“海”味咖啡 何以在洞头遍地“开花”？Why does "sea" flavored coffee bloom everywhere in caves?

盛夏的洞头，咸润的海风裹挟着热浪，也漫开一缕缕咖啡香。

油罐咖啡、藤壶咖啡、崖顶咖啡、冰厂咖啡……这些独一份的“海”味咖啡，何以在海岛洞头遍地“开花”？

告别同质化 海岛场景撑起咖啡新赛道

半屏岛油罐公园开业。东屏街道供图

崖顶咖啡

IP破圈 让咖啡装下海岛烟火与文脉

藤壶古巷

藤壶咖啡馆室内

悬崖咖啡

全链条护航 让上岛青年扎根山海

早在2025年初，洞头村谋划风貌提升改造方案时，就推行“运营前置”的理念，提前考虑“去那海”团队的空间需求，最终呈现出了高颜值的设计师民宿、一人食餐厅，还将闲置空间改造为共享泳池、共享观海平台，提升周边民宿集群的配套。“部门提前考虑我们的运营需求，同时在证照办理、活动宣传等过程中提供一站式的支持。”李上坛告诉记者。这种从“管理”到“服务”的转身，让青年创客能心无旁骛地专注于内容与体验。

七彩洞头村

记者 汪子芳 摄

洞头海岛村咖地图

Chao News reporter Wang Zifang and correspondent Xie Bingxi

In the summer cave, the salty sea breeze carries the heat wave, and also spreads strands of coffee fragrance.

From the coastal cliffs to the azure coast, from quaint fishing villages to coastal docks, nearly 30 new coffee and light food businesses are thriving in Dongtou. The latest additions to this mountain and sea tourism map are two "reborn" old oil tanks along the Banping coastline. The original industrial relics have transformed into a brand new identity of cafes, cultural and creative spaces, and mountain parks, re entering the daily life of island fireworks.

Why do these unique "sea" flavored coffees, such as canned coffee, barnacled coffee, cliff top coffee, and ice factory coffee, bloom everywhere in the caves of the island?

Say goodbye to homogeneous island scenes and support a new coffee track

In the public's perception, coffee is a standard format in commercial districts and office buildings, seemingly separated from traditional fishing villages and coastal islands by a natural layer. In Dongtou, the coffee industry has broken away from standardized templates, relying on unique mountain and sea scenes to achieve one store, one scenery, and one store, one environment. Through differentiation and deep binding with island landforms and site memories, it has formed an irreplaceable cultural and tourism experience.

The oil tank park on Banping Island holds the memories of fishermen from Dongtou for over half a century. Its predecessor was the old oil depot built in 1966, and for a long time, it was the most reliable "offshore energy station" for local fishing boats. Fishing boats set sail or return here, filling up with fuel. The tanks hold not only fuel, but also the hope of generations of fishermen rushing to the mountains and seas. The 2021 old oil depot has officially shut down. The weathered tanks are covered in rust, the docks are gradually becoming empty, the surrounding mountain roads are desolate and desolate, and the once bustling industrial sites are slowly fading out of people's lives. Should abandoned old oil depots be demolished and rebuilt, or revitalized and utilized? Dongping Street in Dongtou District has joined hands with Sinopec Wenzhou Branch to revitalize old buildings.

Half Screen Island Oil Tank Park has opened for business. Map provided by Dongping Street

The project adheres to the concept of "repairing the old as old and revitalizing symbiosis", and carries out protective renovations on two thousand ton vertical oil storage tanks. Throughout the construction process, the original appearance and industrial markings of the oil tank will be retained, and only fine craftsmanship such as structural reinforcement, surface polishing, and window modification will be used to preserve the tough industrial outline of the old oil depot. Every detail in the park hides nostalgic ideas, and the unused fire water pool on the mountaintop has been transformed into a man-made waterfall; The park signs are manually welded from waste pipelines; The Yuyan Restaurant has firmly preserved its early stone pedestal.

Now, can 1 has turned into a "waterfall coffee experience hall", relying on the arc structure of the tank to create scattered viewing seats, overlooking the whole Jiucai'ao beach through the french window. Local elements such as shell lamps and plum blossom shaped columns are embellished among them, interweaving light and shadow with coffee fragrance, directly filling the atmosphere. 30 years ago, we went on a spring outing to the old oil depot. We used to refuel fishing boats, but now we add happiness and fragrance to everyone's lives! "Said a resident of Dongtou with sincere emotion.

