Along the 2.3-kilometer riverside of the North Bund, the river breeze is filled with the aroma of coffee. Zhao Heming stood in front of the "Ruilan Doufang" stall and handed over a cup of soy milk coffee called "Before Rain". He is the fifth generation inheritor of Zhao Family Tofu, who started making coffee in 2023. The cup in front of him combines the special notes of soybeans and coffee beans, with a warm aroma that surprises many tourists and brings new vitality to non heritage brands.
As one of the key city level IP activities of the "55 Shopping Festival", the 2026 Shanghai International Coffee Culture Festival will be celebrated throughout Shanghai during the May Day holiday. A cup of coffee not only reveals the temperature and temperament of this city, but also serves as a soft link that connects the pulse of consumption and the sense of achievement of its citizens.
Fragrance of Innovation
Time honored brands cross boundaries and reach new heights
During the May Day holiday, citizen Qiu Zihao's first stop for leisure began with a cup of coffee. "My husband and wife want to drink special coffee, so they come to the Coffee Life Carnival on the Waterfront." He has a cup of snow covered buttered coffee in his left hand and a cup of West Lake Fish in Vinegar Sauce coffee in his right hand. "We have already taken pictures to make friends, and now the happiness index is rising."
More than 300 brands have formed the Coffee Life Carnival, and Ruilan Doufang from Qingpu Jinze is participating for the first time. Zhao's tofu has reached the hands of Zhao Heming for the fifth generation, and he has been thinking about how to sustain the brand's growth. In 2023, Zhao Heming founded the sub brand "Ruilan Doufang": "Coffee is the favorite of Shanghai people, and soy products are the dietary memory of Shanghai people. The two are of the same origin." At this coffee festival, the brand brought three limited edition special notes: "Before the Rain," "South Country," and "Early Summer." Among them, "Before the Rain" is based on clarified grapefruit juice with soy milk, and the rich and natural fruit aroma of cold brewed coffee is the most popular. Our store is located in Qingpu, and this time we come to the North Bund to let more young people know that even old brands can play new tricks, "Zhao Heming said, hoping to use the stage of the Shanghai International Coffee Culture Festival to let Shanghai style flavors go to a wider world.
Also making the debut was the "Smart Manufacturing Institute" from Taiwan, China, China. The brand manager Aloudi flew to Shanghai: "I specially brought my baked beans, including coffee beans from Colombia, Indonesia and Croatia, and I highly recommend the coffee beans baked by raw beans from Zhukula Village, Yunnan Province." The green hand made cup he has at hand was also designed by himself. Because of the unique coffee aesthetics, several sets of coffee were sold in a day. Alu thinks, "The Shanghai International Coffee Culture Festival is so popular. Consumers are very 'knowledgeable', and the service has delicate granularity. The temperament of the city can be seen in small details
Isn't Fengyoujing for use? Can you still drink it? A long queue formed in front of the booth of "Longhu Pharmacy". This cup of 'Tiger Roar Green Forest' coffee is a refreshing special tailored for the coffee festival. It contains mint leaves, kiwi fruit, and edible cooling oil flavored syrup. We have restocked several times in the past two days, "said Xie Juxiang, the brand manager of Shanghai Zhonghua Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., to reporters. The brand originally only wanted to try cross-border, but it immediately became popular and went viral. Many consumers even bought cool popping gummies and 'Just Want a Cool Bucket' ice cream, and the old brand instantly became younger.
Fragrance of the City
Coffee+overflows the happiness of the neighborhood
A cup of coffee, connecting global flavors, and also filling the city with fragrance. Open the "Coffee Culture Festival Special Map" on Gaode Map, which is marked with densely packed specialty cafes, activity locations, and key cultural and tourism landmarks in each district. The aroma of coffee permeates various neighborhoods in Shanghai along the "one river, one river", allowing every citizen and tourist to unexpectedly encounter happiness at the corner.
On the banks of Dadian Lake in Zhujiajiao Town, Qingpu, the "Most Jiangnan" 2026 Qingpu Coffee Carnival opened simultaneously with the main venue. Entering the 'Lakeside Coffee Market', more than 60 specialty stalls are arranged along the lake shore, with coffee carts, cultural and creative stalls, and food stalls arranged in a staggered manner. The local brand "One Bud, One Leaf" in Qingpu has been participating in the exhibition for three consecutive years. The organizer Zhang Jiayi specially customized the cool and refreshing ancient method winter melon tea and unique ultra strong Hong Kong milk for the coffee festival this year. The bottle body is designed with manual labeling, which complements the brand's consistent Chinese style.
