New trends invigorate Zhejiang villages
As fairs, coffee cars and minsu (a Chinese-style bed-and-breakfast business) are gaining widespread popularity in East China's Zhejiang province, villages in the area have figured out their own ways to promote rural vitalization.
Xie Junwu runs a coffee shop, 55 Road Coffee, with his wife in Huangyangjian village in Zhoushan's Putuo district. The couple began their business from a mobile coffee car.
"We changed our car into a mobile coffee stall and sold coffee on Luotang Road, where we got first group of regular customers," said Xie. "Later we were invited to many activities such as fairs. Then we opened the shop in the village".
"Customers can enjoy a cup of coffee for free if they share a story about themselves", added Xie, who regards coffee as a way to make more friends. "They are also encouraged to participate in the making process at the bar counter".
On the window of his shop there is a slogan posted that "every coffee lover can be a barista".
Xie's business philosophy has attracted many like-minded customers. Though the decoration of the shop, where folding tables and chairs are placed, hasn't been finished, it has become a hot destination on the lifestyle-sharing platform Xiaohongshu.
