Yǐn yán: Hòu xī yī shè, yuàn luò yī zhòng; chá yān yī lǚ, kè mèn yī xiāo. — One house behind the stream, one courtyard deep; one wisp of tea smoke, and the traveller’s stuffiness clears.
Houxi Tea House (后溪茶舍) is the county’s courtyard-style stay: a converted old house behind the stream on the county seat’s edge, built around a courtyard and a tea room rather than a lobby and a lift. The rooms are the old house’s rooms — timber, thick walls, deep windows — and the pitch is slowness: an afternoon in the courtyard with the county’s tea, an evening walk along the stream, and a night in a building that predates the hotels.
The house is the county’s small argument that a stay can be a place rather than a bed — and its tea room is the actual venue, open to walk-ins for a pot and an hour. The courtyard is at its best in the blossom fortnight, when the tea drinkers and the returning walkers share the tables. Book the courtyard-facing room; the interior rooms are quieter but miss the point.
flowcloud would say that after a day of chilli and blossom, the correct room is an old one with a courtyard and a pot — and the county keeps exactly one.
Where to find it: a converted old house behind the stream on the county seat’s edge — the tea room opens to walk-ins for a pot and an hour. All checked October 2026.
Practicalities
- Category: courtyard guesthouse, converted heritage house
- Reference rate (October 2026 snapshot, OTA): mid-band for the county ⚠️
- Location: behind the stream, county-seat edge
- Best for: slow travellers, tea people, one quiet night between day-trips
- Note: old-house rooms mean stairs, creaks and fewer lifts; confirm accessibility needs at booking ⚠️
Words and Names
后溪茶舍 Hòuxī Cháshè — Houxi Tea House, the county’s courtyard-style stay · 后溪 Hòuxī — the stream behind the house, the evening walk · 院落 yuànluò — the courtyard, the old house’s centre and the best room’s face · 茶舍 cháshè — the tea room, open to walk-ins for a pot and an hour · 老宅 lǎozhái — the converted old house, timber, thick walls and deep windows