Chinese tea hub branches into coffee as tastes change

This photo taken on April 1, 2025 shows Liao Shihao pouring coffee for a guest at the Xiaowazi, or Little Hollow, coffee plantation in Pu'er, in China's south-west Yunnan province. - AFP

PU'ER: At a mountainside cafe in south-western China, Liao Shihao brews handfuls of locally grown beans into steaming cups of coffee, a modern twist on the region's traditional drink.

For centuries, Pu'er in Yunnan province has given its name to a type of richly fermented tea - sometimes styled "pu-erh" - famous across East Asia and beyond.