Haining’s hottest stall sells over 10,000 cups in 4 days as the city’s coffee event goes viral

Chao News client

Coffee, lawns and a Mid-Autumn moon — a gathering for the whole city set a town alight over four days.

From September 24 to 27 this year, the 2026 Haining 4th “IN Trend” Coffee Lifestyle Trend-Chasing Season was held on the large lawn east of Li Shanlan Park in Haining. Over four days, the event used “a cup of coffee, a stretch of lawn, a Mid-Autumn night stroll” as its vehicle, linking a coffee market, professional competitions, a Mid-Autumn garden party and consumption promotion, and drove 3 million yuan in on-site spending — double last year’s figure.

Starting from a single cup of coffee, Haizhou Subdistrict has worked to couple culture, tourism, commerce, sports and exhibitions in depth, using the coffee IP to activate the city’s everyday vitality and forging a new urban cultural calling card that young people love.

Buzzing on site

The trend-chasing market unlocks diverse scenarios

On the afternoon of September 27, as the event entered its closing day, the large lawn east of Li Shanlan Park was still buzzing: coffee aroma drifted across the grass, visitors streamed past the stalls, some checking in for photos, some strolling, some walking their pets, and some rushing over on the final day for one more cup.

This was the last day of the coffee lifestyle trend-chasing season, and a microcosm of four days of footfall.

Over four days, more than 80 stalls across the market flourished. Entering the “Coffee Debut” coffee-owner zone, local Haining brands such as Chao Coffee, Da’e Coffee and Lianggetou Coffee were laid out alongside national leaders such as Malu Coffee and Village Tree, each showing off its “secret recipe,” with a range of limited signature specials making striking appearances.

“For this fourth ‘IN Trend’ coffee season, Chao Coffee brought a double-extraction set of two signature drinks named ‘Chasing the Tide’ and ‘Greeting the Moon,'” said Jiang Yaqin, head of Haining Chaofu Co., Ltd. “Chasing the Tide uses mandarins from Jianshan Huangwan here in Haining, and the other, Greeting the Moon, is blended with wild honey from Heishui, Haining’s east-west cooperation partner. Chasing the tide and riding the waves, greeting the moon and gathering autumn — we developed these specially for the Mid-Autumn Festival and Haining’s tide-watching season.”

The distinctive specials were an instant hit. Crowds swarmed the Chao Coffee stall as young people came to check in and try them, with a steady stream of buyers. Statistics show that this double-extraction set sold more than a thousand cups over four days, a sign of a very hot market response.

Malu Coffee, right next to Chao Coffee, was equally busy. Many visitors stopped to order, drawn by the aroma, and the queue never let up. Ms Qu, head of Malu Coffee, had made the trip precisely because she saw Haining’s booming coffee market, and being on site she was struck by Haining residents’ enthusiasm for coffee — selling more than 200 cups in a single day, every one of them a genuine vote of approval from consumers.

“Village Tree” nearby was a true crowd favourite. The brand showed real sincerity this time, bringing its own flagship signature to Haining so local coffee lovers could enjoy it. Its head, Zhang Huanzheng, admitted that he had been optimistic about Haizhou’s thorough preparations and quality event environment, but had not expected Haining residents to embrace and love coffee so warmly. Once the stall opened, the signature was snapped up, and by four or five in the afternoon the stock was gone entirely.

Unlike previous years, this year’s trend-chasing market also brought in supply chain merchants for coffee equipment, specialty green beans and dairy ingredients, presenting the entire coffee industry chain. While drinking coffee, residents could also buy specialty green beans and learn professional coffee knowledge — unexpected coffee experiences that challenged enthusiasts.

From last year to this, Haizhou’s coffee has never been just “a cup of coffee.” Rather, it uses coffee as a bond to blend culture, music, sport, intangible cultural heritage and socialising, creating a feast of exchange that spans all ages. In the “Full Moon Good Food Festival” baking zone, curly fries, egg-wrapped pork loin and banana cakes filled the air with aroma; in the “Furry Matchmaking Corner” pet-friendly zone, corgis, shiba inus and border collies socialised with each other on the lawn; at the “Neighbourhood Trend Market” life station, some queued to collect multi-colour coffee stamps, some asked about business support policies, and children did crafts. On the lawn, camping, dog walking and live music took turns on stage.

