Zhang Tielin's Sketchbook Notes -- Chengdu Tea Houses

Author: Zhang Tielin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-06-01
Features: Twenty-five years ago, I was preparing to shoot a movie about the Self-Defense Counterattack War in Chengdu. The preparation period was so long that it felt like a vacation. I would walk several kilometers to a roadside tea shop every day and sit there for most of the afternoon. For five cents, I'd buy a bowl of Sanhua tea, and by lunchtime, I'd have a bowl of meat-stuffed baked bread and a bowl of duck soup dumplings, all for about eight to ten cents. I'd eat heartily, pick my teeth, and start writing diaries and drawing little figures. The tea shop was filled with farmers from all over the countryside, some bare-chested, some barefoot, lounging around in such a relaxed manner. I, too, spent many days in this relaxed and leisurely way, eventually compiling them into a sketchbook titled "Tea Shop."