@debaser I think sharing good tips (or bad), should be normal. It's always our choice to go or not. So funny some people just rather dwell on the bad, but then again, I don't really care. Opinions are free as its bad mood or bad taste. I'm here to make the best of my time :-) Enjoy the place...or not.

Reason for not serving coffee in the morning is that having coffee in the morning is simply not popular in China.

Wrong. The reason why coffee in the morning is not popular here is that chinese people's choice of psychoactive stimulants are different.

Nicotine instead of caffeine (yes they smoke 1/4 pack after waking up, that's why your building's elevator is so smelly in the morning) and green tea, which also has caffeine by the way.

Combo those two and some heavy MSG fasting breakers and they're all set for their slave shift.

@Spartans: Right - it's not coffee that's popular in the morning - as you have pointed out.
It's pretty obvious that coffee consumption has been increasing in China - just rarely in the morning.

Different strokes.

Yes, I agree. It is not really a coffee culture though coffee has its following in China and in Yunnan in particular. And while I have had about three Chinese people tell me that coffee in the morning is " bad for your healthy" I have also seen coffee cups lined up and ready to go at McDonalds. So many Chinese people are learning that a cup of Joe is a better way to start the work day than a bottle of bailie is. But some these artsy vogue coffee places really are odd, and often expensive. Like the place where I got my coffee and sat at a little "cool" table and took a book down to look at and the girl came over and told me the books were not meant to looked at, only for show. Hmm. And around colleges campuses these little student hang outs pop up and advertise coffee. One two separate occasion at two different places I ordered a 1) cappuccino, and 2) a latte as those were on the little colored chalk board menu. I am a black coffee guy but they said they had only a cappuccino or latte. Okay. Well, I actually worked as a barista for a while in Seattle, and while that does make a coffee expert I do know that a single pack of Nestcafe powdered coffee with hot water, at ten RMB, is not a genuine cappuccino. And a couple places refused to add a shot of hot water to my espresso. "We do not add water to our espresso!" In that condescending tone. Even though I had gotten a shot of hot water to take off the bitterness several times before. I insisted and got it, since I had not paid yet. It is all the worse when a place you liked suddenly turns bad one day, and eventually they do. Almost with 100% certainty. So I am skeptical of all those places. It is only a matter of time I feel before the charm wears off. For me. I have done my share over the years and so maybe I got burned out. Others may still have hope and faith. I envy them.

We coudnt get a cuppa of coffee in M60 for less then 20kuai. In other hand in restaurant which wasnt cheap either, we got bottle of Tuborg for 7kuai. Which I consider much better then Qintao for 15-20 kuai in laowai bars :-)

Speak of morning coffee, my firends coffeeshop ( near Yunnan Uni. ) was trying to open 8am, then shifted to 9am and now 10am, coz nobody comes around in the morning. Foreign students who live outside of campus, just run late for class. Those who live in dorms, they r too lazy go out and purchase 10kuai real americano, and have powder Nestle instead. Only few of us going there on reg. basis. There is just small demand for real coffee here yet. Chinese people like Starbux which with coffee wan quan mei you guanxi :-) but for the image :-) face thing is good enough.