Editor’s Note (CoffeeNet coffeeyo.com): On October 26, CCTV Finance’s “Point of Time” reported consecutively on Pu’er Simao’s coffee industry: the district’s coffee planting area reaches 263,400 mu, with raw-bean annual output above 30,000 tons and a comprehensive output value surpassing 5.7 billion yuan; the “from seed to cup” immersive experience tour has gone viral online.
Original title: Why Did CCTV Spotlight Pu’er Simao Again? The Answer Lies in This Cup of Coffee
On October 26, CCTV’s finance channel program “Point of Time” broadcast two consecutive reports turning its lens on the coffee industry of Pu’er Simao in Yunnan—from more than 230,000 mu of coffee gardens entering the harvest-picking season, to the “from seed to cup” immersive coffee experience tour going viral online—bringing Simao coffee back into the national spotlight.
As the county-level producing area with the largest coffee planting area in the country, what makes Simao earn the frequent favor of central media again and again? What strength and charm, exactly, hides in this small cup of coffee?
A Gift of Nature: A Golden Growing Belt on the Tropic of Cancer
“Pu’er City’s Simao District sits on the coffee golden growing belt of the Tropic of Cancer; its unique ecological conditions nurture the distinctively flavored Yunnan small-grain coffee.” This is the opening line of the CCTV report, and also the hardest underpinning of Simao coffee.
Aerial photo of Simao District coffee plantation.
Simao lies at about 22°N, with the Tropic of Cancer crossing the entire territory; average altitude 1,300 meters, annual mean temperature 19.3°C, annual rainfall above 1,400 mm, forest coverage rate over 70%—natural conditions much like those of the world’s top coffee origins, Ethiopia and Colombia.
Ripe coffee cherries.
Here clouds and mist linger, diffuse light is abundant, and the day-night temperature gap is large, giving coffee fruit ample time to ripen and accumulate rich flavor compounds. It is precisely this gift of nature that makes Simao coffee known across the industry for its “strong but not bitter, aromatic but not harsh, faintly fruity” character, becoming the preferred bean source for many internationally renowned coffee brands.
Coffee farmers sun-drying coffee.
To date, Simao’s entire district has 263,400 mu of coffee planted, with raw-bean annual output above 30,000 tons and a comprehensive output value surpassing 5.7 billion yuan—truly the core area of the “Coffee Capital of China.”
Harvest in Full Swing: “Happiness Money” Grows from Red Fruit
Right now, Simao’s 230,000 mu of coffee have entered the picking season; coffee trees across the hills are laden with red ripe fruit, like strings of red agate dotted among the green leaves.
Coffee cherries.
In Lao Luzhai Village, Longtan Township, Simao, farmers are seizing the fine weather to pick the first batch of red coffee fruit. “The variety we grow is Red Bourbon; this year’s growth is quite good—we can pick two to three hundred jin a day, earning around 2,000 yuan.” A farmer with morning dew on his face couldn’t stop smiling.
Coffee cherries harvested by farmers.
Red Bourbon is a premium coffee variety—disease-resistant and clean in flavor—and its planted area in Simao has kept expanding in recent years. And at the Xiaowaizi Coffee Manor in Nandaohe Village, Simao, the first trial batch of Blue Mountain Typica has ripened ahead of schedule—as a globally recognized top variety, Typica’s successful trial planting in Simao itself testifies to the planting potential of this land.
“At this season, just as harvesting begins, our price is 7.5 to 10 yuan, basically flat with last year. This year’s growth is still very good; a coffee tree like this bears a very large number of fruit—another bumper year.” The confidence in the words of the person in charge of the Lao Luzhai Ancient Tea Manor is palpable.
Coffee forests blanket the green hills, a vista of verdant green.
This confidence comes from the refined planting management Simao has insisted on for years: water-fertilizer integrated drip irrigation covering 4,000 mu district-wide, drone plant-protection flight covering 20,000 mu, cumulative green and organic certification area reaching 51,100 mu; a 220-mu coffee germplasm resource nursery built, introducing fine varieties such as Geisha and Caturra, and completing the renovation of 180,000 mu of low- and medium-yield coffee gardens. It is precisely these “invisible efforts” that let Simao coffee stay stable in yield and quality even in climate-fluctuating years.
Breaking Boundaries: From “A Cup of Coffee” to “A Journey”
If the harvest picking is Simao coffee’s “basic skill,” then the integration of coffee culture and tourism is its “new name card.”
In the premium coffee manor in Nandaohe Village, Nanping Township, Simao, many visitors follow farmers into the coffee gardens to experience the fun of picking and taste the coffee. The base is equipped with a full-chain “from seed to cup” experience—visitors can not only pick the red fruit but also take part in roasting, grinding and brewing, feeling firsthand the complete process of a coffee cherry turning into a cup of coffee.
“Beautiful Star Village · Windy Coffee Valley” coffee culture experience center.
Visitors experience coffee brewing at “Beautiful Star Village · Windy Coffee Valley.”
“Before, I might drink a cup of coffee every day, but my understanding of coffee was still quite shallow—I only knew the difference between instant and freshly ground, things like that. But coming here and experiencing coffee, the whole roasting process is also very complex and requires a lot of manual involvement; I have a deeper understanding of coffee and will treasure it more.” A visitor from Shanghai said so.
“The mountains are clear, the water is limpid, and birds sing amid the flowers; I really like it here, and I feel this trip was well worth it.” A Chongqing visitor’s comment expresses the shared feeling of many.
Simao Naniaohe Beigui Coffee Manor.
Visitors tasting coffee at Xiaowaizi Coffee Manor.
Today’s Simao has built 14 premium coffee manors; the Aini Coffee Manor and Xiaowaizi Coffee Manor were selected into the first batch of provincial-level premium coffee manors, forming a manor cluster centered on the Nandaohe area. Picking, study tours, roasting, tasting, homestays, leisure… multiple formats converge here; “drinking coffee” is no longer simple consumption but has become a cultural journey one can immerse in.
From selling raw material to selling experience, from “a cup of coffee” to “an entire industry chain,” Simao is pushing its coffee industry to extend from the primary sector to the tertiary, letting coffee grow not only in the mountains but also “travel” into visitors’ hearts.
Fragrance Reaching Far: A Small Bean Makes a Big Story
Why does CCTV pay attention to Simao coffee? The answer is actually simple—here is the most vivid microcosm of China’s coffee industry.
A tiny coffee bean is, in Simao, not only the “fortune fruit” that increases farmers’ incomes, but also a “big industry” driving rural revitalization; not only a drink, but also a cultural lifestyle that can be experienced, savored and spread.
Coffee drying yard.
From the coffee forests deep in the mountains, to the lens of CCTV; from traditional planting and picking, to immersive cultural-tourism experiences; from one-household small workshops, to a cluster of 14 premium manors—the road Simao coffee has traveled is the true portrayal of the transformation and upgrading of Yunnan’s specialty agriculture.
In golden October, coffee reddens the branches. Simao’s story is still being written. This cup of coffee carrying the scent of the mountains is, with Simao’s ecological advantage and industrial confidence, drifting its fragrance ever farther. (By Xu Xiaofang, Zhou Pingqing, Li Jianhong, Luo Jia, Lu Haiyang, Feng Yunchuan, Hu Qingyang, Yu Hongjiang, Wang Yuxi)
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