In recent years, Yunnan coffee has gone global and its export volume has consistently ranked first in the country, thanks to the hard work of coffee makers. The 6th edition of China Daily on March 20th focuses on the story of coffee craftsman Ding Zhi. He has been deeply cultivating Yunnan coffee for 20 years, bringing the fragrance of Chinese coffee to the Universiade, standing on the world stage, donating to build 100 libraries, and walking the Southern Silk Road again in 33 days. Fulfilling promises with original intentions and forging extraordinary achievements with passion, this cup of coffee contains the hardcore responsibility of the Chinese people!
The article excerpt is as follows:
The quality of coffee beans from Gaoligongshan in Yunnan has long been recognized worldwide. At the 42nd World Coffee Expo held in Brussels, Belgium in 1993, Baoshan small grain coffee produced in Gaoligong Mountain won the "Eureka" gold medal. 16 years later, Ding Zhi, a native of Sichuan, set foot on Gaoligong Mountain, determined to bring glory to the coffee industry on this land once again.
In 2009, Ding Zhi traveled for two days and two nights, taking trains, buses, and tractors, and finally arrived at Gaoligong Mountain. This trip originated from a casual question from a customer. When the customer asked Ding Zhi if Yunnan also produces coffee beans, he found himself unable to answer and decided to go and investigate.
What he saw and heard on the misty Gaoligong Mountain completely changed Ding Zhi's life. There are patches of iron pickup coffee trees growing there, and the unique flavor of iron pickup coffee beans won the "Eureka" Gold Award in Brussels as early as 1993. Unfortunately, with Western coffee culture gaining a foothold in the Chinese market, this honor has faded from the public eye.
If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have known that coffee is also produced here, "Ding Zhi said in a recent interview at his coffee plantation." To achieve true promotion, we need to polish a story full of human touch
The 2009 trip to Gaoligong Mountain marked the beginning of Ding Zhi's 17 year journey. He is determined to bring these forgotten coffee beans back to their glory and create a coffee shop with Eastern cultural heritage and a positive attitude towards life.
In fact, Ding Zhi's new journey in life began with an experience after the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008. In the weeks after the disaster, Ding Zhi remained in the disaster area and devoted himself wholeheartedly to the rescue work. When the children who were orphaned by the disaster asked him when he would come next, he firmly remembered this sentence in his heart. He gritted his teeth and sold off the property and car in his hometown, and went to Chengdu to open a small coffee stall called "Yiding Coffee", which sounds like "certain" in Chinese. It was both a self motivation and an explanation to the children.
By chance, Ding Zhipin tasted Yunnan coffee beans shared by a friend and was pleasantly surprised to find that their flavor and quality were not inferior to the imported coffee beans he had been using for a long time. He deliberately set the price of Yunnan coffee higher than imported coffee because he firmly believed that customers' taste buds could taste the difference.
After visiting the production areas in Yunnan in 2009, Ding Zhi removed all imported beans and made a decision to only sell Yunnan coffee beans in the future. Later on, he devoted himself to achieving full process quality control from the source to the finished product. In 2021, he established his own coffee plantation in Baoshan. For the sake of soil health, he insists on leaving grass under trees and fermenting with clay jars, which is unrealistic in the eyes of others. However, he cultivated coffee beans with a unique flavor from this.
Ding Zhi recalled that at that time, others said I was crazy, but if I wanted to revive those forgotten coffee beans, I had to willingly do something that others thought was foolish.
While dedicating himself to the coffee industry, Ding Zhi also fulfills a grand public welfare mission. He knew that "materials can only solve urgent problems, and books can illuminate the future of children", so he drove the old pickup truck all over the mountains, covering Sichuan, Yunnan and Xizang Autonomous Region, donated 400000 books in total, and helped build 107 libraries. The 100th library was completed in 2024 at a high school in Baoshan, and a small "coffee themed museum" was set up inside the library to promote the cultural heritage and historical inheritance of the hometown to local students.
In May 2025, Ding Zhi embarked on a legendary plan to retrace the 2400 year old "Southern Silk Road" that once connected Sichuan with Myanmar and India. During the 33 day journey, he departed from Sanxingdui in Guanghan, Sichuan and headed south to Tengchong, Yunnan. He rode alone and brought Yunnan coffee to the villagers along the ancient road. After the horse fell ill, Ding Zhi hiked through rugged and steep mountain roads. Wherever he goes, he spares no effort to tell people the legendary story behind Yunnan's "gold medal coffee beans".
In 2026, Ding Zhi has bigger plans. He plans to set off from Tengchong, hike through northern Myanmar, and eventually reach India, taking the coffee beans from China's high mountains to a wider world.
As the saying goes, 'Hard work pays off.' In 2023, Ding Zhi's Yunnan coffee became the designated coffee for the Chengdu Universiade, providing 200000 cups of coffee for the event.
33 years ago, Yunnan coffee beans won a gold medal in Brussels. This year, Ding Zhi plans to bring his unique clay fermentation method to Brussels.
Nowadays, Sichuan cuisine has spread all over the world and is deeply loved by many foreign friends. I believe that Chinese coffee will also be equally popular, "he said.
Original article link:
(China Daily reporter: Li Lei, Li Yingqing, compiled by: Yan Yujie)
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