China News Service, Beijing, February 18th: "Village Café" injects new vitality into the countryside
China News Service reporter Du Yan
Surrounded by candied haws, fried goods, pancakes, skewers, pear soup, fried stinky tofu and other New Year snacks, wisps of coffee aroma filled the temple fair.
This year, Beijing’s traditional temple fairs have been fully restored. Xu Pengyuan, the manager of “1+coffee” Yijia Coffee, tried for the first time around the Lunar New Year to open “branch stores” at Huaibei Guguan Spring Festival Fair and Yanqi Town Yancheng New Year Temple Fair. “Not only We want to allow tourists to taste unique village coffee, and we also want to 'let the whole village drink coffee.'"
Xu Pengyuan, who is young, laughs and talks fast, and her friends invite every customer who comes to the stall to taste the coffee, and enthusiastically introduce how to choose coffee beans, how the roasting time and the temperature of the water affect the taste of the coffee.
Her "head office" is located in the village where she grew up - Xinying Village, Bohai Town, Huairou District, Beijing, an ancient village located at the foot of the Mutianyu Great Wall.
Xinying Village. Photo by reporter Sheng Jiapeng
In the quiet and peaceful village of small rivers, old trees, and old streets, the white coffee house is the only coffee shop. Against the backdrop of red lanterns, it adds a bit of playful vitality and fashionable atmosphere.
The coffee house is adjacent to the parking lot of Mutianyu Great Wall Scenic Area. At first, she just wanted to find a cabin next to her homestay with her friends to drink coffee, chat and rest in their free time. Because the 20-30-square-meter hut faces the street, it was opened to the public at the urging of passers-by. Unexpectedly, in more than two years since its opening, it has become a popular spot for internet celebrities.
In Xu Pengyuan's view, the coffee house is the "reception room" where the village communicates with the outside world. She wants to combine coffee with local culture, so that people can feel the comfort of a cup of coffee here, and also experience the unique ancient village style and relaxed lifestyle at the foot of the Great Wall in Huairou.
"1+coffee" Yijia Coffee House. Photo by reporter Sheng Jiapeng
This idea is the "code" for the popularity of country coffee. Compared with well-known chain coffee shops, these coffee shops scattered among the mountains and rivers often have "unique" drinks and have unparalleled pastoral scenery. Therefore, they are favored and paid attention to by more and more urbanites.
When you walk into the Yishui Liunian Coffee House located in Jiuduhe Village, Jiuduhe Town, Huairou District, what you will see is the "raunchy" wooden counter supported by stacked stones and stacked wooden piles. Looking around, wooden tables and stools, red brick walls, these "simple" furnishings reveal simplicity and casualness amidst the lush green plants and blooming flowers.
Yi Shui Liu Nian Coffee House. Photo provided by interviewee
This coffee shop can be described as the pioneer of "village coffee" and has been at the foot of the Great Wall for ten years.
After traveling at home and abroad to see the prosperous world, Zhang Heli, the owner and barista of Yishui Liunian Coffee House, decided to return to Jiudu River where he grew up in 2013 and opened this coffee house. “Although there are many tourists coming to the surrounding area, there were very few customers when it first opened, and I didn’t know how to make coffee. Now, seeing more and more people coming to Huairou Village to drink coffee, I have become a mature barista. "Zhang Heli said that there are many foreign tourists who come here because of its reputation. Many of them were introduced by relatives and friends and went straight to have a drink here at their first stop in Beijing.
At the first "Village Coffee" Country Coffee Competition held in Huairou District, Beijing, at the end of last year, Zhang Heli won the Best Creative Award with a cup of almond coffee. Wild almonds are a specialty of Jiudu River. Almonds picked from the mountains go through a series of complex processes such as soaking and grinding, and are finally made into almond pulp. The slightly sweet almond pulp is on the lower layer, and the bitter and fragrant coffee is on the upper layer. "After the first sip, you can taste the aroma and bitterness of the coffee and almonds. As you continue to drink, the sweetness of the almonds gradually becomes stronger." ." Zhang Heli said, this is like a life of hard work, bitter at first and then sweet.
Zhang Heli (first from left) and foreign tourists at the Yishui Liunian Café. Photo provided by interviewee
Country coffee is having a moment these days. As an ecological conservation area and an important functional hub of the capital, Huairou District is rich in mountainous resources and has a long history and culture. A large number of well-known scenic spots such as Mutianyu Great Wall, Hongluo Temple, Yanqi Lake, and Qinglong Gorge are located in mountainous countryside, and there are many coffee shops. Entrepreneurs step into the mountains and rivers.
