China's rural café boom has been fueled by the rise of rural tourism. According to estimates from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, rural tourism across the country welcomed 707 million visits in the first quarter of this year, up 8.9 percent year on year.

　　Over 40,000 cafés have sprung up in China's countryside. Increasingly, these village cafés are more than just coffee stops but creative hubs revitalizing rural spaces.

　　In a village in Quzhou City, Zhejiang Province, one such café sprang to life from a dilapidated sheep shed halfway up an abandoned mining hill.

　　“It was the only usable structure around back in 2023,“ said Yu Jiafu, founder of the Sheep Shed Café. “No roof, just broken walls and waist-high weeds. We gave it the English name 'Young People Coffee', a playful pun on 'Yang Peng' or sheep shed in Chinese, hoping to draw more young people to the countryside.“

　　Yu, a graduate of the China Academy of Art, saw beauty and potential in the wild setting. He and his team rebuilt the roof with thatch, kept the original stone structure, and used nearby mountain rocks to build the bar.

　　“Our guests now range from city dwellers on weekend road trips to local youths who treat this place like their living room,“ Yu said.

　　At its busiest, the café welcomed more than 5,000 visitors in a single day. On regular weekends, guests come from nearby cities like Hangzhou and Shanghai. Even foreign travelers and internet influencers with millions of followers have stopped by.

　　Since its opening, the café's grounds have evolved to suit the clientele, now boasting a swimming pool, an open-air performance stage, a camping area, and a wood-fired bread oven.