茶起源于中国，中国历史上有很长的饮茶纪录，最早可以追述到石器时代的炎帝神农氏。茶文化在中国可谓历史悠久。但是咖啡也越来越受人们欢迎了，这两个文化会怎样发展？

Tea and coffee, which is more popular in China nowadays? When an increasing number of coffee shops have been emerging in China, some giant coffee shops have turned to traditional Chinese tea to boost business. Some people expect the coffee market to grow; others say traditional teahouse business has not been affected by the coffee shops.

Zhang Wan has more.

Reporter:

Far away from Hainan Island's tourist destinations, coffee is being grown by a small group of businessmen seeking to get rich. Li Wending who retired in Taiwan actually moved to the island and is now a coffee farmer.

"I didn't rent this farm for no reason. I read in a magazine that the biggest potential market for coffee is mainland China. The other reason is that there's red volcano soil."

Wending has been growing coffee on his small farm for the past five years. Thanks to the island's tropical climate and fertile volcanic soil, coffee plants can thrive here, giving the farmer a five ton yearly crop.

He admits for now his yield is still too small to try to expand into the Chinese mainland market. Today in many Chinese cities coffee shops have become a fashionable place for young people to hang out and be seen in. Wending says he expects the coffee market to grow.

"Drinking coffee is very different from drinking tea. When you walk into a coffee house, people are talking gently and politely. They are gentlemen and ladies. It's entirely different from the culture of drinking tea. I think drinking coffee has grown with China's international rise."

UK's Costa, an Italian-style coffee chain, plans to open up 600 new outlets in China over the next five years; Nestle, the world's largest instant coffee maker, has also opened several high-end coffee outlets in Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu, and it may open more elsewhere in the country.

However, with more coffee shops emerging in China, Starbucks, the world's largest coffeehouse chain started to try its hand at selling traditional Chinese tea earlier this year, in a new attempt to boost business. And the coffee chain giant said it was just a first step by the company into Chinese tea and it would do more in the future.

China is the world's largest tea market, with around 200 million regular tea drinkers.
Figures from the China Tea Marketing association show there are more than 60,000 teahouses around the country.

Today, drinking tea is often used by businessmen to win over prospective business partners. One Beijing tea house owner, Zhang Xiao, says tea houses are a place to relax and appreciate Chinese culture.

"I don't think coffee houses will affect the business of tea houses, as their customers are different. People in tea houses talk business or relax, while in coffee houses, people are mainly in a rush. In coffee houses you can not experience the rich culture as in tea houses. So I don't think coffee houses will affect the business of tea houses. Take ourselves for example; our business has not been affected."

When the largest tea market hasn't resulted in a well-established national tea chain brand, those coffee chains seem to have offered a ready model for ambitious teahouse owners to follow.

For CRI, I am Zhang Wan

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