Coffee connects the "stillness" of the water towns in Jiangnan with the "movement" of racing culture. This year, Qingpu Coffee Carnival has for the first time linked with the Shanghai Automotive Culture Festival, creating a special zone for automotive culture features. Immersive scenes such as vintage car themed exhibitions and BABYCAR coffee car experiences have been set up, creating a unique check-in atmosphere of "coffee aroma+engine sound". We have adopted a 'three circle' structure in our spatial layout: the outer circle is the coffee truck display area, the middle circle is the leisure coffee experience area, and the inner circle is the cultural and creative product sales area. "said Wang Dongning, founder of" Lakeside Coffee Market ".
In Changning District, the Coffee Boat Micro Tour and the 6th Shanghai Life · Xinsuo Coffee Drama Festival have transformed coffee from a beverage into a key to experiencing the Shanghai style lifestyle; On the shore of Dishui Lake, the sub venue of the coffee festival is spread out in a 5000 square meter space, with a coffee market, drone performances, and fireworks shows interwoven into a new picture of "livable, business friendly, and tourist friendly"… The temperature and temperament of the city are tasted by customers from all over the world in the details of each cup of coffee.
Fragrance of Vitality
The consumption link of linked cultural, business, tourism and sports exhibitions
Shanghai is the city with the most coffee shops in the world. At present, the number of coffee shops in Shanghai has increased from 6193 in 2021 to 10336 in 2025, crossing the threshold of ten thousand stores. "In the view of Xu Jian, Vice Dean of the School of Media and Communication at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, this is a very meaningful thing." Coffee has created a scene that requires people to come to offline social interaction, and offline social interaction will inevitably drive consumption. "Nowadays, the Shanghai International Coffee Culture Festival has already broken out of the small circle of professional coffee and become a new engine for urban economic development with more diverse formats and a linkage between cultural, commercial, and sports exhibitions.
Zooming in from the perspective of the city, the high-end hotels in Shanghai, known as the "first stop for Chinese inbound tourism," also hide "coffee" and ordinary specialty coffees: Hudec Orange Bubble Ice American style with International Hotel Butterfly Crisp, Cinnamon Peel Latte with Peace Hotel Nine Country Biscuits, Tiramisu Iron with Jinjiang Hotel Scallion Biscuits… The unique mix and match brings a delicate and thoughtful experience unique to this city to travelers coming to Shanghai.
There is a story behind the new coffee brand "Parker Road 28" in international hotels. Yin Lei, the general manager of Shanghai International Hotel, told reporters that many out of town and foreign tourists who come to Shanghai like to bring a butterfly pastry as a souvenir. However, the stores selling butterfly pastries are very small, only about 30 square meters. Many customers waiting in line casually ask, "Do you have coffee?" This sentence has given birth to a new brand. According to the needs of tourists, we have launched 'Parker Road 28' since the Spring Festival this year, and have also launched new products such as gardenia latte and butterfly puff coffee. Yin Lei said that coffee culture has a strong foundation in Shanghai, and pastries paired with coffee are very popular among tourists.
During the "55 Shopping Festival", Jinjiang International Group also connected coffee into a deep urban experience route. Zheng Bei, Director of Operations and Coordination Department of Jinjiang International Group, told reporters that Jinjiang Tourism has launched its first immersive exploration of Shanghai's boutique route, "5-day 4-night modern coffee corner x Shanghai style today's trend": "This itinerary takes coffee as the clue, connects city landmarks and cultural blocks, and extends coffee tasting into a deep urban experience that integrates Shanghai style history and contemporary lifestyle by checking in specialty cafes, enjoying classic musicals, and experiencing the slow life of the wealthy in the magic city. It attracts tourists from all over the world to come to Shanghai
At the same time, 73 cinemas in the city participated in the linkage and launched ticket discounts; 90 physical bookstores in the city have launched activities such as coffee book lists; Taobao flash purchase, Tmall, Meituan, Jingdong, Tiktok, Ant Group and other platforms have invested a total of 100 million yuan in consumer subsidies… A cup of coffee, with its unique temperature and aroma, is becoming a warm link connecting Shanghai's consumer vitality, cultural memory and citizens' sense of gain. (Reporter Xu Jinghui, Correspondent Xiang Xin)
(Source: Wen Hui Bao)
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