Surprisingly, the revenue is four or five times that of urban stores, and rural entrepreneurship brings surprises! He opened the coffee shop in the rice fields in the suburbs of Shanghai, where it was fragrant. Li Dongyi | Coffee | Cafe
"We saw a 'Coffee Museum Growing in Rice Fields' on Xiaohongshu and brought our children here. Unexpectedly, this place is really nice. Look at how happy the children are playing, and the coffee here is also very delicious... The cafes in suburban and rural areas are also so' stylish '."
Listening to the frogs chirping in the rice fields, savoring the mellow aroma of coffee. Sitting in the coffee museum in the Shanyang countryside of Jinshan District, sipping coffee and watching children play freely in the fields, Ms. Song from the city center said contentedly that driving for over an hour is worth it, and she will bring more friends to experience it next time.
It is reported that in the past two years, in the coastal area of Jinshan, the Shanyang Rural Scenic Area, which integrates agriculture and picking, parent-child research and learning, cultural and creative experience, and leisure vacation, has become increasingly famous. There, a "coffee museum" has become a popular landmark, attracting many citizens and tourists to come specifically for check-in.
"Last year, the revenue of the Coffee Museum reached 1.8 million yuan, which is 4-5 times that of a caf é in our city center." The founder of the Coffee Museum, Li Dongyi, told reporters that he originally estimated the annual revenue of this rural project to be 500000 yuan, but now it has actually exceeded expectations by several times. "Especially last year, the caf é was closed for three months due to the epidemic, and it is a miracle that it can still generate such good revenue. Recently, I am busy opening my second caf é in the suburbs of Shanghai, and I expect it to open around National Day.".
Designer transforms into a barista
Li Dongyi speaks fluent Chinese, making it difficult to imagine that he is actually a South Korean Europa.
In 2006, Li Dongyi and his team came to Shanghai, China for work reasons. They worked in a design room at the West Bank Art Center on the Huangpu River, working on the design of a certain fashion magazine. In his spare time, as a coffee lover, he often goes to nearby cafes to drink coffee. Five years later, the design team left China, but as the "Chinese son-in-law", he chose to settle his home in Shanghai.
"To be honest, it's difficult to design alone. Later on, I thought about my love for coffee and my ability to make coffee by hand, so I tried to transform. For this reason, I also went to South Korea, Qingdao, Xiamen and other places to learn from experience, and participated in international professional barista training. For more than 8 months, I immersed myself in the coffee shop, learning everything from playing music, selecting lighting, the origin and culture of different coffee beans, etc. It was also a fulfilling and unforgettable time." Li Dongyi recalled.
In 2012, Li Dongyi transformed the second floor of his studio in Xuhui Binjiang into a "Coffee Museum" and designed the store logo. He also specially made a small history exhibition board introducing the development of coffee, showcasing his coffee related equipment collected from all over the world... Due to his unique and stylish design, he attracted many photography enthusiasts and even celebrities to check in.
Later, due to the overall renovation of Xuhui Binjiang, his coffee museum was relocated to Jiaotong University, mainly serving domestic and foreign tourists visiting the campus. The coffee museum has not only gained more and more fame in coffee training, but also expanded its functions such as rental meetings and team building.
During a chance conversation with a customer, he talked about his coffee dream and wanted to build a more complete coffee museum. Inside, not only can coffee training be conducted, but also some coffee trees can be planted. While admiring the coffee beans, visitors can also bake them, allowing them to experience the entire process of coffee making, from seeds to cups. The customer suggested that he might as well go to Jinshan, located in the suburbs of Shanghai, for inspection.
It was this conversation that led to the "inexplicable bond" between Li Dongyi and Shanyang Tianyuan, and also gave birth to a "coffee museum growing in rice paddies.".
A coffee complex in the countryside
Starting from 2018, Li Dongyi visited Jinshan, Nanjing and other places for research, and after more than a year of wandering around, he finally decided to build his dream coffee culture complex in Shanyang Countryside.
In 2020, with the development and construction of the Shanyang Rural Ecological Leisure Agriculture Resort, the Coffee Museum underwent preliminary design preparations and began renovation in July, officially opening at the end of September.
