Mobile cafes trending in China's countryside

XI'AN -- Amid a golden sea of canola flowers in the countryside, a caravan can be seen parked on the road, while a fusion of the aromas of coffee and flowers drifts in the air, attracting tourists and perhaps a few bees and butterflies from far and wide.

Zhao Hongsheng, owner of this mobile cafe in Northwest China's Shaanxi province, used a loudspeaker to promote his freshly ground coffee to visitors in Mianxian county of the city of Hanzhong, who primarily visit this location for a glimpse of its iconic flowers.

"The revenue is about 500 yuan (about $68.4) a day," he told Xinhua, noting that this figure is lower compared with a couple of years ago. "The number of tourists didn't decrease but we have more competitors now," Zhao revealed.

Hailing from the city of Baoji in Shaanxi, Zhao has been running his mobile cafe for four years. He drives his vehicle to different countryside tourism destinations depending on the season, and sometimes ventures as far as Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, which is also located in China's northwest.

In recent years, with the deepening of rural revitalization in China, transportation, public facilities and supporting services in the country's rural areas have significantly improved. The countryside, featuring pastoral scenery and an idyllic lifestyle, is luring many visitors, mostly young people working in fast-paced cities, who choose to spend their holidays and weekends camping or hiking in rural settings.

According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, in the first quarter of 2025, rural areas across China welcomed 707 million visits, generating revenue totaling 412 billion yuan -- increases of 8.9 percent and 5.6 percent year on year, respectively.

Zhang Ling, an official from Mianxian county, is working with the organizer of a canola flower festival in a bid to further boost tourism. "Young people have more diversified consumer demands, and so there could be new business opportunities," she said.

For such visitors, cafes have become a significant space to fulfill their desire for rural and natural experiences.

People like Zhao have spotted business opportunities resulting from this trend. "Without shop renting costs, our coffee can be cheaper compared with cafes in cities," he said.

Zhou Hui and his wife, meanwhile, who are from the southwestern Chongqing municipality, have also joined the mobile cafe ranks. They owned a cafe in Chongqing for 10 years, before spending 500,000 yuan on a recreational vehicle (RV) in 2023.

While doing business on the road, they also get to enjoy their trips.

"We had just appreciated cherry blossoms in central China's Hubei, when we found out on social media about a canola flower tourism festival in Hanzhong," said Zhou. They have thus far traveled about 50,000 kilometers following the seasons and scenery around China.

During the roughly 10 minutes in which Zhou was talking to Xinhua, the cafe received many customers, who bought the likes of coffee and ice-cream. Wang Chunyan, Zhou's wife, said they enjoyed their lifestyle a lot.

"Our son has graduated from university and found a job, so we no longer need to take care of him, giving us more free time to enjoy ourselves," she said, while adding that making money was not the most important reason for their choice of lifestyle.

Sales of RVs in China have risen steadily in recent years. According to the China Automobile Dealers Association, more than 14,000 RVs were sold in 2023 -- an annual increase of 22.41 percent. As of last October, the total number of RVs in the country had reached approximately 213,400.

The couple will next travel to the ancient city of Xi'an, also in Shaanxi, before going to Qinghai further to the northwest and Inner Mongolia autonomous region in the country's north, where they hope to escape the summer heat. On their RV is a slogan highlighting the quest of their mobile cafe: coffee in hand, worries end.

Similarly, a young man from Southwest China's Guizhou province, named Li Shiyi, has also embarked on a trip with his RV mobile cafe. Having grown up in the countryside, he dreamed of seeing more of the world from a very young age.

"At that time my economic condition didn't allow me to do so," Li recalled. "But now I am able to travel with my RV." He painted his mobile cafe green, with big characters on the window that read -- youth is priceless.