Pu'er: Extracting riches from a tiny coffee bean

Long associated with tea production, city and surrounding area in Yunnan province brewing a different kind of success

In the 1990s, Yang Qiong took a bold step in Ning'er county in Pu'er, southwestern Yunnan province, by leasing nearly 200 hectares of land from local villagers to establish a coffee plantation.

Coffee consumption had not yet become a part of the daily lives of average Chinese people at that time. Despite facing skepticism, Yang, with her visionary outlook, recognized the untapped market potential for coffee in China.

Although immersed in the world of coffee from an early age, Zhang Rui, Yang's daughter, took a different path. She pursued her studies in Chinese language and literature, and specialized in a related field during her postgraduate studies aboard.