Li Dongyi knows both design and coffee, and the combination of the two makes the Rural Coffee Museum stand out. I have put a lot of effort into this, such as how wide the window frame design is, what color scheme is used for the overall house, and how to arrange the entrance... Every detail needs to be carefully polished. For example, there used to be an old well inside, but the designer initially wanted to fill it in or build it higher, but I rejected it. Later, a piece of transparent thick glass was used to cover the well, often attracting tourists to stop and admire. Not only can we see well water, plants, and sometimes even frogs inside, but now it has become an interesting natural landscape in our coffee museum. Additionally, the fountain on the square outside the museum becomes a joyful ocean for children in summer. This design is also my suggestion. "The tourists are happy, and we are also happy in our hearts," Li Dong said with a smile
Of course, a coffee museum mainly showcases elements related to coffee. Entering here, the first thing that catches the eye is the hundreds of exhibits, including coffee utensils from different eras and countries, collected by Li Dongyi from all over the world over the years; In the transparent cabinet on one side, there are also raw beans and coffee beans that have undergone different treatments such as sun exposure, water washing, and honey treatment; On the other side of the exhibition hall, there is a complete collection of antique porcelain plates... Tourists can immerse themselves in it, holding a steaming cup of mellow coffee, or strolling under lush coffee trees to enjoy a comfortable and relaxing "coffee life".
If interested, tourists can also experience the joy of hand brewed coffee, and even receive professional international certified barista training here, or sign up for the Shanghai Bay Area Hand brewed Coffee Competition to meet friends and experience the unique charm of coffee. Along the path at the entrance of the coffee academy, you can also see winding bridges, lakes, trees, flowers, swans, and a rustic countryside scenery along the way.
"Baking coffee beans under the coffee tree, hand grinding coffee... I never expected my dream to come true in the beautiful countryside of Shanyang. Now, our coffee shop blends with the beautiful countryside scenery, and tourists can not only taste the unique charm of rural coffee, but also feel the simplicity of nature and be moved by the beauty beyond life. Perhaps this is the way for coffee museums to survive," said Li Dongyi.
Spread your dreams to more places
Li Dongyi still remembers that in 2015, due to his idea, he and the local government department held the first "Manpin Life Coffee Taste Shanghai" Coffee Life Week near Wukang Road. "I said at the time that South Korea has a big coffee festival and coffee week, can we also organize one? I didn't expect to receive support from the local government." Now, Shanghai Coffee Culture Week is becoming increasingly popular, and he feels proud.
Similarly, what makes Li Dongyi proud is that this year, the Shanyang Tianyuan Coffee Museum was awarded the title of "Internet Popular Roast Coffee Shop" at the "Together Coffee Bar" Shanghai Coffee Carnival event jointly organized by the Shanghai Central Radio and Television Station, CGTN, and Audiovisual New Media Center of the Central Radio and Television Station.
Li Dongyi said that the "2023 China Urban Coffee Development Report" shows that there are currently 8530 coffee shops in Shanghai. The scale of China's coffee industry in 2022 is 2007 billion yuan, and it is expected to reach 369.3 billion yuan by 2025. "This goal is expected and further strengthens my confidence and determination to expand and strengthen the coffee industry.".
In the first half of this year, he focused his main energy on project inspections and visited rural areas such as Nanjing and Suzhou multiple times for inspections and negotiations. He hopes to receive support from local government departments, just like the development of the Shanyang Rural Complex, and hopes to replicate the operating model of the Shanyang Rural Coffee Museum to other rural areas in China, creating more field coffee museums. At the same time, he is quietly laying out in the suburbs of Shanghai. Another caf é currently located in Jiading is under renovation and is expected to open at the end of September or during the National Day holiday.
In addition, as the founder of the China Hand Net Coffee Alliance, he is actively promoting the holding of the 4th China Hand Net Coffee Competition, providing a platform for communication and exchange for coffee enthusiasts from all over the country: "First, hold the preliminary competition in different regions, and the final competition will be held in Shanghai by the end of November. Although it is difficult, persevering will always yield results. I believe that through our collective efforts and continuous promotion of coffee culture, we can definitely expand and strengthen China's coffee industry!" Tasting the aroma of coffee, Li Dongyi is full of hope for the future.
