The coffee giant Starbucks is once again a popular search on the Internet, and there are people who think that coffee is now replacing tea as the most popular drink in China. But, is that really so?
Starbucks opened its biggest café shop in the world in Shanghai this Wednesday. The coffee giant says this will not only give customers the usual great coffee, but also give them the full experience of how the magical coffee beans get roasted to become those wonderful drops that make up their favorite drinks. It is like the Willy Wonka factory for coffee lovers. The company is expanding aggressively, and opening a new store every 15 hours on average in China.
China has very rich and splendid tea culture. What seems like the most enjoyable thing is to drink a cup of tea on a quiet day that is full of "Zen" (禅) spirit. But the fastpace of life sometimes doesn't allow that. So there are tea shop owners locating their shops in the downtown area in order to provide quick service for customers. Take Heytea for example. It's one of the most highly rated tea shops and it has now opened several new branches in the business areas of big cities like Beijing. Waiting in lines for longer than one hour is common. China's consumption of tea is immeasurable. According to a research of USC Institute, in China, the average person consumes 400 cups of tea per year.
So it is unlikely that coffee can replace tea as the country's main drink any time soon. The expanding coffee shops are not there to replace tea, but to provide people with another choice that they can use to enjoy life.
