Teahouses have an old name called "Erli Guan" (Two-Cents House). Originally, the predecessors of teahouses were similar to tea stalls in the Jiangnan region, with simple facilities - just a few tables and benches for people to rest. The food offered was crude, with only snacks like taro cakes, and the teapots used for brewing tea were large-eared, wide-mouthed round pots produced in Shiwan. Because their shape resembled quails, they were nicknamed "quail pots," and going to teahouses for tea was jokingly called "going to grab quails." The tea cost only two cents, hence the name "Erli Guan." Later, as the economy developed and the catering industry prospered, teahouses focusing mainly on tea and dim sum gradually emerged.

Teahouses are also called residences. Therefore, "old Cantonese" refer to going for tea as "going up to the tea residence." Cantonese people call visiting teahouses for tea "tan cha" (appreciating tea). "Tan" means to enjoy. This enjoyment comes in various forms. "If you want to talk about heartfelt matters, please come to the restaurant upstairs" - this is a couplet hanging in an old teahouse, which aptly expresses how Cantonese people consider going to teahouses for tea a delightful activity for heartfelt conversations and elegant gatherings. However, in the old society, those bureaucrats and wealthy merchants had other pursuits. Ba Jin once recorded his experience at Taotao Ju in his "Travel Sketches": "During the gathering, an old woman lifted the curtain and entered, bringing two young women with her, saying they could tell fortunes for money..." Ba Jin was initially puzzled, but after his friend explained, he realized they were young girls and women who had been humiliated and harmed. Forced by life circumstances, they were deceived into engaging in transactions involving their appearance. Only after liberation, as Guo Moruo wrote: "Nanyuan is not the Grand View Garden, but a paradise for workers. If comrades believe in today's ruling power, Nanyuan remains the Grand View Garden."

Teahouses also attracted many scholars and intellectuals. The large black sign with gold characters at the entrance hall of "Taotao Ju" is said to be Kang Youwei's calligraphy. In the past, Taotao Ju was an unofficial club for Cantonese opera performers, a place for their "group formation" activities. In the 1950s, Chen Canzhi found models for several typical characters in "Fragrance Drifting in Four Seasons" in teahouses. It's not clear whether characters in Lu Xun's novels were gathered from Guangzhou's teahouses, but his notes show that in 1927, during his time in Guangzhou, he visited Shanquan Taiping Guan, Lu Yuan, Miaoqi Xiang, Bieyou Chun, Bei Yuan, Nan Yuan, Yijing Restaurant, Guomin Restaurant, Taotao Ju, and Gongbei Lou, Jinhua Zhai, Fulai Ju, Daguan Restaurant, among others. It seems that Lu Xun's visits to teahouses, besides for daily meals and drinks, might also have included observing local customs. When writer Wei Junyi came to Guangzhou, she visited three or four teahouses and gained a deep understanding of Cantonese people's teahouse culture. She praised teahouses as "like a public social venue, with a truly lovely atmosphere." This touch of human warmth is genuinely pleasant. She said, "The stairs of the teahouse are crowded with people going up and down. After eating, customers voluntarily call the waiters to calculate the bill based on plates - this is a 'gentleman's agreement,' 'not only interesting but also stylish,' representing 'the true style of old Cantonese people.'" This is not empty praise but a nuanced observation.