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A Village of Coffee Songs

Entering Lujiang Dam and heading straight north along the Liuman Road for less than 20 minutes, you'll see the archway welcoming you to "China's No. 1 Coffee Village, Xinzhai" on the west side of the road - you've arrived at Xinzhai Village in Lujiang Town, Longyang District.

Xinzhai Village, nestled at the foot of the magical and charming Gaoligong Mountains, borders the magnificent and beautiful Nujiang River to the east. Seven years ago, I first arrived in Xinzhai Village. During this period, due to work-related reasons, I came to this village countless times. Seven years later, I arrived once again. In just a few short years, this village has undergone tremendous changes quietly. What remains unchanged is that the village still revolves around a common theme - coffee. A tree of coffee, a tree of songs - this is a village that sings amidst the coffee bushes.

Lujiang Dam is renowned for its unique natural conditions and meticulous cultivation management techniques. The small-grain coffee produced there is famous far and wide. According to records, as early as the 1950s and 1990s, Lujiang coffee won the reputation of "Lujiang No. 1" due to its rich aroma, mellow taste, strong but not bitter, fragrant but not intense characteristics, remarkably similar to Blue Mountain coffee. It also brought home the "Eureka" Gold Award and was deeply loved by consumers.

Xinzhai Village has a history of coffee cultivation spanning nearly 50 years. In the last century, the village mainly cultivated vegetables, melons, and fruits. The people of Xinzhai continued the diligence passed down through generations, and their watermelons, lantern peppers, and other crops were quite famous. In 1989, seeing that coffee planted by farmers in nearby farms was very valuable, the village gradually began large-scale coffee cultivation. By 1995, the vast majority of households in the village had planted coffee. However, with coffee prices experiencing several significant fluctuations in 1997, 1999, and 2002, Xinzhai's coffee farmers' fields were repeatedly replanted and changed. The path to prosperity through coffee for the people of Xinzhai moved forward slowly amid swings and turmoil.

During the period from 2009 to 2010, facing severe drought, over 3,000 mu of coffee withered and yielded no harvest. Relevant programs on China Central Television reported on the drought conditions, and during filming and reporting, it was discovered that such a large-scale coffee village with tens of thousands of acres of continuous cultivation was indeed rare nationwide. Starting from 2011, to effectively prevent farmers from blindly following market fluctuations and to further make coffee cultivation a path to prosperity for the people of Xinzhai, with care and help at all levels, four coffee professional cooperatives were successively established in the village, with a membership rate of 95%. The cooperatives effectively reduced the intermediate operating costs of coffee, increased farmers' income, and lowered market risks. In recent years, agricultural comprehensive development project funds have been continuously invested in Xinzhai. Machine-cultivated roads have changed from narrow to wide, from dirt roads to cement roads. Facilities such as spray irrigation, ditches, and solar-powered insecticide lamps have been gradually constructed. The cultivation conditions have changed dramatically compared to the past, and output and yield have greatly increased.

It was precisely after this that Xinzhai's coffee farmers could gradually face the market rationally. Currently, the entire village cultivates 13,600 mu of coffee, covering low, medium, and high altitudes. It is the largest administrative village in China for small-grain coffee cultivation in terms of area. Its cultivation area accounts for 95% of the village's total arable land, with an average of 5.7 mu per person, an annual output of 3,000 tons, and an output value of 60 million yuan. It has become the main source of income for local residents. Xinzhai Village is therefore known as "China's No. 1 Coffee Village" and has been recognized by the Ministry of Agriculture as a "National One Village, One Product" demonstration village. Today, Xinzhai has established its own brands such as Xinzhai Farmhouse Coffee, Shi'an Coffee, Yunli Coffee, and Ruixi Manor.

In addition to the village's own coffee, the coffee fields of neighboring villages connect with Xinzhai's coffee fields, forming a continuous stretch of approximately 30,000 mu. Looking from the opposite bank of the Nujiang River or from the newly built observation deck at the village entrance, the 30,000 mu of coffee mountains connect to each other, the lands join together, and the straight main road resembles a powerful dragon - spectacular and impressive. In different seasons, traveling through the coffee fields along the dragon-like main road, wandering on the cobblestone side paths, one can witness breathtaking scenes: when coffee flowers bloom, 30,000 mu of coffee mountains are covered in white; when coffee fruits first form, the mountains are covered in green; when coffee fruits ripen, the mountains are covered in red. Traveling through the seasons of time, singing in the jungle of coffee.

Even more intriguing is that in recent years, Xinzhai has established three civet cat farms, raising over 20 civet cats to produce "kopi luwak" (civet coffee). The civet cats eat fresh coffee cherries, which undergo fermentation and digestion in their bodies before being excreted as feces. These "coffee beans" undergo several processes including selection, drying, deodorization, processing, and roasting to create coffee that is rare, unique, and expensive, becoming a sought-after commodity in the international market.

Since 2015, Xinzhai has successively hosted events such as the "China·Baoshan Lujiang Dam Second Coffee Culture Tourism Festival," mountain bike cross-country races, and the Second Yunnan Coffee Cup·China Brewing Finals. Coffee quality assessors, coffee baking experts, and cycling enthusiasts from around the world have gathered in this village of beautiful landscapes and abundant flowers and fruits. This beautiful and peaceful village has boiled with excitement in waves of cheers.

Wang Jiawei, the Party Secretary of Xinzhai Village, was very excited when introducing the blueprint for Xinzhai's future: "Next step, Xinzhai will take green, ecological, and environmental protection as its basic philosophy, highlighting the coffee theme and focusing on 'three constructions and one creation.' We will vigorously promote the development and construction of coffee manors. This means building a 'coffee-themed farmstead' that integrates coffee processing experiences, coffee culture displays, coffee tourism, coffee product sales, and tourism dining and accommodation services; constructing a '10,000-mu Coffee Garden Bicycle Training and Competition Base' themed around cycling sports; building a 'Xiaozhai Jiang Beach Paradise' that integrates beach sports and entertainment; and creating an outdoor tourism route with three anti-Japanese war sites - Laojian Mountain, Youzhu Slope, and Dayang Pasture - as nodes. The future Xinzhai will become a well-deserved 'China's No. 1 Coffee Village' not only in coffee quantity but also in coffee quality and rural tourism branding."

The aroma of coffee wafts through the air, and coffee culture permeates the fields. In Xinzhai, regardless of gender or age, everyone can talk knowledgeably about coffee. The flavor of Xinzhai is the flavor of coffee. Step into Xinzhai and witness the promise of coffee to a village, and feel the village's steadfast commitment to coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse varieties of beans, where you can find both famous and lesser-known beans. They also provide online store services. https://shop104210103.taobao.com

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473