Man smells aroma of success from coffee industry in China's Hainan

HAIKOU, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- In an "experience studio" tucked away in a garden dense with coffee plants, several tourists were learning how to make pour-over coffee, as the aroma permeated the entire wood studio.

"For people here in Xinglong, coffee is such an important part of their lives," said Zeng Weimao, owner of the garden located in Xinglong town of Wanning, a coastal city in the tropical island province of Hainan in south China. "A cup of coffee in the morning and in the afternoon is almost routine."

A coffee snob himself, Zeng has run the coffee garden in Xinglong for about ten years. The small town sits in an area rich in selenium at 18 degrees north latitude, a perfect place for a coffee plantation. In the 1950s, some Chinese returned from overseas and introduced coffee planting and making techniques to Xinglong, where drinking coffee gradually became a local habit.

In recent years, the business has skyrocketed in Wanning, with about 307 hectares of coffee trees planted by the end of 2021, according to the latest official figures. So far, ten big-scale coffee processing companies have been established in Wanning.

In Xinglong alone, more than 200 coffee shops cater to the needs of locals and tourists, with an average annual consumption of coffee exceeding 200 cups per capita.

For Zeng and his father, their biggest wish has always been to popularize Xinglong coffee. In 2010, Zeng's father gave up the flowers he planted for years and started to plant coffee trees.

"The coffee plants could only bear fruits after three years and needed extra attention," the junior Zeng recalled. "We were cultivating on a small scale, so of course, we had low profits."

Three years later, the coffee garden started to take shape, and Zeng Weimao quit his job in the provincial capital Haikou and returned to Xinglong to engage completely in the coffee business.

"Traditional Xinglong coffee is a bit too bitter and strong, so we decided to improve our techniques to make it more popular among people," Zeng said.

Before grinding the coffee beans, Zeng usually dries the coffee fruits, stores them for half a year, bakes the coffee beans for 21 minutes, and preserves them for another seven days.

"To ensure our coffee quality, all of these steps are essential," he said.

But just making good coffee is not good enough for Zeng. To meet the demand of more people, he incorporated the coffee garden with his processing factory, allowing visitors to experience coffee fruit picking and baking, and making pour-over coffee.

"Here, people get to know the history of Xinglong coffee, which is more than 70 years," he said. "They also get to see how coffee is made, and drink coffee of their own making."

Zeng's business not only met the market demands but also helped absorb many migrant workers back home by training them into seasoned baristas. One of them is Chen Zhiqiang.

"Making pour-over coffee requires keeping a good flow of water, which may appear to be easy, but is quite difficult," Chen told a group of tourists in the studio. "Different people can make different coffee flavors, and a cup of coffee can reflect the mood of the maker."

Chen became a professional barista at Zeng's coffee garden after systematic training. Zeng's garden has provided scores of job opportunities for people like Chen, and signed contracts with about 50 local farmers to purchase their coffee beans.

"I think the idea of coffee plus tourism is quite innovative," said Wu Chunguang, head of the WNXL Coffee Industry Association in Xinglong. "I see bright prospects, and I have confidence in the potential of Xinglong coffee."