Kunming's Xunjin Street: Old Buildings, New Cafés and a Slow-Life Coffee Block

At a Glance (China Coffee Network): A scene seen when the Mid-Autumn and National Day cultural-tourism media interview tour visited Xunjin Street in Kunming. Xunjin Street lies beside the Panlong River and carries d…

A scene seen when the Mid-Autumn and National Day cultural-tourism media interview tour visited Xunjin Street in Kunming.

Xunjin Street lies beside the Panlong River and carries deep historical layers. In the Qing dynasty it was one of Kunming’s eight scenic sights, the “Yunjin Night Market,” and an important ferry crossing on the old Panlong River waterway where merchants gathered. After the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway opened, foreign firms and overseas agencies clustered here, and whole stretches of French-style villas and Republican-era buildings survive to this day. This was also the first district in Kunming to encounter coffee-drinking culture, the point from which the modern coffee vogue entered urban life in the city. Historical figures such as Lin Huiyin and Liang Sicheng once lived here, and the old buildings and plane-tree avenues together form the block’s distinctive urban fabric.

In recent years, Jinbi Subdistrict in Kunming’s Xishan District has used old Kunming culture as the thread for micro-renovation and refined upgrading of Xunjin Street, fully protecting the original appearance of French villas and Soviet-style old buildings, revitalizing idle courtyards and old office space, and building a coffee-themed characteristic block. The street has now attracted more than 50 coffee, dining and creative brands, giving the old quarter new commercial energy and vitality.

At the head of Xunjin Street, a Xingye Coffee shop is full to the last seat. The shop has created signature drinks with local flavors — rose, tamarind, grape, litsea — letting visitors sense Yunnan’s produce in a single cup. “This is not just innovation in taste, it is a confident expression of Yunnan’s terroir,” said co-founder Zhang Sixi. Xingye comes from Pu’er, Yunnan and has always insisted on using Yunnan specialty beans; the café was designed to respect Xunjin Street’s distinctive everyday street life and historical depth, aiming to give residents and visitors an urban space for experiencing Yunnan’s slow life.

And not only Xingye. Walk further in from that café and several check-in spots along the street draw lively crowds. Round a corner and you see an old building with an inky, printed feel — Xunjin Guilin. Converted from an 800-square-metre old parking garage, it has brought in local original brands such as LambCoffee, NOCHROCOFFEE and Yiwan. Putting new formats into an old block has won market approval, and its photogenic industrial style draws many residents and visitors to check in, drink coffee and try the food.

The Xunjin block also holds a courtyard-style coffee project occupying two Republican-era villas — Panlong No. 17. With stone walls, grey tiles and refined interiors, and a courtyard where a century-old Yunnan hackberry and ginkgo trees interlace, the setting is picturesque. Panlong No. 17 is dedicated to building a “Yunnan Coffee · Kunming Urban Parlour,” covering coffee industry culture displays, business talks, tasting consumption and brand showcases. It differs from the single function of a conventional café and fills a gap in Kunming’s “coffee industry service platform” format, meeting diverse needs for business exchange, coffee culture experience, and learning and tasting.

Drawing on rich historical resources, the Xunjin block attracts visitors through “coffee plus culture” and “coffee plus history” experience scenarios, running art seasons and themed markets regularly and launching events such as the “Zhiyu Reading Season,” the Xunjin Blind Box Art Season and the Jacaranda Art Festival at appropriate times. It has also released limited-edition merchandise including the “Xunjin” notebook, Xunjin-themed fridge magnets and Xunjin-themed coffee, improved CityWalk routes and hand-drawn guide maps, and upgraded night-time lighting along the street, letting visitors walk from a cup of coffee into a whole street and come to understand a city.

To let everyday bustle and a sense of order coexist, the block has pioneered a “716N” co-building and co-governance model, setting up the Xunjin Roundtable Block Council to advance joint governance by businesses and residents, and the atmosphere of block self-rule has grown steadily stronger. With the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday approaching, why not step into Kunming’s Xunjin Street, drink a cup of Yunnan specialty coffee beneath the plane trees, wander the old lanes and savour a leisurely slow life.

Yunnan Net reporter Zhang Meihuan / photos and report

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