The frequent focus on male-female relationships has led officials on many occasions to ban three-part tea-picking opera for being too prurient, while organizers of temple events have long tended to eschew it in favor of luantan (also known as beiguan) and siping opera.
三腳採茶戲內容詼諧逗趣，戲中不時穿插男女調情的山歌小調，因而一度被認為「淫穢」，遭官方禁演。