by Sky Gidge
If you speed down the streets of Qianhai in your DeLorean five years from now into the future, you will see skyscrapers, shiny cars and a coffee shop called House Cafe.
Today, ill-paved roads and construction barriers make up Qianhai, although the coffee shop is already there, tucked into the ground floor of the Qianhai Innovation Hub. This cluster of white, round-edged buildings is the beginning of an area heralded by many as the future of Shenzhen.
House Cafe captures the district’s tech savvy, innovative zeitgeist – along with the feeling of a pricey new house, nearing the end of construction. Foot traffic is next to nil and taxis impossible to find, though there are free electric cabs.
House Cafe sources its beans from The Coffee Academics, a Hong Kong-based chain known for in-house roasting and custom blends. Cappuccinos (RMB28) and lattes (RMB30) are made with the sweet TCA house or rich Hong Kong blends, although cheap milk takes away from the otherwise solid brews. The coffeehouse’s rainbow of cakes and muffins are also reasonably priced, with slices of banana tiramisu for RMB24 and chocolate chip muffins for RMB15.
But it’s not about the food, or even the coffee.
The shop’s flanked by a small “entrepreneurship college” on the left, with office space set aside for startups (many from Hong Kong) on the right. House Cafe is used to pitch to investors, as well as other customers who wander in. A growing bunch of products on the large side bookshelf include 3-D printed sculptures and gadgets anyone can poke, prod or buy, all designed and built by people only a wall away.
We were planning on testing out the knee-high dancing robot, but two dozen customers – some with notebooks and laptops – filed in to listen to a talk on targeted advertising by a Google alum. House Cafe brings in speakers every month to lecture about startup-related topics.
As for the venue itself, location is House Cafe’s weakness now, but will be its greatest asset later; a good destination if you want to see Qianhai. Eat something before you go though. At the moment there are only plans for a full menu – in the future.
How much: Approx. RMB50 for a coffee and snack, lecture free with reservation
Who’s going: Urban explorers, makers, investors
Good for: Hong Kong blends, robots, business lectures
// For address, see listing.
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