“We saw it all over our social feeds — so lively and tempting that we wanted to check it in for ourselves.” Visitor Chang Ying brought her family to the market after watching the tide, holding the coffee and snacks she had just bought. “I never expected Haining to be this much fun now — not only can you watch the tide, you can drink coffee and wander the market.”

Real competition

Professional competitions activate development momentum

A national competition carried Haining’s coffee aroma further.

As the headline event of this trend-chasing season, the 2026 China Coffee Brewing Championship East Regional Final was fiercely contested here. Twenty-two top competitors from six regional divisions — Huizhou, Suzhou, Ding’an in Hainan, Wenzhou, Shanghai Songjiang and Fuzhou — gathered, upgrading the coffee season from a “consumer event” to a “professional platform.”

Grinding, weighing, pouring… competitors worked holding their breath while the judging panel bent over to slurp and take notes. Below the stage, residents sat on the lawn, some watching with coffee cups in hand, some taking photos. “Haining’s coffee atmosphere is stronger than I imagined, and the city is very civilised and the audience very professional — it feels like a city coffee party,” said Huang An’an, a competitor from the Fuzhou division and champion of the 2025 China Coffee Brewing Championship East Regional Final, who was competing for the second time. “Having the venue on a park lawn brings a professional competition closer to residents; that sense of ease is rare.”

After several rounds of rigorous judging, the top eight competitors emerged, earning the precious ticket to the national final while also helping the coffee industry discover and cultivate new professional talent.

Li Zhixuan, a competitor from Taizhou, Zhejiang, took the title at the 2026 China Coffee Brewing Championship East Regional Final with steady execution, excellent flavour presentation and ingenious creative expression. After the competition she told Dachao: “I’ve been in the coffee industry for three years, and you can feel on site that Haining’s coffee atmosphere is really good. Being able to exchange and learn with peers here has been very rewarding.”

Using competition as a bridge, industrial results landed at the same time. During this year’s coffee season, the Haining Coffee Industry Alliance was officially unveiled. Going forward, Haining Chaofu Community Service Co., Ltd. will focus on deepening offline scenarios so the coffee industry takes root in communities and stays close to residents; the Haining Talent Industry College will focus on cultivating industry talent; and Zhejiang Huatiancui Technology Co., Ltd. and Haining Pulan Zhe Food Co., Ltd. will focus on building the upstream supply chain and a standardised coffee manufacturing system, completing the core upstream links. The four parties will work together to drive deep integration of the coffee industry with culture and talent, pooling greater strength for the high-quality development of Haining’s coffee industry.

The head of Haining Chaofu Co., Ltd. told Dachao that, supported by professional competitions, Haizhou Subdistrict has continued to expand resources and lay out the entire coffee industry chain over the past two years. “Now, beyond the layout of coffee shops, we have also begun to understand the whole chain from bean to cup. Next, we are exploring the establishment of a Chao Coffee research institute to further enhance the vitality of Haizhou’s coffee industry.”

Brisk consumption

Multi-pronged measures unlock consumption potential

Beyond footfall, how to keep spending here was the ultimate question of this coffee lifestyle trend-chasing season.

“I grabbed a 20-yuan voucher, so I came especially to drink coffee on site — really good.” Resident Han Xiaoyu happily showed the all-venue voucher in her hand, saying she had paid close attention after seeing online that Haizhou Subdistrict was issuing consumption vouchers. “When the window opened I grabbed one immediately, and now I’m going to buy a coffee.”

It is understood that during this coffee lifestyle trend-chasing season, Haizhou Subdistrict worked with merchants across categories to issue a million yuan in consumption vouchers, using the festive momentum to stimulate spending and raise revenue. Among these, nearly 100,000 yuan in coffee-specific vouchers under “Haizhou Treats the Whole City to Coffee” were issued online and offline, covering coffee stalls, all-venue passes and Chao Coffee stalls and other consumption scenarios, further lowering the spending threshold for residents and visitors and stimulating market vitality.