Zhang and Li are not afraid of competition. "I want to keep good memories." Zhang Heli's vision is: "When you come here to taste coffee at the age of 20, the cafe will look like this; when you come here at the age of 50, it will still look like this."
As these young people return to their hometowns to open coffee shops, more and more entrepreneurs are attracted to take root in Huairou, and Huairou has quietly become a gathering place for "country coffee".
Hefangkou Village in Huaibei Town, Huairou District, is at the foot of the Great Wall, adjacent to Yanqi Lake, Qinglong Gorge, Shimen Mountain, and Huaibei Ski Resort. With an excellent geographical location and convenient transportation, it is a must-have for many citizens for leisure and vacation. A beige two-story building is a new cafe opened in the village in April 2023 - Yanqi Lake Xinzhi Cafe, which provides drinks, desserts, light meals, etc. Climb up to the second floor terrace and you can see the Great Wall not far away winding between the mountains.
Yanqi Lake Xinzhi Cafe. Photo by reporter Sheng Jiapeng
Unlike decorating one's own courtyard and opening a coffee shop, the "owner" of this coffee shop is a state-owned enterprise in Huairou District - Beijing Yanqi Lake Tourism Development Co., Ltd. As the company's deputy general manager, Lu Jian said that the company is currently revitalizing idle residential buildings in Hefangkou Village and has opened four "scientist courtyards" and this cafe.
Lu Jian said frankly that in rural areas, introducing coffee culture into more people's lives and creating new consumption scenarios will not only expand new market space and promote the sustainable development of the coffee industry, but the development of the coffee industry can also promote rural areas. regional development. This includes improving infrastructure such as roads, water sources and electricity supply. In particular, the rise of coffee culture can attract more tourists and drive the development of surrounding catering, accommodation and tourism-related industries, thereby promoting overall economic growth in rural areas.
"In less than a year, three or four new cafes have been opened in the village." Lu Jian believes that the widespread popularity of coffee in the countryside is due to the influx of a large number of urban residents into rural life and travel, bringing the urban lifestyle to the countryside. , which is also a reflection of the rapid development of rural tourism and surrounding tourism. "Popular tourism is transforming into leisure and vacation tourism, which is a reflection of the development of quality tourism."
The 2024 Beijing Government Work Report proposed to create a new atmosphere of harmonious and beautiful countryside. Promote the implementation of "multiple regulations into one" in villages, and build a number of rural revitalization demonstration villages and demonstration areas that are suitable for living, working and traveling.
The development of “village cafes” helps rural tourism create new consumption scenarios and provide new momentum for development. According to Zhang Yong, deputy director of the Agricultural and Rural Affairs Bureau of Huairou District, through diversified creative development, multi-field cross-border integration, and multi-channel planning and marketing, Huairou District has vigorously developed rural "coffee economy" and other models and projects, and "village coffee" has become A dark horse to revitalize Huairou’s rural tourism industry. Currently, there are 2,199 rural B&Bs in Huairou, more than 70 rural coffee shops, and more than 500 people participating in the "village coffee" employment.
"Village coffee" appeared in Huaibei Guguan to catch the big market. Photo by reporter Sheng Jiapeng
Zhang Yong said that Huairou is an ecological conservation area, and Huairou tourism has built a leisure space system of "city-suburb-rural-field" and the content and characteristics of "sightseeing, leisure, participation, and experience". Especially in recent years, Huairou District has insisted on enhancing cultural connotation, empowering technological innovation, and "rural B&B+" to enrich rural cultural heritage, promote the deep integration of rural culture and tourism, create new products, new formats, and new models of rural tourism, and cultivate New driving force for rural tourism development. In the next step, Huairou District will adapt measures to local conditions, highlight local characteristics, and use unique local resources as a basis to mobilize chain institutions, coffee lovers, and rural B&Bs to join the "village cafe" industry. Special events such as the "Village Café" competition and the Farmers' Harvest Festival are held regularly every year to highlight the cultural characteristics while creating landscape scenery, making Huairou's "Village Café" burst out with more moving vitality and vitality.
In the context of promoting rural revitalization and achieving sustainable development, "village cafe" is an attempt and a beginning. Xu Pengyuan and her partners are busy preparing for the Yijia Coffee flagship store, covering an area of about 300 square meters, to open in Huairou Science City this spring and summer. By then, she will still tell her "coffee story" with a smile on her face, turning her love for coffee into a passionate career, and offering training courses to let more people know about coffee and connect with more entrepreneurs, especially young entrepreneurs. Start a new career in the countryside. (over)