Dehong

Dehong is where Yunnan’s coffee story began. Coffee was first planted at Ruili in 1893, and in 2010 Dehong was named China’s “hometown of coffee”. Today it is a mid-sized coffee area, smaller than Pu’er or Lincang, but its researchers say its beans have the highest sugar content in the province.

The short version

• First planted in 1893, at Nongxian village in Ruili.
• China’s “hometown of coffee” since 2010.
• Rich but not bitter, with a light fruity acidity.
• 850–1,500 metres, mostly Catimor 7963.
• About 7,700 tonnes of green coffee in 2024.

What does Dehong coffee taste like?

Smooth and mellow. A 2026 paper in Tropical Agricultural Science & Technology, by a researcher at the Dehong Tropical Agricultural Research Institute, describes Dehong coffee as rich but not bitter, aromatic but not harsh, mellow and full, with a slight fruity acidity. Citing the provincial agriculture department, it says Dehong’s coffee has the highest sugar content of Yunnan’s main producing areas, with protein, fat, caffeine and water extract all meeting local standards.

More than 90% of Dehong’s coffee land lies inside the specialty-coffee zones mapped by Yunnan’s agriculture department, the paper says.

Where and how is it grown?

In 29 of the prefecture’s 50 townships. Mangshi and Yingjiang are the main areas, with about 3,000 hectares each; coffee also grows in Ruili and Longchuan. Almost all of it, more than 95%, is Catimor 7963. The sources give slightly different altitude bands:

Altitude	Source
850–1,500 m, a few farms above 2,000 m; mostly 900–1,300 m	Dehong prefecture, via Dehong Daily (2025)
Mostly 1,100–1,400 m	Li (2026), Tropical Agricultural Science & Technology

Dehong has few large primary processing lines of its own: more than 70% of its fresh cherry goes to mills in neighbouring areas such as Lujiangba, in Baoshan.

How much coffee does Dehong grow?

Dehong’s coffee boomed and then shrank:

Year	Area	Output	Source
1969	0.1 万 hm² (about 1,000 ha)	Over 4,000 t	Li (2026)
2017	18,100 ha	160,000 t of fresh cherry (abstract) or 200,000 t (main text)	Li (2026)
2019	5,800 ha	9,700 t	Li (2026)
2019	7,533 ha (7.2% of Yunnan)		Chinese Academy of Sciences dataset
Recent	7,000 ha; 4th in Yunnan	11,400 t	Yunnan agriculture department, via Li (2026)
Recent	About 6,700 ha	About 10,000 t of dry green coffee	Li (2026)
Dec 2024	81,700 mu (about 5,450 ha); 59,200 mu harvested	About 7,700 t of green coffee; ¥264m farm value	Prefecture statistics bureau, via Dehong Daily

One mu is a fifteenth of a hectare; the conversions are ours. The paper puts the fall after 2017 down to several factors, among them swings in the futures market. A three-year plan for 2025–27 aims to hold the area above 120,000 mu and lift green-coffee output above 10,000 tonnes, Dehong Daily reports.

A short history

Year	Event
1893	Coffee first planted at Nongxian village, Ruili
1953–late 1960s	Varieties brought in from India, Myanmar and other countries for selection
1998	Industrial-scale development begins
2010	Named China’s “hometown of coffee”
2013	“Dehong Coffee” registered as a geographical indication certification mark
2016	Hosts the World Coffee Science Conference
2017	Named a special agricultural product advantage zone for Dehong small-bean coffee

Sources: Dehong Daily (2025); Li (2026).

Dehong and other Chinese origins

• Coffee in China: the whole country, Yunnan and its history.
• Baoshan: where much of Dehong’s cherry is processed.
• Lincang: Yunnan’s second coffee prefecture.