People chat while drinking tea at the Communications Teahouse in southwest China's Chongqing, July 26, 2021. Chen Anjian, 62, an oil painting teacher at the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, has frequented the Chongqing Communications Teahouse for more than 20 years. Founded in 1987, the Communications Teahouse is now the only old teahouse in Chongqing that has kept the original style of the 1970s and 80s. It is one of the key cultural landmarks of Chongqing, and visited by thousands of tea lovers every day. "The Communications Teahouse is the living space of Chongqing people, and strikes foreigners as idiosyncratic," said Chen Anjian. "People of different regions, ages and occupations all contribute to the teahouse culture here, and help liven up the atmosphere." Therefore, Chen Anjian would often draw inspirations from customers at the teahouse and turn out down-to-earth works of art that also reflect the ethos of the times. He believes that people should not visit the teahouse only for the sake of visiting, but also identify its cultural significance. In recent years, the Communications Teahouse has become a popular tourist destination in Chongqing, and Chen has also become one of the teahouse's cultural ambassadors. Tourists flock here to order a cup of hot tea and feel the essence of old-school Chongqing lifestyle. In Chen's eyes, the Communications Teahouse is a place where the urban and rural lifestyles meet. "The teahouse is so cosy, so popular, that it arouses a painter's appetite for creation," said Chen. "The moment I stepped into it, I felt greatly inspired, so I decided to set the entire teahouse as my source of inspiration of a painting series." (Xinhua/Liu Chan)
