Guangyu Shuchang Pingtan

Guangyu Shuchang is the oldest and most storied pingtan venue in Suzhou, the city where the art of sung storytelling was born. Nightly, storytellers take the stage with pipa and sanxian and spin tales that run for weeks - part opera, part stand-up, all in the musical Suzhou dialect.

Even without understanding a word, the performance is magnetic: the musicians' expressiveness, the audience's laughter, and the antique room itself. The teahouse format means tea and snacks during the show, and the regulars will gladly tell you which storyteller is the current favorite.