In addition to oil tank coffee, Cliff Top Coffee, which opened on May Day this year, has precisely grasped the advantage of island scenes. Mr. Xiang Shangchen, the manager of the post-2000 generation, has already opened 7 coffee shops in the urban area of Wenzhou. When selecting the site, he walked through various hills in Dongtou and finally landed on the high ground of Dongaoding Village. Standing here, you can overlook the entire Dong'ao beach and homestay complex. When the weather is good, you can see the unique cliffs and Xiandie rocks of Banping Mountain, and the mountain and sea scenery is unobstructed. "Xiang Shangchen introduced. With its unique view of mountains and seas, Cliff Top Coffee has become an instant sensation since its opening, with an average daily revenue of thousands of yuan during holidays, becoming a new landmark of traffic on the island.

Cliff Top Coffee

At the same time, the "浢浢浢浢浢浢浢甲甲甲甲甲甲甲甲甲甲甲甲甲甲甲甲甲. On the opening day, the sales volume of tofu pudding in the store exceeded 600 bowls. The warm and sweet bean fragrance added healing warmth to the daily life of Banping Island.

At Dongtou, coffee is no longer just a beverage, but an immersive cultural and tourism scene deeply bound to cliffs, waves, rust, and sunset. It enables consumers to pay for experiences that cannot be replicated, thereby supporting the sustained growth of new cultural and tourism industries.

Breaking the IP circle allows coffee to contain island fireworks and cultural context

If island coffee is only eaten by the sea view, it will eventually lead to aesthetic fatigue. The wisdom of Dongtou lies in relying on thousands of years of ocean culture, breaking away from the single logic of "selling drinks", and making a cup of coffee a carrier for spreading island culture.

In June 2024, Zheng Jingyu, the cultural envoy of Wenzhou University, led a team to settle in Dongaoding Village and built the Tenghu Culture and Art Museum, unlocking a new way of opening up island cultural tourism. The team delved deep into local characteristics and created a new style for the barnacles that are ubiquitous on the beach and have the most distinctive island logo.

Tenghu Ancient Lane

They finely grind the low temperature roasted barnacled meat and blend it into the coffee base to create a unique flavor called "barnacled sea coffee", which has a taste similar to sea salt latte and a fresh sweet aftertaste unique to seafood. In addition to coffee, the team has been deeply cultivating the IP of barnacles, and has successively developed characteristic foods such as barnacled seafood zongzi, barnacled coke rock pizza, and barnacled drunkenness. They have also combined discarded barnacles with traditional sea pottery craftsmanship in Dongtou to create exquisite tableware and artistic ornaments, allowing the inconspicuous small shellfish on the rocks to grow into a complete chain of island specialty products.

Tenghu is a unique feature of islands, and we turn this mountain and sea memory into coffee, food, and cultural creativity, allowing young people to understand small fishing villages in new ways, "said Gao Anzhe, a post-2000 operator of Tenghu Coffee. The originally inconspicuous reef seafood has become a starting point for tourists to touch the ecological texture of the island and the memories of fishermen's lives, connecting the cultural stories of the entire sea area.

Indoor Tenghu Cafe

The power of culture extends to the creation of rural scenes and communities. In June of this year, the "Tenghu Haika · Growing Flowers All the Way" art and beauty series event was launched, bringing full vitality to the small fishing village. Relying on the Tenghu IP, the local area regularly holds the "Tenghu Haika · All the way Flower" art and beauty series activities, combined with AI digital cultural and creative roadshows, university cultural and tourism forums, Cuobian village banquets, and fishing song folk performances, upgrading the single coffee consumption into an immersive cultural and tourism activity that integrates cultural experience, academic exchange, and village celebrations, making the coffee space a gathering place for rural culture.

Cliff Coffee

At the same time, the return of local young makers to their hometowns for feedback has made the culture more vibrant. The second oil tank in the oil tank park has been transformed into a public welfare island cultural and creative art space, which neatly displays traditional cave head intangible cultural heritage handicrafts such as shell carvings, sea pottery, and fisherman paintings. The walls are covered with historical photos of the old oil depot, quietly telling the story of the past and present of this industrial site, allowing tourists to understand the stories of the island's history. Ye Qianying, the manager of Oil Tank Park and a local youth born in the 1990s in Dongtou, abandoned the "parachuting design" of foreign teams and collaborated with local intangible cultural heritage inheritors to create cultural and creative products. She invited fishermen and chefs to participate in ingredient research and development, allowing the life experience of old fishermen, local traditional crafts, and youth creativity to blend together in both directions.

