In the heart of Xinglong coffee culture park, the aroma of roasting coffee beans fills the air as barista Liang Dongru stands in front of his roasting machine, his eyes focused and his movements steady.
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"The key is low heat and slow roasting," he said. "In the process, we add butter, white sugar, and a little salt, which makes the coffee taste softer, richer, and smoother."
Xinglong, known as the Xinglong Overseas Chinese Tourism Economic Zone, is located in Hainan, China's southernmost island province.
Under the jurisdiction of Wanning City, this zone has been home to generations of returning overseas Chinese and their families since the 1950s.
These returnees brought back coffee plants and roasting knowledge, which has since fueled coffee cultivation and processing in Xinglong.
Made from locally grown Robusta beans roasted with butter, sugar, and a pinch of salt, Xinglong coffee offers a classic flavor that is both robust and aromatic.
"It's amazing that the annual per capita coffee consumption of Xinglong locals has exceeded 200 cups, while the national average is only slightly over 20 cups," said Ye Jian, head of the Xinglong Coffee Industry Association and general manager of CP Xinglong Coffee Industrial Development.
Coffee, an unfamiliar beverage to most Chinese before the country opened up nearly five decades ago, has grown in popularity since then, with Nestlé, one of the world's largest coffee companies, introducing instant coffee in the 1980s.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, international coffee chains such as Starbucks and Costa Coffee entered the Chinese market, ushering in a new wave of coffee culture.
The country's coffee industry is expected to reach 354.9 billion yuan by 2025, up 13.3 percent year-on-year , with annual per capita consumption rising to 28.57 cups, according to industry reports.
As China's core Robusta coffee producing area, Wanning has built a comprehensive coffee industry chain in recent years, integrating cultivation, processing, e-commerce, local culture, and tourism.
Since 2021, Wanning has been fostering the "Xinglong Barista" program, with a growing number of young people pursuing coffee making as a career. As of July of this year, the city has trained 2,476 professionals for the coffee industry.
A large number of industry players from partner countries of China's Belt and Road Initiative have also come to the tropical city to learn breeding and cultivation techniques for crops such as coffee, pepper, and cocoa.
Last December, an international coffee trading and operations center was inaugurated in Xinglong, taking advantage of the tariff-free policy of the Hainan Free Trade Port.
"Xinglong coffee continues to attract attention from around the world," said Ye. "With more partners, we will advance international cooperation in coffee bean trade and coffee cultural exchange."
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