With more coffee shops per capita than anywhere else in the universe, Shanghai's cafe scene is a busy, bustling, and crowded place. Sifting through the massive chain operations, one of our very favorites is Yeast, a small, one-room independent cafe on leafy Yanqing Lu, right in the center of the city.

Originally from Tianshui in Ganshui, He Shanze owns and operates Yeast with her husband, and infuses the menu with singular personal coffee creations inspired by their hometowns.

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SmartShanghai: Maybe to start, canyou introduce yourself? Where are you from?

He Shanze: My name is He Shanze. Originally, I was living in Gansu for quite a long time, and then I went to Yunnan and lived there for another four years. It was around then that I started to get really into coffee and learn about it. I visited this city in 2014, and had a really good experience with Shanghai's coffee shops. They've got good vibes. I moved to Shanghai at the end of that year. So, it's been about 7 years now.

I really like the culture and vibes that Shanghai brings to me.

SmSh: Can you introduce Yeast? Where does the name come from?

He Shanze: Yeast is 酵母 — a small but important factor in things like coffee, bread, and beer. All the things on the menu, actually. Yeast is very small and can't even be seen with the naked eye. At the same time, however, it works as the key factor somehow...

SmSh: Science...

He Shanze: For us, we also hope to do something great through our small team, just like yeast...

SmSh: Tell me about the design? How do you design the place. You used coffee grounds in the paint on the walls?

He Shanze: Oh, the interior design is done by my husband. He is an interior designer and he did have insights about the colors, visual effects, and functions. We've talked about the wall, including adding coffee grounds in it and adding environment-friendly elements as well...

SmSh: I understand you make your own coffees as well?

He Shanze: Oh, you mean creative coffee? Yes, we have two variations. The first one is "Ci" inspired by a kind of fruit from my husband's hometown. It's called "Cili". "Cili" is actually rich in Vitamin C, but the taste is very sour and bitter. So, we create this syrup and cold brew coffee, and add them into the "Cili" to balance the taste and bring out the black tea flavor of the coffee.

So, it's also a combination of coffee and something from our hometown — something special.

And the second one is called "Xian", "Xian" originally came from the idea that we wanted to do something related with the concept of yeast. We take apple, grapefruit and sea salt, and ferment them for 45 minutes. Then we press it into juice and add another cold brew coffee into it. So, when you drink it, you can taste the bitterness of the grapefruits and also the saltiness of the sea salt. It's actually a really rich and complex taste.

SmSh: We've noticed that you've got lots of Gansu inspired sandwiches as well...

He Shanze: Yes, the food at Yeast also plays on the specials of our hometowns. The one you ordered — "Zao Pepper Sandwich" — has Zao pepper. It's actually a famous specialty from Guizhou. We're doing it in a kind of like fusion style, adding Chinese elements to Western food.

We always try to work on bringing new and interesting ingredients to our seasonal menus and creating new recipes.

SmSh: This is a nice neighborhood. Tell me about the street. Do you like having a business here?

He Shanze: Oh, I love the neighborhood. Everyone knows each other around here and my neighbors come for coffee all the time. We've got our regulars and they've become our friends.

Every day, from the moment I step out of my apartment — that's my apartment, just diagonally across the street — it feels like I know everyone here. There's a real sense of belonging. The neighbors say hi when we meet in the street and bring their dogs by to get coffee. In the evenings, we play badminton and ride bikes together. Yeah, our customers are our friends as well, so it's great.

SmSh: Tough to find just the right location in Shanghai.

He Shanze: It took me about two months to decide on the location. I've seen so many places — at least 80, maybe 90 places — but they were always lacking something. This one, though, I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it.

SmSh: How did the lockdown affect business? Have you had a rough go of it?

He Shanze: Very much. It was huge. But we were rather lucky compared with the other business, because we got approved and were allowed to run delivery business during lockdown. Only delivery, though.

And then, you know, last month, lockdown was over but we still couldn't do dine-in service. So, we were only getting a few customers a day. Even though now the restaurants are open again, I think the industry hasn't fully recovered. Peoples' spending habits haven't adjusted to like they were before the lockdown. People seem used to drinking coffee in the streets rather than sitting in the shop...

SmSh: I guess it will still take a little while... Last question. What's your favorite thing about living in Shanghai?

He Shanze: Let me think... My brain blanked all of a sudden. [Laughs.]

I think my favorite thing about Shanghai is the friendly vibes from the people. It feels really open. Like, I can sit on the streets in the evenings, drink and talk, feel carefree. In other cities, you'd probably be in a bar or a BBQ restaurant or something. But I like that we can be out in the street. The openness and the attitude of embracing things is what I love about the city.

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