成都爱盒子

Opened at the end of 2014, the modernistic and creative complex serves as a venue for showing and developing cultural and artistic creations, where creative thinking and ideas meet real life. Inspired by London’s creative landmark BOX-PARK, iBOX Chengdu brings together independent designers, fashionistas, creative cultural organizations and art galleries with the goal of becoming a platform for cultural development. The complex is made up of three functional areas for creative arts, demonstration of public culture, as well as leisure and entertainment.

Address: Jinjiang district, HongXing Road No. 159 (4th Section of First Ring Road) Line 2 Niuwangmiao Metro Stop, Exit C

地址:  锦江区红星路二段159号 (地铁二号线牛王庙地铁站口锦东路一号)

No. 35 Hongxing Road Cultural & Creative Park 红星路35

The park, named No. 35 Hongxing Road, was refurbished from an old factory building to a successful design by German architects and was open to the public on December 28, 2008. Covering an area of 17,000 square meters with buildings for restaurants, fashion shops, exotic bars, art galleries, design studios and offices for business, the Park has become a popular place for foreigners and white-collar workers to spend their spare time.

Address: No. 35 Hongxing Road Cultural and Creative Park

地址: 锦江 区红星路一段35号

Guanyin Yiyuntai Hotel 观隐颐云台酒店

Located in the Wide & Narrow Alleys, a famous tourist attraction in downtown Chengdu with a history of over 300 years, the complex consists of two courtyards with a total floor space of 16,000 square meters. Designed by legendary French designer Mr. Bruno Moinard, the boutique hotel features elegant and tranquil oriental courtyards with a modish style.

Address: 38-39 Wide Alley, Qingyang District

地址:  青羊区宽巷子38-39号

MUJI Chengdu 成都 无印良品

In December 2014, the Japanese brand MUJI opened its global flagship store in Chengdu’s city center. Covering more than 3,000m² in the Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li, the store features the largest floor area of any overseas store with both a Cafe & Meal MUJI and IDEE outlet located within the space.

Address: 8 Mid-Shaomao Street, Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li Chengdu 地址:  锦江区中纱帽街8号远洋太古里28栋

Website: www.muji.com.cn

 By Dieter Vanonckelen, in cooperation with GoChengdu.cn 

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