Study On The Historical Change Process And The Present Developing Status Of Teahouse In Wuhan

Wuhan is a city with a long history, which sits in the intersection of two rivers. The remote history of teahouse in Wuhan can be traced back to the middle of Tang Dynasty. This paper has discussed the history of how teahouse changed in the whole process. It will fill the blank area of the ancient teahouse development process in Wuhan before Qing Dynasty. Meanwhile, a general classification has been made by the research of Wuhan modern teahouse. The development status in now days has been expounded. At the same time, through the comparative analysis method we can see the historical inheritance in the development of teahouse in Wuhan. Finally, Some opinions and suggestions have been put forwarded for the future according to the tea industry development trend in Hubei.The earliest appearance of teahouse in Wuhan is in Tang Dynasty. The form of teahouse at that time was rather simple, such as a shed by the roadside. And the function was just to offer tea for the customers to quench their thirst and provide a place for them to take a rest. In Song Dynasty, with the development of commercial economy, the citizen class became the main customer groups, and the scale and the busness had been fully developed. There were multi-layered teahouses decorated with plants and paintings. Not only tea could be provided, food and a few kinds of drinks were also can be found in the teahouse. The function significantly diversified. Some people came to the teahouse for information exchange and social gatherings, while some for leisure and entertainment. The teahouse in Yuan Dynasty did not change very much. There was one thing worth to be noticed. The government had begun to use teahouse to supervise public opinions. In Ming Dynasty, Hankow’s appearance and rapid development made itself become a new commercial center of Wuhan. Then more and more teahouse had been opened in this new commercial center. Mainly in scenic zone and crowded market, others are undocumented and open-air. In this period, people go to the teahouse for entertainment and commercial information exchange is more general.In the late Qing Dynasty, the teahouse did not decline because of the turbulent political situation, on the contrary, it become a popular urban public space where all class gather. The number of teahouse in Wuhan reached a peak in late Qing Dynasty and the early period of Republic of China. The teahouse industry came into the most prosperous period. Till the fall of Wuhan led a sharp downturn to this city, people are busy to live and escape the war. Teahouse industry became fade. After the founding of the PRC, with the implementation of public private partnership, the remaining teahouse has been catering. During the "Cultural Revolution" teahouse has been cleared as the "four olds". Till the end of the cultural revolution and the begin of the great reform and opening, with the improvement of people’s living standards, the teahouse has been taken seriously, and the modern teahouses have sprung up in Wuhan.Modern Wuhan’s great changes have a great influence on Wuhan teahouse concerning the scale, the location and the businesse haracteristies with striking traits. Based on the investigation of modern teahouse in Wuhan, it can be divided into four types: the brand chain teahouse, the personalized private teahouse, the comprehensive teahouse and the western style teahouse. The brand chain teahouses’ decoration style is usually consistent with the brand style. Hongshan Square, Fruit Lake area, East Lake area are the concentration areas of large-scale high-grade teahouse. The main consumers of public funds are reducing their spending on tea and in teahouse. And the service personnels change too fast is also a situation not optimistic. Personalized private teahouses’ distribution has no obvious regularity. The style always connects closely with the owner’s preferences. The owners usually get in touch with their customers directly. Through expanding the service provided, they are able to expand the customer scale. The comprehensive teahouse is a place you can drink tea, and you can also have a dinner or play cards even have a writing class. The operators need to find a good way to operate their teahouses in the market and to graspe profit point all the time, or they may lose the game finally. With the development of globalization, more and more people are accepting the western style teahouse. They like the relaxed and equal environment the western style teahouse provided. There are somethings that the traditional Chinese teahouse can learn from.Although there are some interrupts during the development process of teahouse in Wuhan, in some respects, we can still fine the continuity of history on the form, the spirit and the cultur. The personalized private teahouse is a continuation of the teahouse mode to meet the needs of the minority groups. The customers are the people who want a more private place to drink tea and meet friends who have same interests with them. The brand chain teahouses use female clerk’s beauty to attract male customers. That’s what ancient teahouse did during thousand years. The tea cultrure in Wuhan is civilian, commercial and entertaining. The folk art is one of the most popular enterainment in old times. While in now days, we can hardly find it in teahouse in Wuhan. No matter how the teahouses of Wuhan develop and change, the business is based on the basic needs of human. People want to drink and eat, want to get social contact and want knowledge and beauty.The tea industry is in the period of transition now. How to combine the advantages of the Hubei tea industry and the teahouse culture of Wuhan to develop teahouse industry is a thing worthy of our deep thinking.