Trinkets and Sweet Teas Make Shiyu Vintage Feel Like Yonghegong's Most Lived-In Café

Is it tea time, or time for antiquing? You'll be hard pressed to tell at Shiyu Vintage, a recently opened, trinket-laden café located in a hutong between Yonghegong and Beixinqiao.

That abundance of vintage props make the spacious café – which includes a wide courtyard and rooftop terrace – somehow feel lived-in and cozy. Or bordering on a parody thereof. Still, the owners' clear enthusiasm for the concept makes it fun and helps it stand out, to say the least, from the numerous other cafés popping up all over town.

You can purchase those vintage clocks, keyboards, wooden signs and other items, or just peruse them while sipping on a sweet treat from behind their counter. Those tempting cupfuls include refreshing coconut milk tea, caramel macchiatos, lime and honey juice, and nearly two dozen other coffees and cold teas, all priced at RMB 40. None of them are exceptional in terms of flavor or ingredients, but they more than do the trick.

What you're really coming to drink up at Shiyu is, of course, the atmosphere. And whether it's the old-timey props downstairs (which will remind you of a mom-and-pop antique shop from the West) or the rooftop (which offers a fantastic, old Beijing-style view of the hutongs), it's tough not to be smitten by this café's throwback style.

Shiyu Vintage Café
Daily, 10am-10pm. 38 Beixin Hutong, off Yonghegong Jie (8400 1928)
雍和宫大街北新胡同38号

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Photos: Kyle Mullin