How did coffee come to China?

The coffee was first introduced to the mainland by missionaries , who were there to satisfy their own desires, not to promote it. At that time, China was in a semi-colonial period, and various religious sects entered to preach. However, the missionaries were obviously not used to drinking tea, so they brought coffee with them and planted it. This is the earliest Chinese coffee.

The fruit on the branches is Yunnan coffee

When did coffee enter China?

Taiwan Province was the first province in China to plant coffee. Time: 1884

The earliest and most famous one: planted by French missionary Tian Deneng in Zhukula Village, Dali, Yunnan. Time: 1892

Very early but not famous: British missionary Jingji introduced it to Jingpo area of ​​Ruili, Yunnan. Time: 1893

Coffee was introduced to Hainan in 1908, but the results were not very good. Several other regions also planted it, but the results were not good.

Fresh Yunnan coffee berries waiting to be sold after being picked

In 1952, scientific and technical personnel from the Mangshi Branch of the Yunnan Agricultural Experiment Station brought more than 70 kilograms of fresh fruit from Nongxianzhai back to Lujiangba, Baoshan City for trial planting. They found that the fruit had good adaptability and excellent quality, and it continued to grow and develop.

Fresh coffee cherries undergoing washing process

In the late 1980s, Nestlé began to introduce Catim coffee in Simao, Yunnan (now Pu'er City). Since then, China's coffee planting area has begun to increase, and the quality has also been greatly improved through continuous exploration.

Green Coffee Beans

So far, Chinese coffee has achieved very good quality through continuous improvement and cultivation. Although it does not have a particularly outstanding flavor, Yunnan coffee as a single product or blended beans can be compared with most foreign coffees. However, many coffee drinkers in our country do not even know about Yunnan coffee, let alone those who do not like coffee. For this reason, Yunnan coffee is sold to Nestle and some large foreign coffee bean dealers in the form of raw beans every year. Most of the coffee flows into China again after many twists and turns, but it is no longer "domestic coffee", but "imported coffee"!

Therefore, it is possible that many of the imported coffees you buy are actually truly domestically produced... What a painful realization!