At a Glance (China Coffee Network): China News Service, Hinggan League, September 16 — Title: Black Sheep Mountain, Set Ablaze by a Handcrafted Coffee By Zhang Wei, China News Service In autumn, the grasslands of Hi…
China News Service, Hinggan League, September 16 — Title: Black Sheep Mountain, Set Ablaze by a Handcrafted Coffee
By Zhang Wei, China News Service
In autumn, the grasslands of Hinggan League in Inner Mongolia begin to turn yellow. Driving along the asphalt road of Debos Town in the Horqin Right Wing Front Banner, one finds a ‘lonely’ cafe on the mid-slope of Black Sheep Mountain, from which the aroma of coffee wafts far. Many visitors stop here to rest, take in the scenery, or return from horseback riding for a cup of coffee.
‘Who would have thought that grassland herders could ever be connected with making coffee?’ On the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, a China News Service reporter visited the spot; pushing the door open, the server Uriina was bantering with visitors.
Black Sheep Mountain commands the magnificent Hanggai grassland where forests, river valleys, and cliffs intertwine, and sits on the only route to Arxan. There was a time when countless self-driving tourists passed through but rarely stopped. With premium ecological resources hidden away, the herders could only rely on traditional grazing to make a living.
In recent years, local authorities opened tourist roads and introduced cultural-tourism formats. While preserving the original grassland, they achieved a lightweight, low-intervention transformation from a ‘pass-through stop’ into an internet-famous destination.
Uriina is a genuine herder, yet she speaks fluent Chinese. She told the reporter that this is because she often introduces her hometown to visitors, and her ability to express herself has grown stronger.
Two years ago, Uriina was a ‘study-accompanying mother’ (a mother who relocates to live near her child’s school). After her child went to university, her life fell into confusion for a time. Now she is not only a server at this viral cafe but also a firsthand witness to Black Sheep Mountain’s cultural-tourism story. ‘In the past we earned money only by grazing; now I also draw a salary, with personal annual income exceeding 20,000 yuan.’
Black Sheep Mountain is not a traditional scenic spot; since the start of this year, it has unexpectedly gone viral because of a handcrafted coffee. On social media, a large number of check-in photos have piled up under the tag ‘Black Sheep Mountain, Not-at-the-Stable Cafe’: the cafe’s retro space, the undulating meadows outside the window, cattle and sheep grazing in the distance, plus a handcrafted coffee—placed anywhere, it makes a screensaver-worthy picture.
Photo: visitors taking photos and checking in at Black Sheep Mountain. By Lai Zhiqiang.
Qiu Linlin is a local barista who has been making coffee for 13 years. At the cafe on Black Sheep Mountain she found the joy of ‘solitude’: ‘Since opening on May 1, on our busiest days we have to make over a thousand cups of coffee. After closing at night, looking out at the wilderness and up at the starry sky, I find much inspiration that triggers me to research new products.’
The rise of Black Sheep Mountain is regarded by Zhou Zhihao, Party Secretary of Debos Town, as an ‘unexpected model’ of local cultural-tourism development: ‘We are also feeling our way across the river by touching the stones.’
Zhou admitted that, as a township, Debos lacks a professional cultural-tourism operations team, and many plans are constantly adjusted in practice. But the success of Black Sheep Mountain showed them a direction: niche, refined, and story-driven may be more appealing than large-and-comprehensive traditional scenic areas.
Zhou Lixin, a post-95 young man from Chongqing, is the new-media operations lead at the Black Sheep Mountain cafe and also one of the young people ‘reverse-attracted’ by Black Sheep Mountain. ‘Before coming to work here, I looked it up online; both Hinggan League and Black Sheep Mountain are just too beautiful.’
Having served in the military, Zhou Lixin is more willing to take on new challenges; he once ran a guesthouse in Chongqing before entering the new-media industry. Around last year’s National Day he decided to come to Black Sheep Mountain to help prepare the cafe and gear up for big things.
‘Since opening, we launched our own new-media account this year, growing from 200,000 impressions in May to 20 million now—a qualitative leap.’ Zhou plans for this year’s livestreams and short videos to focus on check-in scenery, and next year to upgrade to storytelling content.
With such a clear development vision, Zhou told the reporter that this is because he has gradually become a ‘new villager,’ quietly forming a bond with this land. ‘I feel I can’t leave Black Sheep Mountain more and more. This ‘can’t-leave’ is because it has become my ‘second hometown.’’
Photo: Qiu Linlin making hand-ground coffee for visitors at the cafe. By Zhang Wei, China News Service.
Zhou Zhihao introduced that the town’s established projects now include hotels, cafes, equestrian clubs, and some herder nomadic-experience industries. ‘The grass-sliding project is also in operation. Next, we plan to improve the construction of one or two campsites, including an RV camp and a free camp, while also attracting investment to introduce a cable-car project.’
Zhou hopes that in the future Black Sheep Mountain can shift from a ‘check-in spot’ into a ‘destination,’ so visitors are willing to stay and enjoy a few more days. (End)
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