Century-old Sichuan teahouse wins UNESCO award

The Guanyin Hall Teahouse Conservation Project in the Shuangliu district of Chengdu, Sichuan province, was granted an Award of Merit at the 2024 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation on Dec 6.

UNESCO established the annual awards in 2000 to recognize the achievements of the private sector and public-private initiatives in successfully conserving or restoring structures, places and properties of heritage value in the region.

This year's jury selected 8 award-winning projects from a pool of 52 entries from 14 countries in the Asia-Pacific, including 3 projects from China. The Gunan Street Historic Block Conservation Project in Yixing, Jiangsu province, received an Award of Distinction, while the Helou Pavilion Conservation Project in Shanghai won an Award of Merit.

The Guanyin Hall Teahouse in the Shuangliu district's Pengzhen township is one of the oldest teahouses in Sichuan. With a history of over a century, it embodies rich local culture and folk customs. However, with the passage of time, the teahouse's building structure and internal environment gradually fell into disrepair.

In November 2021, a conservation project led by the Shuangliu district's culture, sports and tourism bureau was officially launched to address the safety hazards of the teahouse's structure while retaining its original building materials and construction techniques and to discover, protect and promote local tea culture through the project.

The project, a joint endeavor involving enterprises, universities, research institutions, and the local government, strove to preserve the original charm of the teahouse in multiple dimensions, from its exterior design to cultural ambiance. It was completed in April 2023.

Li Qiang, keeper of the teahouse, couldn't help but applaud as he witnessed the teahouse win the award through an online live broadcast, saying, "This makes my life worthwhile."

Having grown up in the teahouse, Li took it over from his mother in 1995. He considers the old patrons as treasures, believing that both the teahouse itself and its long-time customers are the soul of this century-old establishment.

To pass down the traditional Sichuan tea culture in the tea house, Li said he has been training his son to be his successor.

Zhang Chunyan, deputy dean of the School of Architecture at Tianjin University, who once led a research team from the school to Pengzhen, said that while ancient towns across the country tend to have a uniform style, Pengzhen, with its century-old teahouse, has maintained a unique character.

"How to strike a good balance between the utilization and preservation of ancient towns is a contemporary issue," he said, adding that Tianjin University will take this opportunity to provide scientific guidelines for the orderly and rational development of Pengzhen.