Coffee has been grown in Yunnan for over a century. The province is historically famous for growing tea, but in the past three decades, many of the region's fertile slopes have been planted with coffee. ‎
‎
‎
Yunnan's climate, soils and geography have long made it an agricultural center for growing a wide variety of crops. So it's no surprise that some of the country's first coffee plantations were planted in the heart of Yunnan in the late 19th century. Missionaries brought coffee plants to rural communities in the province's green hills. By the 1950s, approximately 4,000 hectares of land in Yunnan were planted to coffee. ‎
‎
Modern production began in the 1990s, when well-known coffee companies began investing in coffee production in Yunnan. Today, coffee is grown on about 120,000 hectares, and production is growing rapidly. ‎
‎
‎
Conditions in Yunnan are favorable for coffee. Although the altitude ranges from 800 to 1,800 meters above sea level, most coffee grows between 1,000 and 1,500 meters above sea level. ‎
Coffee cultivation is concentrated in 9 cities: Puer, Baoshan, Dehong, Lincoln, Wenshan and Xishuangbanna. Together, they produce 95% of the coffee grown in Yunnan. ‎