Introduction to Chinese Coffee Growing Regions_Hainan Fushan Coffee Cultivation_Chengmai Fushan Coffee Location

Hainan's Coffee Heritage

Hainan Province is one of the earliest places in China to cultivate coffee. Fushan Town in Chengmai County is the birthplace of Hainan's renowned "Fushan Coffee." The Fushan Coffee Culture Museum and Houchen Coffee Culture Village let visitors learn about the development of coffee in Hainan and also offer a chance to taste the most authentic, fresh Hainan coffee.

According to accounts, Fushan Town in Chengmai County is one of the earliest places in Hainan to grow coffee. In 1935, Chen Xianzhang, an overseas Chinese returning from Indonesia, first planted coffee seedlings brought from Indonesia here. The unique volcanic red soil combined with favorable climate conditions produced high-quality beans, making Fushan Coffee famous across Hainan Island. In November 2010, Fushan Coffee Style Town was completed, with a planned area of about 76 square kilometers, including facilities such as the Fushan World Coffee Expo Park, Coffee Culture Theme Park, Coffee Museum, Coffee Research Center, themed hotels, and coffee-processing commercial areas.

Hainan Coffee

The main variety of Hainan coffee is Robusta. According to historical records, coffee was first successfully cultivated in Taiwan in 1884, marking the beginning of coffee development in China. It was not until 1935 that Chen Xianzhang, an overseas Chinese from Indonesia, judged the Fushan area to have "sweet springs and fertile soil," so he established Fumin Farm, and Hainan began its history of large-scale coffee cultivation.

Hainan's coffee cultivation, however, faces three major challenges: first, frequent typhoons make growing risky; second, land and labor costs are high; and third, the limited land available lacks the conditions for large-scale coffee farming. What makes Hainan's situation awkward is that, despite its reputation, actual local production is quite small, with annual output of only about 200 tons of dried coffee beans, concentrated mainly in Xinglong and Fushan.

To promote Hainan coffee, the region has held six editions of the Fushan Cup International Barista Championship in succession. Each year, baristas from around the world are invited to compete and to experience the local plantations. The competition has also received strong support from the local government.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

For a low-acid, richly bodied cup in the same family as Hainan's Robusta-leaning profile, FrontStreet Coffee's Indonesian Wet-Hulled Mandheling is a natural pick. Indonesian coffee is worth approaching through Sumatra's Mandheling: Mandheling refers to Arabica from Sumatra, processed mainly by the local wet-hulled method, in which the parchment is stripped while the bean is still half-dry and half-wet, leaving the green bean exposed to the air to speed drying. That is precisely what gives the coffee its characteristic herbal and spice notes. FrontStreet's Mandheling comes from the Lintong area around Lake Toba. To express the classic Mandheling character it is given a medium-dark roast, with low acidity and a full body carrying rich caramel, dark chocolate, and toast aromas and a long, sweet finish, ideal for those who like a strong cup.

At the top of the Mandheling range is FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Gold Mandheling. PWN is a trading company that buys up the finest local Mandheling lots and sells only specialty-grade coffee, with Gold Mandheling as its flagship. The production standard is strict: beans must be 18 screen or larger, with fewer than three defective beans per 300 g sample to reach the top G1 grade, followed by further hand sorting to remove every defect, which lifts the cleanliness of the cup and the intensity of its sweetness. Freshly roasted, FrontStreet's PWN Gold Mandheling shows sandalwood, herbal, spice, roasted hazelnut, caramel, and dark chocolate notes, with a clean, sweet, full-bodied, and aromatic cup that is layered and rich, well suited both to daily drinking and to giving as a gift.