But the true connoisseur can pick out subtle differences in melodies, vocal style, and acting techniques. Cheng Jung-hsing, for example, points out that the young jesters and young female characters in tea-picking opera walk differently than they do in Peking Opera, because tea-picking opera drew most heavily in its early days on a different type of opera called luo di sao.
但懂得看門道的內行人看採茶戲，除了曲調、唱腔不同外，作表方式也還約略可以看出一些差異，鄭榮興指出，由於三腳採茶起源於「落地掃」，因此小丑、小旦的走路方式仍有別於京劇。