In the countryside of Shanghai in early summer, there are always unexpected surprises.
Driving into Yuanjing Village in Luodian Town, Baoshan District, what catches the eye is a refreshing green and colorful flowers dotted with stars. In this peaceful village surrounded by trees and wheat fields, there is a "new villager" – Chen Aiyan, the manager of Cosee Coffee, whom everyone calls "Xiaoyan".
When he saw Xiaoyan, he was standing behind the bar of the coffee shop that had been transformed from an old warehouse, leisurely drawing circles with his hand around the pot. The afternoon sun shines through the french window designed by him and sprinkles on the cement floor and log table. The air is filled with pure coffee fragrance. Outside the window, there is a pastoral oil painting framed within the window frame; Inside the window, there were groups of old customers who had specially driven over.
We don't have sugar or alcohol here, "Xiaoyan handed over a cup of hand brewed coffee in a gentle but firm tone." I just hope that the people who come here are really interested in coffee
From advertising director to 'Baoshan No.1'
An Unexpected Opening of Coffee Life
Before making coffee, Xiaoyan worked as an advertising director. In his ten-year advertising career, staying up all night was the norm, and coffee became his indispensable companion. Because of his love, he gradually plunged into the deep sea of coffee from a fan who "drinks ten cups a day", followed teachers from Europe, America, Japan, Taiwan, China, China and other places to learn extraction, and later even started baking training for large chain coffee factories.
However, what truly brought Xiaoyan from behind the scenes to the forefront was an accident. For a period of time in 2022, he was "welded" to the small shop in Luodian that was originally only intended to do coffee bean trading. Unexpectedly, the small shop quietly became popular due to the spontaneous "positive reviews" of old customers, and once climbed to the top of the taste list, popular list, and professional list of Baoshan District Cafe on a certain review platform.
The first media outlet to come and shoot was the Liberation Daily, which said there was a very professional coffee shop here, "Xiaoyan recalled. Subsequently, various filming teams rushed in. Even more dramatic was that in a hand to hand competition organized by the town, Xiaoyan's team unexpectedly defeated the opponent's high priced "five peat" players and won the championship in one fell swoop. Now, the fans who were originally going for the championship all came to watch this' dark horse '-' So it's coffee training, no wonder! '
Having gained fame, Xiaoyan's original intention remains unchanged. His business philosophy has always revolved around three words: passion, professionalism, and sharing. If you're not professional enough and just play around making a cup of coffee, then it's not professional. Sharing is the core, and if the knowledge I impart can help you make a good cup of coffee at home, then this cultural atmosphere begins
Moved by the sincerity of village officials, I opened a shop in the village
Stay calm and "guard the door" during the spring outing season craze
The fate between Xiaoyan and Yuanjing Village began with a long tug of war. At that time, Yuanjing Village was planning overall cultural and tourism development, and the project team valued the inherent traffic and high customer loyalty of Cosee Coffee, hoping that he could settle in. But Xiaoyan glanced at it and felt 'too desolate'.
When I first came here, I used to sit alone on the steps for an afternoon, with almost no one around. There weren't any young people, and I just saw an old man walking around here. "Xiao Yan smiled and said, his idea at the time was" to lose money for three years first.
The reason why I became a member of Yuanjing Village, Xiaoyan frankly said, was moved by the sincerity of Yuan Zhulong, the village secretary of Yuanjing Village. In order to make Xiaoyan the first merchant in Yuanjing Village, Yuan Zhulong approached him no less than seven times, from rent reduction to future planning, Xiaoyan never gave up. What really moved him was a rainy night. Our old shop in Luodian Ancient Town was about to close that day, but it was still filled with old acquaintances who were drinking and chatting about coffee. As soon as the secretary saw this scene, he realized that 'the people who come here will follow you.' This judgment and sincerity made Xiaoyan decide to move training, salons, and other activities here first, and use it as a 'battlefield'.
On the eve of the "Flower God Festival" in March 2025, the Cosee Yuanjing Village store opened with a large number of customers. Village officials spontaneously helped with cash register, table cleaning, and sweeping. After finishing my busy day, the secretary came to ask me if I had confidence. I said, 'If I do this every day, I must have confidence!' Xiaoyan recalled with a smile, but then he comforted Yuan Zhulong in turn, saying that outdoor businesses have peak and off seasons, so there's no need to worry too much. 'No one is okay, I'm doing training and revitalizing activities.'
