How Does Coffee Culture Clash With Tea on Qianmen Street?
Heytea opened a teahouse on Beijing's Qianmen Street, the historic commercial road on the city's central axis. The opening ran buy-one-get-one-free on selected products for three days, then coupons through the Heytea mini-program on later days. Starbucks set up its Reserve store at 1-1 Qianmen Street back in 2018, so the two beverage brands now sit close together on the same old street.
Qianmen Street dates to 1550 and was renamed in 1965; it once hosted time-honored names like Quanjude and Liubiju. Heytea's teahouse blends modern minimalism with Chinese nostalgia, while Starbucks keeps an antique Beijing look. The meeting of new-style tea and street coffee culture raises the question of whether either brand can add fresh vitality to this historic thoroughfare.
Beijing's Qianmen Street, an old thoroughfare carrying centuries of commercial heritage and imperial city memories, now welcomes a new face—Heytea's teahouse has officially opened here. The opening promotion is quite generous: buy one get one free on a series of products for the first three days, with multiple rounds of perks to follow. Interestingly, Starbucks set up its Reserve store at 1-1 Qianmen Street back in 2018. One brand blends modern minimalism with Chinese nostalgia, while the other sticks to an antique Beijing flavor. As these two beverage giants meet at the foot of the imperial city, what kind of sparks will fly? Can the collision of new-style tea and coffee culture inject a different kind of vitality into this historic old street?
Summer Palace Coffee moved into the Summer Palace first, and Heytea took root at the foot of the imperial city later.
Yes, Heytea has once again become the center of attention. At 3 p.m. that day, Heytea's official Weibo posted a message titled "Meeting Joy at Qianmen, Opening a Teahouse," announcing that the Heytea Qianmen Street teahouse was officially open for business. The Weibo post also rolled out opening perks: buy one get one free on a series of products for the first three days; from the fourth to sixth day, customers who order through the Heytea mini-program can get a buy-one-get-one-free coupon; from the seventh to ninth day, mini-program orders can earn a buy-two-get-one-free coupon. Friends in Beijing, this wave of perks is not to be missed.
What kind of place is Qianmen Street exactly? Public records show that it is one of Beijing's most famous commercial districts, located on the city's central axis. It was once the imperial road used by emperors when leaving the city, and so the common people habitually called it "Qianmen Street."
The history of this street can be traced back to 1550. During the Ming and Qing dynasties and the Republic of China period, it was consistently named Zhengyangmen Street, and it was not officially renamed Qianmen Street until 1965.
In the old days, Qianmen Street was home to many time-honored Beijing brands: Quanjude Roast Duck, Liubiju, Yitiaolong Mutton Restaurant, and others were all located here. "Ma Juyuan on your head, Neiliansheng on your feet, the Eight Daxiang on your body, the Four Daheng around your waist"—this old saying vividly depicts the refined lifestyle of Beijing's wealthy class back then. Ma Juyuan, Neiliansheng, the Eight Daxiang, and other shops were all opened on Qianmen Street at the time, which shows just how prosperous this street was in its early years.
Today, if you type "Qianmen Street" into a search bar, all kinds of travel guides and food and product recommendations come flooding in, and many time-honored shops are still rooted here year-round. The specific location of the new Heytea store is A2-2 Qianmen Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing. From photos posted by Xiaohongshu users, the storefront has a purely Chinese-style exterior, full of Eastern charm and quite ingenious. Red bricks and a blue plaque, wooden beams and mortise-and-tenon structures blend seamlessly with old Beijing's ancient architecture. In contrast to the exterior, the interior continues Heytea's consistent modern minimalist style, brimming with a sense of technology.
This time, the Heytea Qianmen store poured a lot of sentiment into its promotional design. The story of Heytea's beginnings in 2012, slowly unfolding on the gray wall, is moving to read. In addition, on September 22, Heytea's Weibo previewed "The new Beijing store is here," inviting netizens to gather for tea and conversation, and held a new store beta event on the afternoon of September 23. Participants in the beta event had to dress in Beiping-style clothing to enter, and the admission ticket was an item related to Beijing that could be exchanged with others. Arrangements like this max out the retro and nostalgic vibe.
Coincidentally, Starbucks had already opened its Reserve coffee shop at the foot of the imperial city back in 2018, at 1-1 Qianmen Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing. Starbucks' decorative approach differs from Heytea's: both inside and outside the store, it follows a relatively antique Beijing style, preserving a large number of classical architectural elements. Whether Heytea's arrival will deal a certain blow to Starbucks is worth watching.
Ancient architecture is a non-renewable civilizational resource and holds important evidentiary value for history. Qianmen Street has witnessed both the bustling past of old Beijing's market life and now the growth and expansion of emerging brands. Fortunately, these new things have not completely covered up historical traces, but have cautiously integrated fresh elements, just like Heytea's red bricks and blue plaque and Starbucks' classical charm.
Come have some tea, honored guests, please step inside~ A new store is open, with plenty of perks! Just look at how generous these words are~
Photo source: Internet
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