Vouchers were only the entry point; ticket stubs were the bond. At the coffee lifestyle trend-chasing season, the “Trend Ticket” partner programme used a small ticket stub to link consumption scenarios across Haining. With valid proof such as tickets to Haining performing arts events, major competition tickets and competitor credentials, Nanhu Airport boarding passes or Yanguan Tide Music City tickets, consumers could unlock exclusive discounts at partner merchants across the city. From “watching the tide” to “tasting coffee,” from “visiting” to “staying overnight,” the Trend Ticket programme converted tide-season traffic into retained urban spending, making “one ticket in hand, a happy tour of Haining” a reality.

Interactive play made spending more fun. Beyond grabbing vouchers online, visitors could take part offline in five interactive activities — the “IN Trend” coffee lifestyle trend-chasing season upgrade procedure, the “Fragment Delivery” supply plan, the “IN Trend” moon-greeting lantern riddle event, the citywide runners’ call-up and tide-ticket redemption — to earn vouchers. Over four days, residents responded with great enthusiasm, checking in at activity after activity, enjoying coffee while collecting plenty of fun and gifts.

Data show that over four days the event drove 3 million yuan in on-site spending, while across the double festival holiday, citywide vouchers are expected to drive 60% more spending than in previous years. A single cup of coffee truly activated a citywide “coffee+” consumption circuit.

Steady support

Full support keeps the event running smoothly

A packed lawn event depends on an invisible support network.

On the evening of September 27, as the last group of visitors left the lawn, security staff began removing the hard barriers while cleaning crews moved in, and the on-site medical point completed its final duty log of the day. Over four days, the core area remained orderly, surrounding roads flowed smoothly, and medical points, volunteer service points and other support forces were on duty throughout.

It is understood that this coffee lifestyle trend-chasing season implemented tiered control, dividing the site into a closed core zone and a peripheral traffic-dispersal zone. The core zone — the lawn market area — was fully enclosed and internally divided into three grids: the stage area, the market area and the lawn camping area. Security staff patrolled the grids continuously, focusing on preventing crowd-gathering and stampede risks; a one-way visitor route was planned to avoid counter-flowing crowds; hard barriers were set in front of the stage, and dedicated staff were posted at camping and rest points.

The peripheral zone — the roads around the park — had dedicated traffic control, with guidance posts at main roads and car park entrances, real-time traffic information published via navigation platforms, and vehicles guided to divert. Emergency passages were reserved in every zone, and team members carried radios so forces could be deployed in real time in case of an incident.

In parallel with security, a medical point was set up on site with medical staff on rotation, equipped with first-aid kits, heat-relief medication and common emergency equipment, providing blood pressure checks, treatment of minor abrasions and handling of early heat-stroke symptoms; in the event of sudden illness or injury, dispatch could be coordinated in real time by radio, with green channels opened at nearby medical institutions.

Volunteer service points were also set up on site, handling enquiries and guidance, lost and found, wheelchair loans and assistance for mothers and infants; cleaning staff swept in shifts, food safety was inspected by dedicated staff, and power and communications support teams stood by at fixed posts to keep the market, stage and camping areas running smoothly. Over four days, this support mechanism of “closed core, dispersed periphery, coordinated emergency response” gave residents and visitors extra peace of mind as they drank coffee, listened to music and watched competitions on the lawn.

Since the first edition in 2022, the “IN Trend” Coffee Lifestyle Trend-Chasing Season has now been held four times in a row — from an initial subdistrict pilot to today’s upgrade into the Haining Coffee Industry Alliance, from a single event to a cultural IP. With coffee as its medium, Haizhou Subdistrict keeps exploring new paths for integrating cultural tourism and consumption.

“We hold the coffee lifestyle trend-chasing season not just to stage an event, but to boost the market through the festival and promote spending through coffee, turning coffee aroma into the city’s everyday vitality and truly converting competition traffic and tide-watching traffic into consumption growth,” said Yao Zhenyu, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Haizhou Subdistrict. With coffee as its medium, Haizhou Subdistrict is using “coffee+” to integrate various business formats, enrich consumption scenarios and activate neighbourhood vitality, turning coffee aroma into the city’s everyday life and making “Haizhou coffee” a new calling card through which more people come to know and love Haining.

(Dachao client, reporter Yang Pingping)

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