The Chinese tea-flavoured coffee amazed Liu Xuedan, who placed an order at the branch of Yuenn & Yang Coffee in Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province. "I knew that African coffee had a great taste, but I never imagined it would work so well with Chinese tea," said the 24-year-old tourist, who is from Sichuan Province.

A traditionally tea-drinking country, China has shown a fast-growing appetite for coffee. 

According to the e-commerce platform Meituan, the scale of China's coffee industry was estimated at 200 billion yuan (about $27.6 billion) in 2022, and it is projected to reach 369 billion yuan ($50.9) in 2025. 

"In China, coffee drinking has gradually grown from niche consumption to mass consumption," said Yao Siyi, the founder of coffee product-trading company Cash Coffee. "Many individual consumers, especially young people, are buying coffee machines and taking classes to learn how to make coffee at home." 

In addition to China's expanding market, the country's efforts to ease import procedures for African agricultural products have paved the way for coffee from the continent to enter Chinese cafes and homes.