This year, the arrival of the Shanghai rural spring outing season has made Yuanjing Village thoroughly lively. Various formats such as rapeseed fields, go karts, and small trains attract a large number of family tourists, and the shops are often crowded to the brim. However, in this wave of enthusiasm, Xiaoyan remained calm and sharp. The data exposed by the media are all taken when there are the most people. If you have the courage to take pictures on weekdays or rainy days, it may be a different scene. "In his view, the significance of rural revitalization is not entirely about how much money businesses can earn in the short term, but about returning the overall supporting facilities of the countryside to a perfect state, allowing young people to live and work here at a relatively low cost, and providing a resilient" buffer zone "for the city.
Taking his own store as an example, Xiaoyan pointed out the "shortcomings" exposed after the surge in customer flow: "The biggest problem is parking. Old customers call me to ask if I have a parking space, and I say no, so he doesn't come." In addition, there are insufficient public restrooms, missing directional signs, and a lack of public rest areas where people can rest without spending… These "small things", in Xiaoyan's opinion, are precisely the key to retaining people.
From being lost in thought alone to being surrounded by regular customers, Xiaoyan is more like a "gatekeeper" in Yuanjing Village. He stubbornly screened out customers who were truly 'related' to coffee. For this reason, he does not add tea drinks to the menu, does not sell ice cream to please children, and does not make drinks at night to increase revenue. Coffee shops make alcohol from eight in the morning to nine in the evening, which is actually a kind of helplessness. But mixing the taste of alcohol and coffee can ruin professionalism. He even "offended" an aunt who wanted sugar packets, and would rather advise her not to come next time than to keep her "original taste". If this becomes a noisy gathering hall, then this quiet and leisurely space will be destroyed
Use a cup of 'authentic' coffee
Growing together with the countryside
This almost paranoid persistence stems from Xiaoyan's reverence for the coffee profession. He calculated that in order to make a profit from an American style cup priced at 8 yuan, he could only use the extremely low-cost "recycled beans" And for a cup of coffee in his shop, the cost of beans alone could be as high as 8 yuan. We pick beans from a hundred miles, even a thousand miles. Good coffee has a 'beauty' that makes you want to smile as soon as you drink it, "he pointed out the window and said." If people are willing to come all the time because our coffee is good, that's what makes me truly happy
Having rooted in Yuanjing Village for over a year, what moved Xiaoyan the most was the working condition of the local officials. My impression of grassroots cadres used to be drinking tea and reading newspapers. But when I came to Luodian, I found that it was completely different. He was very impressed. On weekends, everyone would also come to the store to make purchases, but they still sat down to talk about work, and this became their "second workstation". During peak holiday periods, village officials will also guide traffic outside or help wash dishes and cash at the bar.
Xiaoyan sighed and said, "They are not like leaders, but more like colleagues who work side by side with us. As merchants, we are really pushed forward by their enthusiasm
From the "Flower God Festival" in spring to daily operations, Xiaoyan has invested a considerable amount of decoration costs here – a real fireplace imported from Europe, a hand built stone wall costing tens of thousands of yuan, four expensive bean grinders… All of this is not to become a "quick money making" village caf é, but to truly take root. I originally planned to lose money for three years, but now it's been over a year and I've started to make profits, which is better than expected, "Xiaoyan said calmly as she looked out the window at the forest." I think what's more meaningful is that this matter needs to be sustainable. What we need to work hard on now is to improve our quality and make this market a good taste that more coffee enthusiasts can 'see'
As I left the Cosee coffee shop, a gentle evening breeze swept over the fields. The lights in the caf é lit up, warm and firm. In the symphony of revitalizing rural areas during the 'Spring Outing Season', Xiaoyan and his cospee coffee play a long note about professionalism, perseverance, and passion. It may not be the loudest, but it may be the most melodious, attracting those who truly appreciate it, crossing mountains and seas, and rushing towards it. This may be the most precious gift that a 'new villager' brings to the local countryside.
Text: Shi Xieyun
Editor: Huang Qianxin
Shangguan account author: Shanghai San Nong
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