Students full of beans over rise of coffee shops

Developing trend

As the coffee shops grow in popularity, their function is beginning to change from the purely social to business oriented, and they are becoming important networking tools for entrepreneurs, who utilize the gatherings of students and recent alumni to meet and assess young talent. Now, one club is hoping to cash in on that trend.

Located at the east gate of Peking University, the 1898 coffee shop is a members-only cafe for PKU alumni that features a number of rooms for small seminars and discussions that allow budding business tycoons the opportunity to outline their products and plans to like-minded individuals. Founder Yang Yong, a PKU graduate, is hoping the place will eventually attract the cream of the PKU entrepreneurial crop and become an established venue for successive generations of young movers and shakers.

"I hope the coffee shop will become a leading platform for PKU entrepreneurs, and the home of the leading companies and businesspeople of the future," he said.

Contact the writer at luowangshu@chinadaily.com.cn

Yuan Yue contributed to this story