The basic knowledge of Fine Coffee Culture Shanghai Coffee Culture is quietly rising

In Shanghai's 160-year history, there have been some well-known old cafes. Among them, the site of Gongfei Cafe, located in Duolun Road, Hongkou District, is a historical landmark where Mr. Lu Xun participated in the Youth Party of the Left Writers Union in the late 1920s. Since then, cafes in Shanghai have been associated with progressive literature. After more than 80 years, coffee culture has risen again in Shanghai.

Coffee culture is growing.

Liu Renhe, founder of Old Mai Cafe, which is a little famous in Shanghai, said: "In Shanghai, the scene of cafes being crowded with people mainly appears in the last two or three years. If it goes back five years ago, it may not be so popular." The popularity of coffee culture is related to the income growth of Chinese urban residents and the change of consumption habits.

A group of data recently released by Shanghai City Food Association shows that up to now, there are no less than 4000 professional cafes in Shanghai, more than 12000 stores concurrently engaged in coffee, and nearly 100,000 employees.

About 12 years ago, Starbucks coffee chain brand appeared in Shanghai. At present, there are 148 stores in Shanghai alone, and nearly 100 stores in other cities in the Yangtze River Delta. At the same time, coffee and soft drink chain stores such as COSTA, Coffee Bin and Happy Lemon have also appeared in Shanghai's transportation hubs, commercial buildings, parks and other places for six times, which are well known to consumers.

Shanghai Hengshan Road a coffee chain store clerk Xiaohuang told reporters, When the passenger flow is large, The store can sell more than 300 cups of drinks a day, To coffee-based, Also have Chinese tea.

"Now many people around me are beginning to understand the difference between cappuccino, latte and mocha. Some coffee lovers buy books about coffee culture and exchange experiences through the Internet." "I drink only one of the chain coffee brands, or simply choose a more expensive personalized coffee shop, which I think is a symbol of taste," said a female editor of a publishing house with the online name "Bao Shu."

Pursuit of multicultural enjoyment

In addition to standardized coffee chain brands, it is worth mentioning that personalized small cafes dot the streets.

Take the Old Mai Cafe, located in Shanghai's historical preservation zone, for example, owner Liu Renhe has fully integrated his nearly 30-year collection hobby into the cafe. Less than 100 square meters of three-story space, at the same time has the function of "collection warehouse", inside a variety of Chinese and Western mix of old photos and old objects. For nostalgic "Taobao", while drinking coffee, you can get richer and more diverse cultural enjoyment.

Giving up his high-paying job in banking, Liu Renhe felt that running a cafe was a natural "release" of his personal hobby. At the beginning of the store, he used his blog to "broadcast" the whole process of designing the store and collected suggestions from many netizens. After the official opening, the business exceeded his expectations. Today, the cafe also has its own micro blog, often with enthusiastic comments.

"The popularity of personalized cafes has a lot to do with the increasing communication needs of modern people. Under the background of accelerating industrialization and urbanization, relatively cold social relations need platforms for people-to-people communication and dialogue." Coffee shop is one of the ways." Zhang Yiguo, associate professor at the School of Humanities, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, said.

He analyzed that in the fast-paced urban life of China, coffee culture reflects a strong desire of Chinese people for "slow life." From a certain point of view, coffee shops, which are compatible with Chinese and Western public consumption places, are pressure relief valves for people to relieve "public anxiety".

"We also found that many cafes also sell authentic Chinese tea, which also reflects the openness and inclusiveness of Chinese life," Zhang said.

Incubate new cultural ideas

Oil painting, graffiti, book club, movie music... careful people found that some popular coffee shops actually have their own "personality" and "specialty". Some of the cafes located in the Cultural and Creative Industrial Park have become new landmarks for fashion parties and "catwalks".

Entering 2012, Liu Renhe, who loves collecting, has envisioned opening a second cafe with collection and display functions soon. He believes that the market potential of personalized cafes in China should not be underestimated. On the one hand, consumer demand is gradually increasing, on the other hand, it can also activate the cultural creative inspiration of shopkeepers.

"We don't offer 'uniform service, bulk drinks,' so you can enjoy old posters, old furniture, and if you're interested, go to my other grocery store and 'shop' for old pocket watches, old leather goods, old books." This kind of corner shop may be able to incubate new cultural ideas in the future." (Xu Xiaoqing, Cai Qing)