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Guangzhou | More Specialty Coffee Beans Than Any Coffee Exhibition. FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee)

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, FrontStreet Coffee A house-roasted café where the owner is a talented female roaster. All the coffee beans in the shop and for sale are roasted by herself. Address: No. 10 Bao'an Qian Street, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou

I mentioned to a friend the other day that my choice of café depends on the weather - where I go on sunny days, cloudy days, and rainy days. Compared to many places, autumn and winter in Guangzhou are quite warm. During the weekend before last year's winter solstice, I spent two consecutive days drinking coffee at FrontStreet Coffee. Dongshan is my favorite place in Guangzhou, bar none. The accumulated years bring a rich scholarly atmosphere and a simple, authentic vibe of daily life.

Taking the subway to Dongshankou and walking from Shuqian Road to Miaoqian Zhijie, you'll pass many large trees where neighborhood grandpas play chess and grandmas sit together chatting. Along the way, you can see the very old-looking Dongshan Department Store, pass by vintage photo studios, shoe repair shops, and many Guangzhou-style snacks. This shop is indeed not large; if you arrive slightly later, there might be no seats left, and sometimes it can even feel a bit cramped. Next to the bar counter sits a coffee roaster, with a chalkboard densely filled with various beans. The owner roasts beans daily - once the machine starts in the morning, the entire Bao'an Front Street fills with the aroma of coffee beans.

Those sitting at the bar counter are either regulars or coffee enthusiasts who want to chat with the barista. Unfortunately, during my several visits, the bar counter was always full. Small tables nearby have pre-selected beans, and the wall near the entrance is covered with various coffee bean packaging bags, while unroasted beans are stacked against the wall in bag after bag.

Through a small door next to the bar counter, there are two outdoor tables. On my first visit, I specifically chose to sit outside - not only could I smoke, but more importantly, I could enjoy the particularly fine Guangzhou winter sun. The first coffee I had was a sun-processed Guatemala. I remember Ye Erman asking me at the time why I was going out when I had a cold. I replied that since I needed to drink coffee anyway at home, I might as well come out for a walk and enjoy some sunshine. The barista sat down at the table opposite me with a box of roast meat for his meal and asked how my coffee tasted. Well, just like my mood that day - a bit comfortable, a bit happy, very gentle yet rich, full of sweetness, with a hint of wine-like aroma.

The next day happened to coincide with a friend visiting Guangzhou on business from another city. Before dinner, I ran to FrontStreet Coffee to buy some drip coffee bags and to try the newly aged beans. Most of FrontStreet Coffee's cups are lightweight and thin with delicate handles, carrying a British flair just like the chairs in the shop. When serving single-origin coffee, they provide a piece of caramel biscuit. Many people enjoy this type of biscuit - I've seen some cafés even serving it with lattes. The texture is slightly hard, and after swallowing, there's a warm, burning sensation in the throat.

I'm not sure if it's influenced by the accumulated time around Dongshankou, or because FrontStreet Coffee's cups are truly too British in style, but I always drink my coffee particularly slowly here. Most cafés use rather casual cups, either colored or thick ones, and the way people hold them carries a lazy and casual attitude. Or in some cafés, they bring out a sharing pot, and guests drink cup after cup heartily, as if drinking wine.

A sound I've recently become fascinated with - the sound of chopping vegetables and the clashing of spatulas from the kitchen window around meal times, accompanied by waves of food aroma that smell particularly like home. I love strolling through supermarkets, pushing a shopping cart to buy many fruits and vegetables, or simply buying a pile of ingredients to go back for hotpot, sitting around with friends or family - that feels like an especially happy thing. Thinking about what Yun Jie said then - renting an apartment on weekends, buying some seafood, or buying some ingredients to cook at home - none of these have been realized yet.

Recently, Guangzhou's weather has been cycling between cloudy days in the low 20s and sunny days in the 30s. Today, two typhoons hit Guangdong, but unlike the previous "Nida" which gave us a day off, they instead suspended the intercity railway between Guangzhou and Shenzhen. I had originally planned to visit some cafés in Shenzhen. Now it seems I can only reminisce. Ever since someone left Shenzhen, I haven't visited any cafés there, partly because I've been too busy with work, and also because my health hasn't been great lately. However, perhaps it's time to start planning a café-hopping trip to Xiamen.