Nujiang Coffee Industrial Park - The Coffee Kingdom in the Grand Canyon

On May 13, we set off from Tengchong, crossed the Gaoligong Mountains, and returned to the Lijiangba Service Area in the Nujiang Grand Canyon. Five days earlier, on May 9, we had traveled from Dali to Baoshan via this route. After circling around western Yunnan, we returned here, and this time, we exited the highway from the service area, preparing to head north along Provincial Highway 230 to the capital of Nujiang Prefecture - Lushui. After exiting the highway, we entered the Nujiang Grand Canyon. This typical dry-hot valley has a hot and dry climate at the bottom. The land on both sides of the road is dusty due to drought, but the vegetation is still lush, especially the blooming phoenix flowers, which greet us with their brilliant orange-red clusters from time to time. This dry-hot valley climate may be tough for general crops, but it is naturally suitable for the growth of an economic crop, coffee, which originates from West Africa. As one of the world's three major beverages, coffee has a long history and is loved by humanity. Historically, due to Yunnan's proximity to French Indochina, French coffee culture spread northward with the construction of the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway, reaching deep into Yunnan, making this southwestern frontier also develop a fondness for coffee. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, to expand and promote coffee cultivation and reduce imports, the best planting base was found in the dry-hot valleys of western Yunnan. After years of effort, the world's largest small-grain coffee planting and production base was formed in the Nujiang Grand Canyon. Along both sides of the Grand Canyon are vast coffee industrial parks, and the famous Yunnan coffee has opened up markets nationwide and even worldwide. On our way from Lijiangba to Lushui, we passed through this coffee industrial park, so we decided to visit one of the parks. After driving for about ten minutes along the provincial road from Lijiangba, we arrived at Lijiangba, a large sandbar formed by the slowing flow of the Nujiang River. On this sandbar is a town - Lijiang Town. Under the jurisdiction of Lijiang Town are numerous coffee industrial parks. We drove through the town along the provincial road, and most of the shops in the town were related to coffee, presenting a scene of a coffee capital. Before long, a large-scale industrial park appeared before us - Biton Coffee Industrial Park. We drove straight in. The parking lot of Biton Industrial Park is quite spacious, accommodating hundreds of cars. The reception center is right next to the parking lot, with a stylish decor mainly of glass and wood. A wide variety of coffee products, from brewing to coffee candy, dazzled us. Behind the reception center is the plantation. Here, we saw coffee trees for the first time. Rows of green, half-human-height small trees were neatly arranged, with the towering Nu Mountains and the rushing Nujiang River as the backdrop, creating a stunning scenery. The plantation also grows other tropical tree species like mangoes as embellishments, forming a small tropical botanical garden. The industrial park also offers accommodation and dining services. The wooden cabins for accommodation are located within the plantation, and the dining features many interesting coffee-themed dishes developed using coffee as an ingredient, which is quite fascinating. Besides leisure and entertainment, Biton Industrial Park also has a small coffee museum, allowing us to learn about the past and present of coffee, Yunnan coffee, and Biton coffee. The museum is connected to the coffee roasting workshop, with the strong aroma of coffee wafting through the park. The museum is connected to the reception center, and a wall of coffee cups in the corridor left a deep impression on us. Overall, the experience at the coffee industrial park was very good. If we had more time, we might have considered staying overnight. However, since it was still early, after enjoying a coffee feast for lunch and buying some coffee, we bid farewell to Biton and delved deeper into the Nujiang Grand Canyon.