{"id":24066,"date":"2010-02-09T20:30:02","date_gmt":"2010-02-09T19:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hightea.com\/nl\/afternoon-tea-at-old-shanghai-teahouse\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T09:33:58","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T07:33:58","slug":"afternoon-tea-at-old-shanghai-teahouse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hightea.com\/en\/afternoon-tea-at-old-shanghai-teahouse\/","title":{"rendered":"Afternoon Tea at Old Shanghai Teahouse"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Entrance to Old Shanghai Teahouse on Fangbang Rd. \u00a9 HighTea.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

I\u2019ll be the first to admit that sitting down and having tea at the Old Shanghai Teahouse may not qualify as a true \u201cafternoon tea.\u201d\u00a0 You won\u2019t find scones, clotted cream or finger sandwiches on the menu here. However, there\u2019s an old adage that says, \u201cWhen in Rome\u2026\u201d\u00a0 If you use a little imagination and think \u201coutside the box,\u201d you just might come up with something very similar at a small teahouse in old Shanghai. After all, when in Shanghai, do as the Shanghainese do.<\/p>\n

With that said, I had a very interesting tea experience at the Old Shanghai Teahouse located on the 2nd floor of a building in the Old Town section of Shanghai on Fangbang Road. Some might call this place a little touristy or maybe kitschy, but I can tell you that I saw more than a handful of locals having their tea and spending some time relaxing here. The teahouse is open to the air, but there were some electrical space heaters in use on this early February day in Shanghai.<\/p>\n

My first impression of the teahouse was that they brew a pot of tea here about as easily as you or I can take a breath of air. It\u2019s totally second nature and on autopilot. After all, here (China) is where it all began, and Shanghai is not too far away from the current tea capital of the world, Hangzhou, China.\u00a0At the Old Shanghai Teahouse, \u00a0they prepare your tea right in front of you \u2013 in what must seem like a simple\u00a0procedure to them, but was anything but to me.<\/p>\n

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Long Jin Green Tea steeping \u00a9 HighTea.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

I started out by choosing a pot of Long Jing tea, one of the most famous green teas in China. The proprietress tried to talk me out of it at first, as she thought I wouldn\u2019t enjoy a mild green tea. However, tasting this most famous of all Chinese green teas was one of the reasons I came here in the first place.\u00a0 It\u2019s a slightly sweet, slightly nutty pale green tea that was perfect for this event \u2013 my first cup of tea in China.\u00a0 Here\u2019s how they prepared it at my table – first the dry tea is placed in a cup, then hot water is poured over it, and then the lid is placed on the cup for steeping. The proprietress takes the lid and with a deft back and forth motion scrapes the top of the water, causing the tea leaves to churn around and around in a smooth circular motion.<\/p>\n

She suggested that I try it, and even with my best effort, I couldn\u2019t even come close to getting the tea leaves rolling in the smooth motion that she did.\u00a0 After the tea is done steeping – there are no tea strainers here – you simply slide the lid off the cup just a bit, creating a small opening, and then sip the tea through the slit, thus keeping the leaves in the cup and only permitting the liquid to pass through. Again, this takes some skill but if a westerner senses a few tea leaves in his teeth, who really cares?<\/p>\n

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1930’s memorabilia \u00a9: HighTea.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

After enjoying the Long Jin, I decided to get creative and make this into an afternoon tea, Shanghai style.\u00a0 Looking over the food menu, I placed an order for two items \u2013 the Shanghai crisp biscuits (my substitute for scones) and the Dim Sum boiled dumpling with fresh pork (finger sandwiches). And to wash it all down, I ordered a new pot of tea, this time the Guang Yin KongFu.\u00a0 This involved a more elaborate tea preparation ceremony. (See how they did it in the video at the end of this post.) If you watch the video of the Guang Yin Kongfu tea preparation, you might notice that she quickly brews the tea once and then discards it. This is to “wake” the tea and wash away any residue on the leaves before drinking.<\/p>\n

The sweet crisp biscuits were a nice complement to the tea and the pork dumplings were served hot and steaming directly from the nearby kitchen. The dipping sauce also added to the enjoyment of the Dim Sum.<\/p>\n

This informal and relaxed version of afternoon tea in Shanghai was an adventure and a thrill. It was eye opening to see how easily the locals can prepare a high quality tea without even giving it a second thought. Compared to how a lot of westerners\u00a0brew a cup of tea (by pouring water over a teabag in a cup), this was an exciting departure, albeit in humble Shanghai surroundings. They (the Shanghainese) don\u2019t even know how good they\u2019ve got it.<\/p>\n

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Fangbang Rd\/Old St near Old Shanghai Teahouse \u00a9 HighTea.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

See the video here…<\/p>\n