Pao Family Tea House

The Pao Family Tea House was a formerly popular tea shop owned by Pao in the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se. It was frequently visited by people looking for a place to relax and talk over a nice cup of tea.

History
Shortly after Iroh and Zuko arrived in the city, Iroh managed to get them a job at this tea house as waiters. After discovering that the tea was terrible, however, Iroh began brewing his own tea and eventually became the shop's official tea-maker. From that point on, the shop grew to be enormously popular, and Iroh's reputation as the finest tea-maker in all of Ba Sing Se spread quickly through the city. One of the shop's frequent customers was Jin, who developed a crush on Zuko.

Shortly after hiring the two new waiters, Jet entered the shop and accused Iroh and Zuko of being firebenders; when the former Freedom Fighter attempted to provoke Zuko into defending himself with his bending, the banished prince snatched a pair of swords from a nearby guard and accepted the challenge. Much of the shop's furniture sustained some serious damage or was completely destroyed during the fight as both boys used them as cover or a means to attack. The fight escalated to the point where Jet threw Zuko through the window. As the fight continued on the streets, a couple of Dai Li agents broke it up and arrested Jet after the tea shop owner accused Jet of "wrecking his tea shop and assaulting his employees."



Iroh's tenure as Pao's tea-maker, and presumably the shop's popularity, came to an end when the wealthy businessman Quon tried to poach Iroh's tea making skills by offering him a new apartment in the Upper Ring and his own tea shop over which he would have complete creative freedom. Although Pao offered several promotions in an attempt to keep Iroh at his shop, the prospect of having his own tea shop, seeing his lifelong dream fulfilled, proved to be too great of a temptation and Iroh took the offer, thus resigning from Pao's tea shop.

The tea shop, however, managed to stay afloat even after Iroh's resignation, as it served as a hiding place for Pao, Jin, and some other customers who were all cowering in the building when the Fire Nation conquered Ba Sing Se and their soldiers swarmed the city.

It is unknown what happened to the tea shop after the Order of the White Lotus liberated Ba Sing Se and Iroh reconquered and reopened the Jasmine Dragon.

Exterior
The tea shop was a typical small, family business, located in a single story building in the lower ring of the Earth Kingdom capital. A stone step, two wooden pillars flanking the door and an overhanging welcome sign marked the entrance to this little tavern. Each pillar was decorated with a green lampoon. During the day, these lampoons made the plain shop look cheerful and stand out against the big buildings that flanked it, whereas at night, the lampoons were lit, seducing the nightly passerby to come in and enjoy a cup of freshly brewed tea.

The building sported four windows, all facing the street. Each window was made of wood, donning a light brown color with matching shutters. The windows were on hinges, allowing them to fully swing open to let in the warm air of the Earth Kingdom and to let the sweet, inviting aroma of tea spread to the traffic on the street out front.

Interior
The house consisted of one big room that enveloped almost the entire size of the building and one small back room. The larger room was divided into a customers' and a workers' area through a wooden counter.

Customers' area


The bigger part of the house was made up by the customers' area. It contained eight, basic square, brown, wooden tables with matching benches to sit on. Four tables were placed at each side of the shop, leaving a broad pathway in the middle for the waiters. They were also placed far enough apart, allowing the waiters to maneuver freely from one table to the next for a refill, but close enough together to create a cozy atmosphere of a small, local, family business. The tables were perfectly sized to accommodate two people facing each other while enjoying their tea.

Paintings of fauna designs were hung delicately on each of the room's walls, each artistry different than the other. A shelve supporting two pots gave the tea shop a more authentic feeling. A small table with a plant on top was located next to the door.

Workers' area


Separated from the customers' area by a wooden counter, the workers' area was only a very small part of the shop. The counter was divided in two by the broad pathway visually dividing the shop, enabling the waiters easy access to the tea brewing area. A supply cabinet, supporting many shelves with bags, pots and kettles, was placed against the left wall in the corner, whereas a ladder provided access to the supplies stacked on the high shelve on the right. Under this shelve were numerous intricately designed paintings of nature's wonders. Located in the middle, was the entrance to the small, elongated back room that hosted the stone cooking fire where the various teas were prepared and the sink to clean out the used cups and other materials; three plain, yellow tapestries were strung over the entrance to prevent the steam of the cooking fire to rise and fill up the main room.