Located in the hutong maze in the city center of Beijing, a cafe called Urban Green has become a new hotspot for the city's trendy youth.

What immediately catches the eye is the establishment's huge green space. Its two floors are wholly decorated in a tropical rainforest style. The massive exotic leaves of all sorts entice many customers to snap a quick pic for their social media feed, making this cafe an online sensation in its own right.

Ye Chao, a native Beijinger, owns the popular haunt. Part of the generation born in the 1980s, the entrepreneur launched business after business following his graduation from medical school in 2012. Unfortunately, all these ventures failed. But Ye's luck soon turned when he spotted a miniature landscape on a trip to Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 2013.

Sensing good market prospects, he introduced the miniature landscape concept to the mainland and his gut instinct quickly proved correct: It was a hit.

But around 2019, Ye's miniature landscape business got stuck in a bottleneck and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020 saw his "plant kingdom" wither beyond saving. He decided to close up online shop.

In 2021, Ye embarked on his third adventure—a cafe in tropical rainforest style. Ye believes that the popularity of Urban Green and its flora-tastic scene can help encourage people's pursuit of a greener lifestyle.

(Text and photos by Wei Yao)

Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon

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