Celebrate International Coffee Day Thursday (Sep 29) with Free Joe at Beijing's 8 Dunkin' Donuts

It's a dessert that's not only sweet enough to make you smile – it also smiles up at you. We're of course referring to the Banana Cream filled pastry topped with a wide grin and beady eyes, appropriately dubbed "Smile" and served at the eight locations of Dunkin' Donuts that have sprung up around Beijing. It's one of the most popular, and tasty, choices out of a range of donuts available at this long beloved American café chain, which is finally making a comeback in The Jing after a 15-year absence.

And if you've yet to visit one of the city's new DDs, tomorow's the perfect time as rumor has it that it's International Coffee Day – and Dunkin's will be handing out free coffees.

RELATED: Putting Beijing's Dunkin' Donuts to the Test: Which of Their 18 Varieties is the Best?

International Coffee Day, also known as International Coffee Day, takes place at the end of September or in early October, depending on the locale where your sipping your java. The occasion is used by numerous cafés to promote coffee, and offer discounts or bargain promotions.

Ahead of this year's International Coffee Day, we visited DD's newly opened location at the APM Shopping Mall near Wangfujing (the company will also open another outlet in UTown mall in early November, which will make a grand total of nine Dunkin' Donuts locations in Beijing). The APM location boasts plenty of seating room, including a cozy nook in the back with an imitation fireplace and, more importantly, a vast array of donuts ready for the taking on shelves near the entrance so as to give immediate access to the goods.

Among those flavors are the world renowned favorites like Boston Cream (which is coated with delectable chocolate icing); the even more coco-licious Death by Chocolate; the adorable Strawberry Frosted (topped with cutesy pink frosting and sprinkles); the sugar dusted, jelly infused blueberry, and more.

However, Dunkin' Donuts' China team is also savvy enough to appeal to its local clientele with more distinctive options like the carnivore friendly pork floss.

And, of course, the chain could never live up to its name if customers had nothing to dunk these sweet pastries into. In that regard, Dunkin' Donuts serves up equally satisfying coffee. Arabica beans are used for their dark roast, offering a "bolder, richer taste with a smooth finish that never tastes burnt or bitter." Dunkin' Donuts is, of course, also proud to have those beans be Rainforest Alliance Certified, a seal that guarantees the beans are grown and harvested via practices that are both socially and environmentally responsible.

That java will be made all the more enticing by Dunkin' Donuts September 29 "International Coffee Day" promotion, where a free small hot or iced original dark roast will be served with any purchase.

These elements and more will make Beijing coffee-and-sweets fanatics want to not only dunk their desserts in DD's java, but fully immerse themselves in the chain's offers by stopping in as part of their morning routine. Indeed, there's nothing like sweet pastries and rich coffee (acquired through responsible means) to leave you grinning like the cute yellow fellow on the Smile donut.

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Email: kylemullin@truerun.com
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Photos: Kyle Mullin, Dunkin' Donuts