'Fortress Coffee' Brews in Zhejiang's Fengnan Village as Provincial League Aids Rural Revitalization

At a Glance (China Coffee Network): Beside the ruins of an anti-Japanese-war blockhouse in Fengnan Village, Jiashan County, Jiaxing, Zhejiang, the “Fortress Coffee” — backed by the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the China Democratic National Construction Association — has officially opened. Nearby, brick-oven bread and camping-leisure businesses have landed one after another, turning the former blockhouse site into a new rural cultural-tourism landmark…

China News Service, Jiaxing, October 4 (Guo Qiyu) — During the National Day holiday, the “Fortress Coffee,” backed by the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the China Democratic National Construction Association, officially opened for business beside the ruins of an anti-Japanese-war blockhouse in Fengnan Village, Huimin Subdistrict, Jiashan County, Jiaxing, Zhejiang. Not far away, formats such as brick-oven bread and camping leisure have successively taken root, and the former blockhouse site is becoming a new rural cultural-tourism landmark.

“Right after the cafe opened it coincided with the National Day holiday; visitors included local villagers and young people who came from Shanghai,” said Hu Wentao, head of “Fortress Coffee.”

Fengnan Village sits on the Zhejiang-Shanghai border, separated from Fengjing Town in Shanghai by only a river, making it the “first stop” for Jiashan to connect with Shanghai. Leveraging this Shanghai-adjacent advantage, Fengnan has turned its location into a resource and revitalized its idle spaces one by one.

'Fortress Coffee' Brews in Zhejiang's Fengnan Village as Provincial League Aids Rural Revitalization — “Train Night Market” in Fengnan Village, Jiashan, Zhejiang. Photo provided by Fengnan Village.

The “Train Night Market” guides more than 30 vendors into concentrated operation, turning what was once a governance headache into a regional attraction; youth-entrepreneurship formats such as Fortress Coffee and brick-oven bread have successively landed, bringing foot traffic to the village; projects including a banquet center, commercial amenities and a culture-sports center are being advanced in an integrated way, and the anti-Japanese-war blockhouse ruins have been woven into the streetscape,” said Gu Jian, Party secretary of Fengnan Village and director of the village committee, recounting the village’s “family assets.”

The beautiful countryside has moved from “construction” to “management,” underpinned by the years of paired-up assistance from the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the association.

As early as 2018, the Zhejiang Provincial Committee signed a rural-revitalization paired co-construction agreement with Fengnan Village. In 2022, its “Practice Base for Assisting Rural Revitalization” was inaugurated in Fengnan, and the “Tongxin · One Office, Three Stations” support model gradually took shape thereafter.

Among them, the “Tongxin · Culture Refueling Station” plays a role in nurturing the heart through culture, the “Tongxin · Famous-Doctor Service Station” responds to residents’ health needs, and the “Tongxin · Research Liaison Station” expands channels for political consultation and suggestions, forming a long-term support model in areas such as cultural services and grassroots governance.

Last April, a “Village BA” basketball game was held at Fengnan Village’s sports park, bringing a “right-at-the-doorstep” sports feast to villagers and accumulating event-hosting experience for the village. Little known is that behind this sports park — with its high-standard basketball, badminton and table-tennis courts — lies the relay support of the association’s forces at the provincial, city and county levels in Zhejiang.

“When we took part in the ‘Village BA’ in 2024, because we had no training venue of our own, Fengnan’s basketball team could only borrow courts in other villages to train. Although we ultimately took first place, the lack of a training venue remained a regret for Fengnan,” said Gu Jian.

Upon learning of this during a research visit to Fengnan, the Jiaxing Municipal Committee of the association immediately sought various resource support from the provincial committee, and the renovated Fengnan sports park was soon built.

Once the sports park was built, sustained operation became the key. The provincial committee brought together universities’ think tanks, the sports industry, grassroots governance and other forces, making repeated on-site visits to Fengnan to offer advice, focusing precisely on cultivating rural-operation talent, innovating sports formats and activating idle resources.

During the research, Xu Yali, deputy director of the Entrepreneur Working Committee of the provincial committee and chairwoman of Zhejiang Yashili Sports Culture Development Co., proposed, on the one hand, revitalizing the village’s fragmented idle spaces to create all-ages light-sports scenes such as pickleball and flag football, and, on the other hand, building a tiered rural-event IP system that links event traffic with B&Bs, markets, agriculture and study tours to create a closed loop of prosperity-generating industries.

These suggestions were quickly adopted and will soon move from paper to the ground.

“The three-level linkage of the association across provincial, city and county is an important guarantee for our effective boosting of Fengnan’s rural revitalization,” said Jin Jing, head of the Social Services Department of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee. Zhejiang’s association routinely goes down to Fengnan to hear real needs, deliver real resources and solve real problems, bringing the resource advantages of the democratic party to where they are most needed in rural revitalization. (End)

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