User note: A web supplement for DM1: The Book of Taverns
From Introduction:
Most fantasy role-playing games are set in a fictional variation on medieval Europe where many of the most common meeting places for characters happen to be taverns. However, in Asian-style campaign settings the tavern (jiu dian) wasn’t quite as common a gathering spot as the tea house (cha yi guan), which often doubled for the tavern in that it usually sold food and alcoholic beverages in addition to the teas on the menu. The tea house was often second only behind the local temple as the community center in medieval China. This article presents a typical, if slightly rural, tea house called the Summer Orchid, which can be inserted easily into any Asian-style campaign setting.