Tea shops

A teahouse is an establishment which primarily serves tea and other light refreshments. Sometimes the word "tea" is also used to refer to a meal . Although the functions of teahouses vary widely in different countries, teahouses often serve as centers of social interaction, like coffeehouses.

Some cultures have a variety of distinct tea-centered establishments of different types, depending on the national tea culture. For example, the British or American tearoom serves afternoon tea with a variety of small cakes.

In China, Japan and Nepal, a teahouse (茶館 cháguăn or 茶屋 cháwū; Standard Nepali:चिया घर) is traditionally a place which offers tea to its customers. People gather at teahouses to chat, socialize, and enjoy tea, and young people often meet at teahouses for dates. The Guangdong (Cantonese) style teahouse is particularly famous outside of China especially in Nepal's Himalayas. These teahouses, called chálou (茶樓) serve dim sum (點心), and these small plates of food are enjoyed alongside tea.

Before tea was used as a social drink, Buddhist Monks drank tea as an aid to their meditation.

During the Chinese adaptation of Buddhism between 200 C.E. and 850 C.E., tea was introduced as a medicinal herb. It was then evolved to assist Buddhist monks in their meditation by providing the energy needed to stay awake (likely via the effects of caffeine as a stimulant on the brain). Soon thereafter, tea popularized as a commonplace beverage (replacing the previously consumed milk- and water-based beverages) as Chinese teahouses provided a new kind of social life for the Chinese during the 8th-9th centuries C.E.

In Japanese tradition a teahouse ordinarily refers to a private structure designed for holding Japanese tea ceremonies. This structure and specifically the room in it where the tea ceremony takes place is called chashitsu (茶室, literally "tea room"). The architectural space called chashitsu was created for aesthetic and intellectual fulfillment.

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Wikipedia