The encounter between Cafe and Historical celebrities time Coffee Culture

Afternoon tea at Banpo Village Cafe.

The four Cat Cafe is also known as Picasso Cafe.

Van Gogh's famous painting the Cafe at Night.

Today's public coffee cafes have become cultural relics.

The old days of Banpo Village: many writers, painters and scholars have gathered here.

In addition to being suitable for romance, cafes are also rich in creativity, inspiration, theory and everything related to ideas, not only because coffee itself is brain-exciting and energetic, but also because it has a continuous tradition.

It is said that the world's first cafe, called Kiva Han, opened in Mecca in 1475. Subsequently, coffee was introduced to Egypt, North Africa, Turkey and other Arab countries. Coffee drinking has become popular, and many people gather in cafes to drink coffee, discuss current politics, and attack the government, and cafes have become a source of opinions and ideas.

When the first cafe in Western Europe was established at the University of Oxford in England in 1650, the cafe quickly became a trend throughout Europe and soon became a "public place for the exchange of ideas", where thinkers, musicians and writers gathered. Either whispering or talking loudly, a Viennese artist said, "I'm not at home, I'm in the cafe; not in the cafe, on my way to the cafe."

When the cafe met these cultural people, the thought went off in the collision, so there were many masterpieces that attracted worldwide attention and ignited the ideological trend of social change. The huge energy nurtured by the combination of cafes and cultural people is sometimes unimaginable.

Prokopu Cafe, France

Encounter Voltaire, Rousseau, Hugo, Balzac

Leprocope Cafe is now a business card in Paris, France, the first cafe to open in Paris. The relationship between the cafe and the cultural people makes it full of legendary color.

In the 18th century, European Enlightenment thinkers Voltaire, Rousseau and Diderot, the author of the world's first encyclopedia, wrote works here that influenced the process of revolution and social development in Europe and the United States. Robespierre, Danton and Mara, the three giants of the French Revolution, also talked with other revolutionaries about the ideal of social change and drew their own blueprints. It is said that Napoleon came here and left a cap for drinking coffee; later, there were a group of equally heavyweight writers, actors, gentlemen and ladies, such as the great writers Hugo and Balzac.

A cafe contains so many events that we can imagine the importance of this cafe in the eyes of the cultural people, so much so that a literary publication was later named Prokopu.

Four Cat Cafe in Spain

Encounter Picasso

Just as Prokopu is to Paris and 4 Gats Cafe is to Barcelona, it has the same symbolic significance. The four Cat Cafe has another name: Picasso Cafe. Because Picasso has been here since the age of 17, he spent three years down and out here, when Picasso used to draw exaggerated and strange cartoon portraits of his friends over a cup of coffee and post them on the store wall. In addition, he designed advertisements and menus for the cafe, which now has a menu designed by Picasso for the owner on its wooden blackboard.

At that time, Barcelona (late 1890s) was the most enlightened city in Spain, and some cultural people also liked to meet here. They exchanged ideas and collided with ideas. It was in this relaxed, lively and trendy atmosphere that Picasso came into contact with various cultural schools and thoughts, began his painting career, and with the help of these friends, held his first painting exhibition in his life. Brought him a great reputation.

French Lancasel Cafe

Encounter Van Gogh

If the four Cat Cafe is famous for Picasso and is also known as the "Picasso Cafe", then the French Cafe Lankasal Cafe, another name "Van Gogh Cafe", has the same reason. This cafe is famous for another world-famous painter, Van Gogh.

In 1888, Van Gogh was tired of city life in Paris and came to Arles, a small town in the south of France. In September 1888, he stayed in the Lancassel Cafe, also known as the "Night Cafe" because it was open all night. The environment of the cafe inspired him. Van Gogh said: "the exterior of a cafe has a balcony illuminated by a big gas lamp in the blue night sky and a blue sky shining with stars in a corner." I often think that night is more lively and colorful than day. " As a result, the famous painting "Cafe at Night" was born.

Today, the cafe has changed its name to Van Gogh Cafe and has become a must for tourists to Al. The cafe still retains the appearance of Van Gogh's paintings more than a hundred years ago, and the story of Van Gogh and the cafe has become a local legend.

Shanghai Public Coffee Cafe, China

Encounter Lu Xun, Tian Mei, Ding Ling and Mao Dun

Around the 1920s, coffee shops became a cultural craze in Shanghai, and many cafes modelled on Paris appeared in the French and Japanese concessions. at that time, the most famous was the public coffee cafe on Toronto Road in Hongkou. In the days when white terror was extremely serious, some secret meetings of the literary and art circles were held in public coffee cafes. According to Zheng Boqi, "the public coffee shop is run by foreigners, because most Chinese people do not go to this place, and foreigners pay little attention to coffee drinkers, so meetings are safer." Therefore, not only the preparatory meetings of the "League of the left" were held many times in the public coffee shop, but also other left-wing cultural groups also held meetings here. Lu Xun, Tian Mei, Ding Ling and Mao Dun were all guests of this cafe.

In mid-October 1929, the League of the left held its first preparatory meeting in a small room on the second floor of the public coffee shop, which could accommodate 12 or 13 people. Mr. Lu Xun also attended. On February 16, 1930, the party organization held another preparatory meeting here, that is, the "Symposium on the people of the Shanghai New Literature Movement". According to Lu Xun's Diary: "drinking coffee in the afternoon with Rou Shi and Xuefeng" refers to going to the public coffee shop to attend the last preparatory meeting of the League of the left.

Banpo Village Cafe, Nanjing, China

Founded by painter Guo Haiping, artists, writers, poets and scholars are regular guests.

Banpo Village Cafe and Pioneer Bookstore are two business cards of folk culture in Nanjing.

In the 1990s, painter Guo Haiping founded Banpo Village Cafe, but now it has changed hands, but it has always been one of the most artistic landmarks in the city. For more than a decade, artists, writers, poets, experts and scholars at home and abroad exchange and talk here, taking away warmth, inspiration, creativity and so on.

Japanese Cafe

The only country that has an official coffee festival

Dutch missionaries and merchants brought coffee to Japan around 1630, but at first the Japanese did not accept the strange-tasting drink at all. Coffee did not become popular until the Meiji Restoration era and the trend of "Western learning" in Japanese society. At the same time, cafes have become a favorite place for young people and activists to meet and communicate. Japan is the only country with an official coffee festival, which is celebrated every year on October 1.

British Cafe

Laid the foundation for the earliest publishing industry.

The first coffee shop in Europe appeared at Oxford University in 1650 and was opened by a Lebanese Jew. Then London's cafes sprang up, and by 1700 there were more than 2000. As the first place to provide equal exchange and dialogue for the public, cafes are very popular, and British cafes have laid a solid foundation for the earliest publishing industry. The coffee party at will Cafe hosted by Dryden set the standard of literary appreciation that spread from will Cafe to the literary world; in addition, the free debate in the cafe was the base of the early middle-class media such as "Light", "bystander" and the Guardian, when the editors of these newspapers crouched in the cafe all day, listening to the speech there, understanding the social trends, and then turning it into words. At that time, the cafes had the flavor of ancient Chinese inns.

American Cafe

Like the popular fast food culture.

The first coffee shop in the United States was the London Cafe, which opened in Boston in 1691. Today's American cafes have their own unique form and atmosphere. Like the popular American fast food culture, most American cafes also embody a fast-paced way of life of American society. For example, Starbucks, which attracts young hipsters with its unique style and atmosphere, is one of the most representative American-style cafes. (photo source: Zhang Erzheng)