How Coffee Is Redefining Yunnan’s Tourism

Jingzhi Vibe is a deep dive into the ever-evolving world of jingzhi(精致)—China’s unique expression of refinement, aesthetics, and cultural sophistication. This column unpacks the latest trends, movements, and lifestyle shifts shaping contemporary consumer desires, spanning luxury, fashion, design, wellness, and beyond. With a sharp local lens, Jingzhi Vibe deciphers how brands, creatives, and tastemakers are redefining modern Chinese elegance—and what it means for those looking to navigate this dynamic market.

Mention Pu’er, and most people will think of tea. But today, this city in southwest Yunnan is being redefined by a different crop. Long treated as an export-bound raw material, coffee is gradually emerging as a signature of Pu’er—one that is finding its place in China’s consumer and cultural landscape.

From cultivation upgrades and expanded consumption scenarios to more organized origin-based experiences, the identity of Pu’er coffee is shifting. No longer confined to the role of a commodity, coffee is being recognized as a local specialty—an embodiment of place, value, and story. Through a close examination of Pu’er’s evolving coffee industry, Jingzhi Chronicle explores how Yunnan’s beans are navigating a leap: from agricultural product to cultural artifact, and from a production-driven to a consumption-driven logic.

From Commodity Crop to Flavorful Region

Coffee cultivation in Yunnan is not a recent phenomenon. Back in the 1980s, the region partnered with global brands like Nestlé to grow coffee on a large scale. Yet for decades, the crop remained stuck in a singular role—that of raw material supplier. Labeled by industrial systems as a price-sensitive commodity, Yunnan-grown coffee lacked presence in the domestic consumer market. Grown in the local fields, the beans were exported overseas, never quite connecting with Pu’er as a place of origin.

The turning point came in 2018, when a crash in international coffee futures pushed the price of Yunnan beans below the cost of production. Coffee farmers faced a stark choice: cut down their trees and switch to other crops, or pivot the industry. The crisis became a catalyst for change.

Rewriting perceptions wasn’t easy—especially for farmers who had been growing coffee for decades but had never acquired a taste for it. But a new generation of growers—young “coffee second-gen” inheritors and newcomers drawn to Yunnan by a passion for coffee—began to transform the local coffee logic. They trained in cupping, studied fermentation, experimented with varietals like Geisha and Yellow Bourbon, and improved both farming and post-harvest processing. Yunnan coffee began its evolution toward high value-added territory: specialty coffee.

Government support soon followed. Yunnan’s provincial authorities launched the Action Plan for High-Quality Coffee Development and the 14th Five-Year Plan for Coffee Industry Development, identifying the construction of “flavor regions” as a central task. By 2024, the percentage of Yunnan coffee classified as specialty rose from just 8 percent in 2021 to 31.6 percent.

A telling moment came in March 2024, when President Xi Jinping visited Lijiang and remarked, “Yunnan coffee still represents China.” With that, the role of Yunnan coffee seemed officially redefined—from a hidden input in the global supply chain to a national symbol worth telling stories about.

Breaking Out of the Fields and Into the Cities

Changes at the source quickly found their way to the consumer end.

In 2024, Yunnan coffee sales on e-commerce platforms Taobao and Tmall reached 417 million RMB, up 17.3 percent year-over-year and marking a three-year high. That momentum also helped grow local brands like Huatiancui, which capitalized on its regional edge and floral Chinese flavor profile. Backed early on by venture firms such as Qingshan Capital, the brand is on track to generate 150 million RMB in sales this year.

Offline, consumers have begun actively seeking out Yunnan coffee in urban cafés. The rise of domestic chains like Luckin, Manner, and M Stand has further elevated the profile of Yunnan beans, bringing them from the background of supply into the foreground of flavor.

Gloria, a coffee enthusiast based in Shanghai, shares with Jingzhi Chronicle: “In the past few years, I’ve noticed how often Yunnan SOEs show up. Not just in hand-pour boutiques, but even in chain cafés—you’ll find beans labeled ‘Yunnan.’”

Even Starbucks, the brand that shaped many Chinese consumers’ first impression of coffee shops, has leaned in. In 2023, the company announced that all 7,300 of its stores across mainland China would adopt Yunnan beans for their core espresso blends—while also offering Yunnan single-origin options.

This shift in the market wasn’t driven by flavor alone. In 2020, the film Coffee or Tea? brought Yunnan’s coffee story into the public imagination. Travel influencer Rachel Li (@褡裢小闺娘) shares with Jingzhi Chronicle that the movie deepened her impression of Pu’er coffee and inspired her to visit the region herself.

Behind this cultural momentum is a broader structural change: coffee consumption is booming across China. According to the 2025 China Urban Coffee Development Report, the national coffee industry reached a scale of 313.3 billion RMB in 2024, up 18.1 percent from the previous year. The average Chinese consumer now drinks 22.24 cups of coffee per year, compared to 16 the year before.

With buyers of Pu’er beans shifting from global giants like Nestlé to thousands of independent cafés and consumer communities across China, Yunnan coffee has officially broken through.

Connecting People, Land, and Stories

Market recognition is now generating demand for immersive origin experiences. Visitors no longer want to simply drink Yunnan coffee in the city—they want to step into the fields, understand the lifecycle of the crop, and take part in the story. This two-way movement has opened the door for Pu’er to reimagine its local experience economy.

During the 2025 Chinese New Year holiday, Pu’er welcomed 3.25 million tourists, a 13.71 percent year-over-year increase. Tourism revenue reached 3.437 billion RMB, up 13.21 percent. Coffee is becoming a new pillar of Pu’er’s cultural narrative—and a gateway to rural revitalization.

In the Yeyatang Valley of Simao District, cultural tourism company Gushan has partnered with local farms and the government to develop a hybrid experience combining “coffee volunteering, shop visits, and origin tours.” Founder Juange explains: “Selling beans is just the result. What we want is to connect people, land, and stories through coffee. The origin shouldn’t be just a procurement site—it should be part of the culture.”

He adds: “Pu’er is remote, so we introduced a volunteer model to help people feel engaged throughout the coffee growth cycle.”

That approach has found resonance among visitors. “In the city, you drink coffee mostly for the caffeine—it doesn’t matter which one. But when you visit the origin, and see the journey from seed to cup, the drink feels different,” says Li. “It’s like every coffee has a name and a story. It’s a strange and beautiful feeling.”

She describes her time at a coffee estate with three words: “purity, focus, passion.” To her, the experience was less about checking off a destination and more about “a momentary escape from routine, a way to reconnect with the land and with time.”

Beyond Yeyatang, Pu’er’s coffee tourism infrastructure is expanding. Simao Old Street now features a coffee-themed zone, complete with a post office and trendy beverage stalls. A project co-developed by Starbucks and the Shanghai-Yunnan local governments—dubbed “Beautiful Star Village”—blends coffee immersion, rural revitalization, and boutique lodging.

As the distance between source and sip narrows, coffee becomes more than a beverage—it becomes a vessel for values. In a moment defined by the rise of specialty, cultural segmentation, and a rewriting of regional experience, Pu’er coffee is no longer just about what’s grown. It’s about where, how, and by whom. The story of its terroir is becoming its true flavor.