FRANCESCO TOBIA, an Italian whose passion for coffee borders on obsession, was amazed to find brews of exceptional quality in Guiyang, the capital of southwestern China's Guizhou Province. Despite lacking any coffee farms, Guiyang has carved out a reputation as a coffee powerhouse, with over 3,000 cafés and more than 10 world and national champions in coffee roasting emerging from the city over the past decade. Francesco has been a musician with the Guiyang Symphony Orchestra since 2009. In his first 10 years in the city, he noticed that while coffee shops were beginning to appear across this plateau city, the brews rarely matched his taste. Over time, he noticed that some local coffee shops had started sourcing beans from Italy, a change he welcomed. “A pivotal moment came with the emergence of a local coffee brand, Captain George, a game changer for Guiyang’s coffee scene,” he said. In 2012, Peng Jinyang, a college student captivated by the rich aroma of roasted coffee beans, co-founded Captain George in Guiyang alongside a fellow barista. Francesco, who frequently visited Captain George on work days, said the local brand prioritized quality and uniqueness. Its flavor was so distinctive that he could recognize it instantly, and it set a new benchmark for coffee in Guiyang. At the 2025 World Brewers Cup (WBC) in Indonesia in May 2025, Peng clinched the champion title. He noticed that even under identical conditions, consecutive brews — three cups in a row — revealed subtle differences in flavor with each cup. This led him to explore how temperature differences between the spout and the center of the teapot affect taste, a focus that became the theme of his WBC presentation and earned high praise from the judges. Thanks to the efforts of baristas like Peng, this once-quiet inland city has blossomed into a lively coffee hub, nurturing a vibrant coffee culture through lectures and training sessions by world champions, while also sending local teams to compete on the international stage. This year, Francesco visited Orchard Café, another local brand, which offered him fresh and tantalizing experiences. “It has several kinds of beans, all with different features, some more on the sour side, some bitter, but all rich in flavor,” he said. On the edge of a new development zone in eastern Guiyang, where broad sidewalks meet sleek residential blocks, Orchard Café stands out as a hub of creative community rather than a typical commercial coffeehouse. “We host everything, from international certification courses for new baristas, to community cuppings where customers discover their favorite beans, to pre-competition bootcamps for elite brewers,” said Qiang Hua, Orchard’s founder, a barista with a decade of experience and eight years as a certified sensory judge at elite events like the China Brewers Championship. “Now, local shops make such good coffee that I’ve stopped making it myself. Their professional machines and cost-effective beans result in better quality than my homemade versions,” Francesco added. In Guiyang, there is one coffee shop for every 2,000 residents, making it one of the Chinese cities with the highest coffee shop density. Some tourists even roam the streets and alleys with maps in hand to track down the cafés tucked away in the city’s hidden lanes. Nestled in the narrow alleys and historic neighborhoods of Guiyang, many boutique coffee shops are strategically located, making it easy for locals to grab a cup of high-quality coffee during their workdays. Francesco noted that Guiyang’s coffee shops are very innovative, blending coffee with juice, mint, or local fruits, and even feature unique concepts like cat cafés and waterfall-side scenic spots. Tucked away in an old community off the bustling snack street of Caijiajie, Rock Black is a hidden gem. Owned by Lei Ming, who has been in the coffee business since 2020, this cozy spot has well and truly made a name for itself. Lei said he never expected that his concoction of fish mint and Americano would become a hit. “It makes you shake your head when you hear of it, but once you taste it, you’re hooked.” Starting from scratch, Guiyang’s coffee scene has grown remarkably fast. “I’m surprised by Guiyang’s coffee level, and its relaxed pace of life suits coffee enjoyment,” Francesco said, adding that the city still has many surprises in store. (Xinhua) | 