This undated file photo shows two drinks on a table at the Red Guan Coffee in Dongguan, south China's Guangdong Province. (Photo by Ye Zhongwen/Xinhua)

　　BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) -- On a crisp Sunday morning, Zheng Shiying drove 130 kilometers to a village on the outskirts of Beijing, not for a hike or a hot spring, but for a cup of coffee.

　　It took Zheng over three hours to reach the café. Housed in a crumbling stone building that looks untouched by time, by the time Zheng arrived it was already packed with weekend visitors, and finding a seat was a bit of a challenge.

　　“I've never woken up this early for work,“ she joked.

　　A city café keeps you awake, while a village café helps you unwind. Zheng is one of many urban Chinese heading deep into the countryside in search of rural calm. Far from the city's polished espresso bars, village cafés offer customers a refreshing change of pace.

　　In a village in Dongguan, for example, a café by a railway has become an urban-escape hotspot. Facing the tracks and shaded by ancient trees, it offers front-row seats to thundering trains.

　　Owner Ye Zhongwen, who loved chasing trains as a kid, opened the Red Guan Coffee in 2024 in a two-story house that had sat vacant for years.

　　For Ye, the remote location wasn't a flaw but a feature. And Ye is not alone, some of the café's customers drive 40 minutes from Dongguan, others travel over two hours from Shenzhen, and even visitors from Hong Kong have made the trip.

　　“At first, villagers were curious and skeptical,“ Ye said. “Now many are regulars, and they're glad the café is drawing more people who also buy their farm produce and other goods.“