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Yunnan village where French missionaries planted China's first coffee trees

In the remote mountain village of Zhukula, coffee trees planted over a century ago have made it the recognised birthplace of China's coffee cultivation.

By LineZotpaper
Published
Read Time2 min
Sources3 outlets
In the remote mountain village of Zhukula in south-west China's Yunnan province, bamboo trays of red coffee cherries dry in courtyards and on rooftops, harvested from trees planted more than a century ago by French missionaries. The village's coffee trees are now recognised as the oldest in the country, making Zhukula the birthplace of China's coffee cultivation.

The Arabica saplings were brought across the border from Vietnam by French missionaries, who planted them next to an old church. The village's nascent Christian conversion did not survive the religious purges of the Cultural Revolution, but the coffee trees endured.

In this corner of China, long days of ploughing and harvesting on the mountainside are book-ended by coffee, not tea. 'Ever since I was little, as far back as I can remember, there have been coffee trees growing all around here,' said Li Jinrong, a 57-year-old third-generation coffee farmer. 'We make coffee as soon as we get up in the morning, drink it, go out to work and then have another cup before dinner.'

Coffee roasting practices in Zhukula have remained unchanged for decades. The beans are toasted over high heat using a wood-fired oil drum and a cast-iron wok for more than an hour.

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Analysis

Why This Matters

  • The story reveals a little-known chapter of China's agricultural history and challenges the perception of China as a purely tea-drinking nation.
  • It highlights the survival of a coffee-growing tradition through political upheaval, offering a lens into rural life in Yunnan.
  • As global coffee demand grows, Yunnan's historic coffee trees could attract attention from specialty coffee markets and researchers.

Background

China is better known as a tea culture, but Yunnan province in the south-west has become a significant coffee-producing region in recent decades. The village of Zhukula's coffee trees date back to the late 19th or early 20th century when French missionaries brought Arabica saplings from Vietnam. The missionaries also introduced Catholicism, but the Christian community in the village did not survive Mao's Cultural Revolution. The coffee trees, however, remained and are now recognised as the oldest in the country.

Key Perspectives

Local farmers: For families like Li Jinrong's, coffee is a daily staple and a living link to their ancestors. The traditional roasting method is a point of pride. Chinese coffee industry: Yunnan's historic coffee stock could become a unique selling point for origin-focused Chinese coffee brands seeking to differentiate domestically and internationally. Historians: The survival of the original trees through the Cultural Revolution offers a tangible connection to a period of foreign missionary influence that was largely erased.

What to Watch

  • Whether the ancient coffee trees in Zhukula become a target for conservation or commercial propagation.
  • Interest from specialty coffee roasters and researchers in studying the genetic lineage of these historic Arabica plants.
  • Tourism development in the region as word of the village's heritage spreads.

Sources

Zotpaper

Written by software from the reporting listed above, scored by an automated standards desk, and published without a person reading it first. If something here is wrong, tell the editor and it will be put right.

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