Snuff was introduced into China from the west. During the reign of Shunzhi in Qing Dynasty, westerners presented snuff as a tribute to the imperial court. Later, snuff spread from the palace to the people.
During the Daoguang period, Yang Yunfeng, a Manchu, found a shop in Dashilan, Qianmen, and opened a snuff shop called Juxingzhai. After opening, business is booming. However, in the year of Gengzi (1900), it was cremated with ashes by a few people in Eight-Nation Alliance. A few years later, the owner of Juxingzhai rebuilt the frontispiece and named the new store Tianhuizhai snuff shop.
Tianhuizhai's snuff is of high quality and the materials used are also very particular. The tobacco leaves used in Tianhuizhai are all produced in Ziyang County, Zhou Ke. This kind of tobacco leaves, with thin veins, thick stems, strong smoke flavor, softness and high oil content, are very suitable for making snuff.
Whenever tobacco leaves are harvested, the store will send people to the place of origin to order. Then it is dried and smoked for many times to make the finished product. The produced snuff has the characteristics of lasting fragrance, softness, long taste and low irritation. When users put it in their nostrils, they will smell the flowers first, and then the cigarettes.
There are many kinds of snuff in Tianhuizhai, and the price is even more expensive. Their snuff can be divided into ten grades: the first grade is Wanlu; Secondary wanxinlu; Three-grade fresh dew; Four-level Wanrui Road; Five-level high flower dew; Six-level flower dew; Seven royal dew; Grade 8 jasmine dew: Grade 9 double flower fumigation; Ten levels of blank.
In the early years of the Republic of China, the price of a bag of 44 kg of white flour was 2.40 yuan, and the price of 10 thousand to 20 thousand high-odor snuff was 2.56 yuan.
Tianhuizhai snuff bottle shop also sells snuff bottles, which is also very particular. There are many styles of snuff bottles, such as polygonal flat pots, various plain pots and painted pots.
The texture of hookah is jade and ivory, so those who smell high-grade snuff are bureaucrats, nobles, wealthy businessmen or celebrities.
After entering the Republic of China, the appearance of cigarettes made snuff lose its market. After liberation, Tianhuizhai's business was even more bleak. With the changes of the times and the prevalence of cigarettes, snuff has been rarely visited. By the 1970s, Tianhuizhai had disappeared forever.