Tea and Comedy

Last night I went with Alex and his girlfriend to what we thought was going to be a traditional Chinese bar. What it turned out to be was a traditional Chinese tea house, thus, the only thing served was tea. The lack of alcohol disappointed Alex, but the tea was very good. They gave each person a teapot, and a tiny terracotta cup - about half the size of a shot glass.

This was different from most Chinese tea houses in that there was no majiang (mahjong); instead, they had a stage and a series of stand-up comedy acts. Most stand-up comedy in China is done in pairs engaging in comedic dialogue, although there were some solo acts that night. I couldn't understand a word of it, but it was fairly entertaining anyway; and they must have been reasonably good, since everyone else was laughing. I'll have to go back one day when I know more Chinese.