A Wild, Addictive Cup: Out-of-Town Visitors Chase This Coffee to the Nujiang

At a Glance (China Coffee Network): During the May Day holiday, the Lujiangba area of Baoshan’s Longyang District in Yunnan saw a coffee-tourism boom. At a roadside café beside the century-old Double Rainbow Bridge, “Coffee Uncle” Li Jinhe lights a blowtorch to brew “burnt coffee,” drawing visitors from across the province to the banks of the Nujiang River—a vivid snapshot of how Yunnan coffee is moving “from raw-material export to boutique going global.”

During the May Day holiday, the Lujiangba area of Longyang District in Baoshan, Yunnan, welcomed a surge of coffee tourism. The river rushed by; the century-old Double Rainbow Bridge lay still as ever. Inside the “roadside café” by the bridge, “Coffee Uncle” Li Jinhe lit a blowtorch, its flame licking the base of the pot. In the siphon brewer the coffee grounds churned with the boiling water, and a roasty aroma laced with bright fruit acidity spread through the air—this is the “burnt coffee” that has gone viral online.

The stone mill served as a counter, siphon pots stood in formation, and the staff struck a gong as a signal, calling out the occasional chant to amuse the guests. Visitors crowded around, phones held high, witnessing the wondrous journey from a single bean to a cup of coffee. It is precisely this uniqueness that has led many out-of-province tourists to put it on their Yunnan itinerary: order a “burnt coffee,” with the roaring river beneath their feet and the iron chains of the bridge swaying above, savoring the fruity, mellow aroma of Baoshan small-grain coffee while feeling the wondrous interweaving of historic relics and coffee fragrance.

Awakening the soul of Baoshan small-grain coffee in the most primitive way—it is exactly this distinctiveness that brings provincial visitors all the way to the Nujiang. The flames rise day after day, the fragrance endures year after year; such is the boiling daily life by the Nujiang. From raw-material export to boutique going global, Yunnan coffee is spreading its aroma to the world in the most Yunnan way.

Guided by the Propaganda Department of the CPC Yunnan Provincial Committee. Produced by Yun News and the Yun Daily Public-Welfare Advertising Integrated Media Studio. Photography by Hu Yuya and Huang Xingneng. Editor: Chen Chuangye. Art editor: Lin Xianfu.

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2. Original article: “A Wild, Addictive Cup: Out-of-Town Visitors Chase This Coffee to the Banks of the Nujiang” (Yun News).
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