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When traditional icon meets specialty coffee “We hope that the majority of fans of traditional culture
and Forbidden City culture, despite not buying tickets to see
One influential case in point is not a product-based brand, the exhibition, can also ‘get closer’ to the Forbidden City through
but a landmark and a cultural symbol in China, the Forbidden a cup of coffee, a dessert, a space, a cultural and creative deriv-
City. To attract more visitors, especially the younger generation atives.” Café by the Forbidden City told to us.
who bears the responsibility to pass on the civilisation of the By the end of the same year, Café by the Forbidden City
country, the Forbidden City has made many efforts. opened its door to customers. To everyone’s surprise, instead
According to the former curator/director of the Forbid- of a traditional tea house, it is a specialty coffee shop.
den City. Dr. Shan Jixiang, a museum should be “the home for The reason behind this choice, according to Café by the
spirit, the oasis of a culture, the temple of knowledge, the Forbidden City, was the hope to satisfy a more diverse tourist
living room of a city, and the showcase window of a civilisation”. group visiting Beijing since the ancient capital of China is be-
From trendy souvenirs to TV shows presented by the coming increasingly international.
most popular celebrities, the symbol of China never stopped “Coffee is part of the modern lifestyle…. We chose it, which
exploring a way to exhibit itself in the new age. The effort has is a more international and modern method to demonstrate (the
indeed been rewarded with the Forbidden City once again Forbidden City), with an open mind.”
becoming the grand icon of the era, and the topic of the crowd. Café by the Forbidden City has been a huge success since
In 2019, for the first time, over 50 percent of all the opening. Over 3 years since opening, there is still a long queue
visitors to the Forbidden City were under the age of 35. Before of customers waiting for both sitting in and takeaways. Natu-
that, the ratio was less than 30 percent for a long time. Mean- rally, others followed.
while, the sales figure of the cultural products also soared, The largest Chinese medicine company, Tong Ren Tang,
reaching 1.5 billion Yuan (around $221m) by 2017. that has a history of over 350 years, started to run a cafe called
And there’s more. In 2018, the Forbidden City decided “Zhima Health” in their Beijing pharmacies to serve specialty
to open a cafe to the public right next to the exit. This is the coffee from 2019. A year later, another long-established tradi-
perfect location for visitors to eat and drink after the tour; tional Chinese medicine company, Tong Han Chun Tang, also
more importantly, this location provides an opportunity for opened a specialty cafe in the centre of Shanghai.
anyone without a ticket to have an immersive experience of
the Forbidden City.

Coffee shops should be as

common as breakfast stands

in China. — KAMEN

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