“啡”常广州·集聚区③｜咖啡里的老西关新味道Coffee "Chang Guangzhou · Agglomeration Area ③ - The New Taste of Old Xiguan in Coffee

In the past, the prosperous Thirteen Factories trade led the coffee trend. Nowadays, in Liwan, there are a variety of professional baristas and coffee managers, with a gathering of stores and brands, and an annual coffee consumption scale of over 3 billion yuan.

Strolling through Shamian Island, more than 20 unique coffee shops are scattered in the green shade; Walking in Yongqing Fang, more than 10 coffee shops are distributed on the main and branch streets of Enning Road arcade; In recent years, Liwan District has revitalized and utilized historical buildings and "Five Olds Property" to promote the deep integration of coffee and other industries with historical context, intangible cultural heritage inheritance, commercial tourism, and nighttime economy. It continues to create characteristic coffee blocks such as Shamian, Yongqing Fang, and Chenjiaci, among others. The historical space and coffee shops complement each other, and Lingnan intangible cultural heritage and coffee creativity are deeply integrated. Liwan is telling new stories about the integration of culture, commerce, and business through cups of coffee.

Starbucks Select Guangzhou Yongqingfang Intangible Cultural Heritage Concept Store

Specialty coffee shops gather in historical and cultural districts such as Shamian and Yongqingfang

The 0.3 square kilometer Shamian Island is home to over 20 coffee shops. In addition to Starbucks' premium sand noodle shop, local boutique brands such as Round Trip Coffee, An Coffee, and Urgent Foot Coffee are clustered together, relying on the century old western-style buildings on the island to create unique coffee spaces, becoming a popular check-in spot for cultural, business, and travel integration.

At the end of 2022, Round Trip Coffee will operate at the former site of Sassoon Trading Company at 39 Shamian Street, specializing in classic American and Italian coffee. This old building with a history of over 180 years is also open simultaneously. In the past two years, the cultural and tourism industry in Shamian has become increasingly active, with the number of tourists entering the island increasing year by year. The exposure on social media continues to rise, and many tourists regard our store as one of the check-in points for visiting Shamian. Deng Ziyang, the general manager of Round Trip Coffee, said that among the store's consumers, new customers account for the majority, confirming the customer attraction effect of Shamian cultural and tourism. The coffee gathering effect of Shamian, in turn, amplifies its cultural and tourism appeal.

Stepping out of the sand, more premium coffee is deeply planted in local characteristic spaces such as Xiguan Mansion and Qilou Old Street. In January of this year, Starbucks' first intangible cultural heritage concept store in Guangdong and the sixth in the country officially welcomed customers at No. 10 Zhongxiang, Yongqing Fang. In less than half a year, Starbucks Zhenxuan Guangzhou Yongqing Fang intangible cultural heritage concept store has become one of the popular coffee shops in Yongqing Fang.

Pushing open the door, this is not only a caf é, but also a living room of the Guangfu Intangible Cultural Heritage Association. In terms of spatial design, the entrance is made of Yunnan intangible cultural heritage rattan woven with the two big characters "watching opera" in Cantonese opera costume patterns, making the entrance feel like stepping onto a stage. The inspiration for the hand-operated bar counter comes from the Cantonese opera red boat. The bar counter wall is built on a rattan base and reconstructed with modern pixel art to create Cantonese opera masks. The giant lion dance on the second floor combines elements of costumes, bamboo weaving, and green aprons, giving intangible cultural heritage a beautiful meaning of rebirth. Unlike ordinary Starbucks stores, this place is served by a black apron coffee master, who selects the world's top 3% rare bean seeds and offers a variety of brewing techniques such as hand washing and siphoning. There are also Lingnan limited special recipes and lion dance creative latte art. From the flavor of a cup of coffee to the details of each object, the ingenious fusion of intangible cultural heritage and coffee can be seen everywhere, injecting humanistic value into the third space. Ms. Wang, the store manager, introduced that the store has set up intangible cultural heritage classrooms and holds three to four intangible cultural heritage handicraft activities irregularly every week, mainly focusing on Lingnan intangible cultural heritage and promoting it to consumers for free.

In addition to national chain brands such as Starbucks and M Stand, Yongqingfang also has nearly ten local coffee brands, most of which have strong local sentiment and cultural awareness. Enning Gongfei, located at 155 Enning Road, is one of its representatives. This storefront is the ancestral home of "Guangzhou Zai" Haoran. In 2020, he decided to open a shop in his ancestral home with the original intention of "drinking coffee is a popular social behavior among young people, and he wants to use coffee as a new form to share the characteristics of Xiguan with tourists and tell the stories of Xiguan families that have gone through a hundred years." Haoran decorated the coffee shop with old Xiguan objects such as Manchurian windows, flower tiles, and old-fashioned sewing machines, and named the specialty coffee in authentic Cantonese such as "smooth and smooth" and "cool soaking", allowing tourists to understand Xiguan culture and Cantonese culture by asking about the origin of a name or object outside of coffee.

The Chen Clan Ancestral Temple scenic area and its surrounding areas have quietly become a gathering place for community coffee shops

In and around the Chen Family Temple scenic area, a 'community coffee ecology' is quietly growing.

Luhuan Coffee is the leader of Guangzhou hand-made coffee, represented by the famous popular salty milk cheese hand-made coffee. The unique foam of coffee brings a distinct taste and is popular with consumers. At the end of 2023, Luhuan Coffee will open its third store for the brand in the 1906 Science and Technology Park of the Chenjiaci commercial district. The surrounding area of Chen Clan Ancestral Hall is a community where old Guangzhou people gather, "said Yours, the owner of the store. Their brand is also an" old Guangzhou brand ", with all founders being Guangzhou people. The decoration is in Lingnan style, incorporating Cantonese culture, and mainly targeting local young people.

When we first opened our store here, the Chen Clan Ancestral Temple and its surrounding areas were not yet so popular. Our customers were mainly residents of the surrounding community, "Yours said. Starting from the second half of 2024, there will be an increase in tourists from other provinces and even foreign countries coming to the 1906 Science and Technology Park for consumption and check-in. However, 70% of the store's customer base is still local residents. Interestingly, this store is one of the more popular among the more than 20 stores of Coloane Coffee, indicating that the local customer base is sufficient to support its survival space.

Located on nearby Ludi Street, "Qingcui Coffee" has been deeply rooted in the community for more than ten years, expanding from boutique coffee to the field of boutique chocolate. Its product "Qingcui Coffee" has won the Asia Pacific award at the ICA International Chocolate Competition and the silver award at the CFCA China Boutique Chocolate Competition. Youxi Coffee, located in Longqing Lane, Zhongshan 7th Road, is centered around Chinese retro aesthetics, integrating antique displays and green plant landscaping. The host personally roasts beans, conveying the old city temperature of "seeing joy when going out". Hidden in the alleys of Yong'anwei on Jinhua Street, Liyuan has become a must visit destination for experiencing the comfort of Xiguan with its signature "Black and White Mandarin Ducks" (coffee blended with milk tea). With the integration and development of the Chen Clan Ancestral Hall and surrounding cultural, commercial, and tourism industries in the past two years, these "treasure" community coffee shops hidden in the streets and alleys are gradually becoming a part of the cultural and tourism experience.

Guangzhou Daily Xinhua City Reporter: Wu Duo

Image/Provided by interviewee

Guangzhou Daily Xinhua City Editor: Wu Yifan