Chinese Tea Hub Branches Into Coffee As Tastes Change

A worker raking coffee beans during the drying process at the Xiaowazi, or Little Hollow, coffee plantation in Pu’er (Credit: AFP)

At a mountainside cafe in southwestern China, Liao Shihao brews handfuls of locally grown beans into steaming cups of coffee, a modern twist on the region's traditional drink.

For centuries, Pu'er in Yunnan province has given its name to a type of richly fermented tea -- sometimes styled "pu-erh" -- famous across East Asia and beyond.