Spilling the beans on what coffee means to residents in lockdown
A spice flavored latte.
A freshly brewed cup of coffee is what many residents under-quarantine are most missing.
Due to the latest COVID-19 outbreak in Shanghai, many subdistricts have conducted screenings, with residents required to stay at home.
"I need coffee!" is a Shanghai quarantined woman's cry, which topped the hot-topic list of Weibo, a twitter-like social platform in China.
Coffee culture has become firmly rooted in Shanghai.
The city has the largest number of coffee shops in the world at nearly 7,000.
"I have run out of my stored coffee," said a 29-year-old woman, surnamed Zhu, under quarantine at Minyan Road in Jing'an District.
"Usually, I have one or two cups of coffee every day," she said. "Before the quarantine, I happened to run out of my coffee and had not replenished. I really need a cup of coffee to wake me up. I can't work without coffee."
A resident, who is under closed-loop management, posts a delivery of coffee on WeChat.
However, food delivery men are helping to bring cheer-up coffee to residents.
"Although the number of customers coming for coffee has reduced recently, our online order numbers has seen an increase," a coffee shop owner in Jing'an district said.
"I ordered vegetables online which has still not come to me yet," said a woman, surnamed Cai, who lives in the downtown Xujiahui area.
"But my coffee arrived early which is great because I can live without vegetable, not without coffee."
Some expats in city also yearn for a cup of coffee, as a morning coffee has become their life style.
"Having a cup of coffee and a bagel in the morning at the coffee shop around my office building's corner used to be my routine" said a 30-year-old woman, who comes from Australia and lives in Shanghai now. She has been working at home since this Monday.
"During this period, I had some drip coffee sent by my friend, while I still miss my old coffee time," she added.
College students are also missing the cozy environments of coffee bars.
"I miss the coffee in coffee shops so much because I can not make the same kind of coffee at my flat," said Shao Zhuang, a student of East China Normal University, which is locked down due to the pandemic. "And I really enjoy the environment and atmosphere of the various cafes in Shanghai, very relaxing."
Freshly made drip coffee.
