一杯咖啡唤醒中国乡村“慢时光”A cup of coffee awakens China's rural "slow time"

8月18日，位于湖南浏阳市张坊镇上洪村的“甲由咖啡馆”。中新网记者 　唐小晴 摄

8月18日，湖南浏阳市张坊镇上洪村“甲由咖啡馆”，主理人杨晶正在做虹吸咖啡。中新网记者 唐小晴摄

一杯咖啡激活了一座村庄。“上洪村曾因古法造纸闻名，后来沦为‘空心村’。咖啡馆不仅让村民实现‘家门口’就业，还带动了非遗研学、民宿、农家乐和农特产品销售。”杨晶表示，“村咖”已跳出传统乡村旅游的单一观光模式，正用一杯咖啡重构乡村休闲场景。

8月18日，在湖南浏阳张坊镇上洪村“甲由咖啡馆”，年轻人前来打卡。中新网记者 　唐小晴 摄

Changsha, August 20th (Xinhua) -- A cup of coffee awakens the "slow time" of rural China

Reporter Tang Xiaoqing

Drive two hours from Changsha to Shanghong Village in Zhangfang Town, Liuyang City, located deep in the Dawei Mountains on the border of Hunan and Jiangxi provinces. On the edge of the field, there stands a small courtyard with white walls and black tiles transformed from an idle old house and chicken coop, with the words "Jia You Coffee" standing on a wooden stake in front of the door. Pushing open the door, the aroma of coffee wafted in.

The manager Yang Jing is 52 years old this year. In 2006, she founded the first boutique coffee shop in Changsha, and over the course of more than ten years, expanded the store to more than twenty, with layouts in multiple cities. In 2020, due to market fluctuations, all offline stores were shut down, and her coffee business, which she had been deeply involved in for many years, fell to the bottom.

On August 18th, Jia You Cafe was located in Shanghong Village, Zhangfang Town, Liuyang City, Hunan Province. Photo by Tang Xiaoqing, reporter from China News Service

The turning point begins in the countryside. When I saw this emerald green rice field, a thought suddenly came to my mind: how great it would be to sit by the field and have a cup of coffee. "Immediately, Yang Jing rented an idle farmhouse in Shanghong Village to transform the" Rice Field Cafe ", retaining the rustic texture of traditional rural architecture while incorporating modern design aesthetics.

Not only selling coffee, but also 'selling' rural scenery, "Yang Jing told a reporter from China News Service. The store name" Jiayu "sounds like" go for it ", meaning to start from the rice fields and root down.

This "village caf é" insists on manual ordering, and the barista will explain the origin of each drink to the guests. They innovatively integrate local ingredients with coffee and baking, creating a unique "rice paddy coffee" and developing innovative latte products such as "coffee+rice" and "coffee+rice slurry". Yang Jing introduced that the store also launched creative items such as Fermented bean curd pizza and black goat snacks to bring customers different surprises.

A cup of rice field latte with some hand made Dim sum can make urbanites feel relaxed. Shortly after opening, the caf é became a popular check-in spot and became popular on social media platforms. Yang Jing said, "I sold over 300 cups a day and had a daily turnover of over 10000 yuan." People come by car not just to drink coffee, but to encounter the fragrance of rice, the gentle breeze, and the chirping of cicadas, and enjoy a leisurely time.

On August 18th, Yang Jing, the manager of Jia You Cafe in Shanghong Village, Zhangfang Town, Liuyang City, Hunan Province, was making siphon coffee. Photo by Tang Xiaoqing, reporter from China News Service

In the caf é, tourists can sit quietly by the rice paddies with cups in hand, savoring the rich aroma, or stop and take photos to capture the scenery of the mountains and fields, overlooking the lush green mountains and surging rice paddies. The simple and comfortable smoke and fire atmosphere of the countryside makes people feel relaxed both physically and mentally. Here, you can not only enjoy the rural scenery, but also experience the local fun, which is very pleasant. "Liu Shanshan and her friends, who came from the city of Changsha, tasted coffee and then experienced making handmade coffee soap and drawing oil paper umbrellas.

Village cafes not only attract foot traffic, but also attract young faces. Yang Jing said that more than ten employees in the store are all born in the 1990s and 2000s. They rely on coffee shops to promote rural style and local culture through short videos and new media.

A cup of coffee activated a village. Shanghong Village was once famous for its ancient paper-making techniques, but later became a 'hollow village'. The coffee shop not only provided employment opportunities for villagers at their doorstep, but also stimulated the sales of intangible cultural heritage research, homestays, rural tourism, and agricultural products. Yang Jing said that 'village cafes' have broken away from the traditional single sightseeing mode of rural tourism and are using a cup of coffee to reconstruct rural leisure scenes.

On August 18th, young people came to check in at the "Jiayou Cafe" in Shanghong Village, Zhangfang Town, Liuyang, Hunan. Photo by Tang Xiaoqing, reporter from China News Service

The rice waves grow layer by layer, and the aroma of coffee drifts further along the mountain wind. Yang Jing, who has more than 20 years of experience in coffee production, hopes to rely on the new format of rural coffee to attract young people from outside to return home for development, systematically cultivate local young coffee practitioners, support newcomers to participate in industry competitions, and create a team of local young baristas. The coffee shop will also add a bread kiln and develop new specialty products such as pumpkin European buns, injecting vitality into the countryside with exquisite and niche new formats