Coffee, tea and dreams

Beijing's Zhongguancun area, considered the country's Silicon Valley, is offering geeks a lot more than hot brews. Deng Zhangyu reports.

Outside a coffee shop on Inno Way, a street in downtown Beijing, young people wait to take photos against the backdrop of a big screen that shows Premier Li Keqiang drinking coffee at the same shop with young entrepreneurs. The meeting took place on May 7, and ever since a nearby wall has been covered with banners calling upon people to start their businesses.

Along the nearly 200-meter-long street, there are several other coffee shops, where people gather to talk about investments, projects and big ideas. Dozens of lectures for startup companies are held there daily. It's not unusual to see people in the area entering bookstores to buy copies of Zero to One written by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel and of related reads.