Foreign young managers with mature operational thinking rooted in the island, while local youth with local sentiment deeply cultivate creativity. With the unique cultural support of the island, Dongtou Coffee has completely bid farewell to the "one size fits all" trend. Every cup of seafood coffee and every coffee space hides a unique story of the island and the culture of fishermen.

Full chain escort enables young people on the island to root in the mountains and seas

The picturesque mountains and seas attract young people to ride the waves and chase the wind, while what truly keeps these entrepreneurial youth behind is the policy support and entrepreneurial ecology of the entire chain of the island.

The mountain and sea atmosphere and vacation quality of Dongtou have the potential to benchmark Jeju Island and create a high-quality international vacation island, "said Li Shangtan, the person in charge of the professional cultural and tourism operation brand" Qunahai ". What moved him even more was the attentive service provided by the local government department when the brand entered Dongtou.

As early as early 2025, when Dongtou Village planned to upgrade its appearance and renovation plan, it implemented the concept of "pre operation" and considered the space needs of the "Go to the Sea" team in advance. Eventually, it presented a high-value designer homestay, a one person dining restaurant, and also transformed idle space into a shared swimming pool and a shared sea viewing platform, enhancing the supporting facilities of the surrounding homestay cluster. The department considers our operational needs in advance and provides one-stop support in the process of license application, event promotion, etc., "Li Shangtan told reporters. This shift from "management" to "service" allows young makers to focus solely on content and experience.

The story of Li Shangtan is not an isolated case. In response to the pain points of young entrepreneurs lacking venues, funds, experience, and resources, Dongtou has made precise efforts, using policies as the starting point, to build a full chain service system of "drainage incubation support retention", planting trees and attracting phoenixes with sincerity and practical work, so that young people dare to go to the island, start businesses, and stay.

Colorful Dongtou Village

In order to retain young talents, Dongtou has launched the "Youth Island Plan", offering a seven day free accommodation and entrepreneurship experience for young people aged 18 to 40, revitalizing idle space in the village, and creating multiple "sea innovation spaces". The first batch of young people on the island transformed into operation managers, leading more new young people to get to know Dongtou and integrate into Dongtou from the perspective of their peers.

The human resources and social security department has accurately empowered and sorted out seven entrepreneurial tracks, including cultural and tourism operation, intangible cultural heritage dissemination, and market experience, to accurately match the entrepreneurial direction of young people and avoid blindly following trends and homogeneous competition. Simultaneously implementing a full set of entrepreneurial support policies to comprehensively reduce the cost of island entrepreneurship. In response to emerging first store formats such as coffee, cultural and creative industries, and specialty catering, targeted "New Ten Measures" for young entrepreneurs returning home have been introduced, with a maximum special subsidy of 200000 yuan, providing precise support for the development of new island specialty formats.

Photo by journalist Wang Zifang

At the level of service guarantee, multiple departments such as local streets, cultural tourism, and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference work together to provide one-stop services such as license processing and event planning, breaking through the bottlenecks and difficulties of youth entrepreneurship. At the same time, integrating all regional cultural and tourism resources, linking emerging formats such as Oil Tank Park, Cliff Top Coffee, and Tenghu Art Museum with traditional attractions such as Jiucai'ao Beach and Banping Mountain, planning distinctive cultural and tourism routes, and regularly launching themed activities such as coffee markets and seaside concerts to continue attracting traffic and creating momentum for the coffee industry.

Dongtou Island Village Coffee Map

The policy dividend continues to be released, and more and more young people are rushing to the cave to pursue their dreams and take root, transforming from "island youth" to "island entrepreneurs". Over the past year, more than 800 young people have stayed on the island to start businesses, over 2200 college students have landed on the island for employment, and a large number of young entrepreneurs have been deeply involved in new business formats such as coffee, cultural and creative industries, travel photography, and specialty catering, transforming the quiet fishing village into a youthful hotspot.

At the beginning, we were just a glimmer of light, but more and more young people are staying to work. The night sky of mountains and seas in Dongtou will surely be sparkling with stars, "said Chen Shuwen, a Dongtou Maimai who returned home from Hangzhou to start her own business. Her voice is also the common expectation of countless island entrepreneurs.

The sea breeze never stops, and the fragrance of coffee lingers. Nowadays, Baidao Dongtou is connecting a new cultural and tourism industry with cups of coffee with unique mountain and sea characteristics. More young people are rooted and growing in the mountains and seas, pursuing their dreams.

(All images, except for the signature, are from Dongtou Publishing)