Coffee culture brewed up in Hainan’s Xinglong County

Coffee is not only provided in fancy coffeehouses but also can be found at almost any ordinary-looking stall along the street. Cups of coffee are ordered with "youtiao," or fried bread sticks, and noodles.

"We cut the youtiao into pieces, and have a cup of coffee for breakfast," said a local people drinking coffee at a breakfast stall in Xinglong. "Sometimes we dip youtiao into the coffee. It’s full of flavor."

For local people who have grown up with coffee, the island’s coffee culture is rooted in their blood. Many locals are descendents of overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia who brought the first seeds and started coffee plantations in 1953.

Xinglong has become one of the largest coffee growing areas in Hainan with a yield of 40 tons of beans last year, accounting for about 10 percent of the island’s total coffee bean output.

Coffee is not a luxury here. A cup of freshly brewed java costs only three yuan. But the taste is second to none. One tourist said he was surprised to find such good coffee in the county.

"The taste is really good," he said. "I think it is better than Nestlé’s. The coffee is full-bodied with a pleasant, sweet finish."

What it takes to grow good coffee is rich soil and reliable rainfall. Chu Zhong, Vice Director of the Xinglong Tropical Botanical Garden said the county enjoys a favorable geographical location which produces the best coffee.

"The coffee here is of high quality," Chu said. "Xinglong is at altitude from 0 degree to 18 degrees and has plenty of rainfall, so it is very suitable for growing Robusta (coffee beans)."

Coffee beans can generally be divided into two categories: Arabica and Robusta. Arabica beans are mild and aromatic, while Robusta beans are very bitter but have 50 percent more of caffeine than Arabica beans. Most parts of Hainan grow high quality Robusta beans.

But if quality is not a problem, then why isn’t Hainan coffee on the blue-ribbon list of the best coffee in the world?

"Compared with foreign brands, we lag far behind in terms of brand marketing and packaging," said Wu Huasong, Vice President of the Xinglong Tropical Botanical Garden. "We didn’t make good use of our advantages to do promotions."

Wu Huasong said farmers in Xinlong County have figured out a way to improve yield per unit from 60 kilograms to 200 kilograms and encourage others to return to growing coffee trees.

"Since 2009, we started to promote the high-yield technique by giving farmers seeds and proper training and purchasing the coffee they grow at protective prices," Wu said. "But we are still in the initial stage."

Another way to get more farmers to grow coffee beans is to focus on processing rather than planting.

"Hainan should forge its distinctive coffee products," said Fu Changming, President of the Hainan Coffee Association. "We have no competitive edge in terms of yield, but what we can do is to conduct research on blending coffee and do more related to coffee products."