How does the origin of mocha coffee fit a literary cafe?

People's Literature Publishing House announced on January 18 that its cultural and creative department will open a literature-themed cafe at No. 166 Chaonei, its own address and a landmark for Chinese intellectuals. The small space, roughly a dozen square meters, will serve drinks built around classical Chinese literature, including a mocha named for a Romance of the Three Kingdoms theme and a Zhang Fei latte.

Cafes and writing have long been linked; J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter in Edinburgh's Elephant House, which became a pilgrimage site for fans. The publisher also plans drinks drawn from Dream of the Red Chamber and Journey to the West, plus recreations of late Qing coffee recipes. Readers are invited to suggest the shop's name, with an unlimited drinking membership card as the reward, though the question is whether it keeps its literary core.

Cafés and literary creation have always been closely linked—J.K. Rowling writing *Harry Potter* in Edinburgh's Elephant House is a classic example. Now, People's Literature Publishing House has also announced plans to open a cultural and creative café at No. 166 Chaonei, a cultural landmark. Though the space is small, the aim is to create a literary outpost for humanities readers. The drinks will incorporate elements of classical Chinese literature, such as the "tea of maple dew" from *Dream of the Red Chamber*, mochas and lattes themed around *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*, and even recreations of late Qing coffee recipes. The shop's name is currently being solicited from readers, with a year-round unlimited drinking membership card as a reward. Whether this café can hold onto its literary core amid the influencer wave is worth watching.

Literature and coffee have always shared an indissoluble bond—the widely known *Harry Potter* series, for instance, was born in Edinburgh's Elephant House. The café's exterior is unremarkable, yet because J.K. Rowling completed this monumental fantasy work there, it has become a "holy site" in the hearts of countless Potter fans.

On the evening of January 18, the literature-rich People's Literature Publishing House announced via its WeChat official account that its cultural and creative department would open a café at No. 166 Chaonei—both the publisher's location and a cultural landmark in the minds of Chinese intellectuals.

The post mentioned that the idea of opening a café had been brewing for a long time but was repeatedly delayed by the pandemic. With the arrival of 2022, in order to surprise readers, they finally resolved to push forward with the cultural and creative café project. The store is small, only about a dozen square meters, and they hope it will become a small literary landmark in the hearts of humanities readers.

As the starting point of New China's literary publishing endeavor, this café's offerings may present more interesting facets of Chinese literature through its drinks. For example, the "ice shark's net," "spring of refreshing fragrance," and "tea of maple dew" from *Dream of the Red Chamber*; "Half-pillowed on pine wind, the tea not yet brewed, singing freely with a heart full of spring" from *Journey to the West*; a pot of mocha "joyous reunion" and Zhang Fei latte "poking a hole" themed around *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*; and the Tokyo Imperial Street teahouse from *Water Margin*—all drinks infused with a literary foundation. They will even recreate late Qing coffee recipes based on texts from works such as *The Bureaucrats* and *Flowers in a Sea of Retribution*.

Compared to the endless stream of influencer coffee shops today, the publisher hopes this store will not only have an outer shell but carry a more meaningful core, bringing readers a good literary experience.

The café is still in the preparatory stage, and the store name will be decided by readers. The naming call requires 3 to 7 characters, and participants have a chance to win a year-round unlimited drinking membership card for the coffee shop.

Promoting coffee through literary works while using coffee to help more people understand literature may be a good start. Cafés with cultural roots like this one have more substance than those that advertise "Syrian-style" decor. So-called "Syrian style" means destroying originally intact décor beyond recognition to present a war-ravaged look—which is undoubtedly rubbing salt into the wounds of people suffering from war; and certain animal-themed cafés enslave animals to work for them, essentially no different from a slave society.

Those influencer cafés lose their meaning for repeat consumption after you take a photo and check in. As for the café the publisher is preparing, even if it also hopes to become an influencer check-in spot, literary works remain its core. The variety of literary works is vast as a sea of smoke, and even for the same book, different readers will have different interpretations.

Opening a café in this place where literature is born, letting different literary orientations and ideas collide, may make it a fine leisure destination.

Image source: People's Literature Publishing House WeChat official account, internet

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.