Best Coffee Cities in China to Spend Chinese New Year 2026
Where coffee lovers should travel for the ultimate CNY café experience
Chinese New Year brings a different rhythm to China: glowing lanterns, festive streets, and cafés serving their most creative drinks. These cities are where specialty coffee lovers feel the magic most.
Shanghai, China’s Specialty Coffee Capital
Shanghai feels like a playground for coffee lovers. The place where global trends meet bold local creativity, and every street seems to hide a new café worth discovering.
Best for: café hopping, discovering new coffee trends, urban Chinese New Year energy.
Source: China Daily on Shanghai coffee industry growth
Chengdu, Slow Living Coffee Culture
Chengdu is famous for its relaxed rhythm, a city where people sit, talk, and enjoy tea for hours. That slow-living mindset shapes its coffee scene too, with café culture built around lingering, conversation, and calm “citywalk” routines.
Best for: relaxed mornings, extended café time during the holiday.
Source: Walking into Prosperity: How Chengdu’s Citywalk Is Boosting the Local Economy
Hangzhou, Scenic Coffee by West Lake
Hangzhou feels like a pause button. With mist over West Lake and quiet, design-focused cafés, it’s one of the most beautiful places in China to slow down with a cup of coffee.
Best for: peaceful Chinese New Year mornings, couple trips, creative resets.
Source: The Best Cafes and Coffee Shops in Hangzhou
Shenzhen, New-Generation Coffee Trends
Shenzhen is China’s innovation hub, and its café scene reflects that energy. New concepts appear fast, design is bold, and young tech professionals keep the city buzzing with coffee culture.
Best for: trend spotting, brand inspiration, future café ideas.
Source: Shenzhen sees rise of coffee economy
Beijing, Where Heritage Meets Coffee
Beijing blends centuries of history with a growing specialty coffee scene. In hutong courtyards, espresso machines sit beside grey-brick walls, and cafés mix global coffee culture with traditional Chinese architecture, a quiet East-meets-West moment in every cup.
Best for: cultural trips, photography, storytelling content.
Source: Specialty coffee and Beijing’s hutongs: A cultural fusion of East and West in China
Follow the Lanterns, Find the Coffee
Chinese New Year is about warmth, connection, and slowing down. If you’re exploring China, book trains early, check café hours, and search local café guides to find hidden gems. From Shanghai skylines to Chengdu courtyards and Beijing hutongs, the right cup turns travel into memory. And if you’re celebrating in London, you can taste China’s coffee culture with X° Robusta. Because great coffee is always an X° -tra experience.
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