One day, I came across a blog post about courtyard cafés in the Jing’an Villas and thought it sounded great, so I decided to pay a visit. Hidden off West Nanjing Road, the name “Jing’an Villas” made me imagine an old villa, but it turned out to be a lane neighborhood filled with aging residential buildings.
The shops inside are quite hard to find because they’re tucked away so deeply; if you didn’t know they were there, you’d hardly dare wander in on your own. The hallmark of these courtyard cafés is that they’re converted from residences with courtyards—filled with flowers and plants, bookshelves packed with books, quirky decorations, CDs by obscure artists playing in the background, and all sorts of unusual coffees on offer.
I’ve heard about these courtyard cafés in Jing’an Villa from a blog. I thought they’re nice, so decided to take a visit there. They’re hiding on W. Nanjing Rd.
It’s really hard to find these cafés without knowing their exact address because they’re hiding so deep. I think courtyard café has the following features: redecorate from house with courtyard, have plants in it, with bookshelf full of books, playing CDs from unknown singer, serve varies kinds of coffee.
很旧的楼 Old houses
不准停车 No Parking
烤鸭在88号 Roasted duck is at #88
Let’s start with Nap Café. Aside from the tiny “NAP” sign on the door, it looks just like any other residence. This shop was opened by the founder of hi-pda, a well-known domestic smartphone website, and his wife. Originally there were two locations—the other one on Changle Road—but since that branch is under renovation, everything was moved over to this Jing’an location. As a result, there’s barely any space left for a café here, so for now they’re only selling their own home-roasted coffee beans and some interesting decorative items.
http://www.nap-cafe.com/
First I went to nap café. There’s no difference than other residence house except the three small letters “NAP” on the door. It doesn’t serve any beverage recently cause of temporally redecoration. It became much more like a small shop sells homemade backed beans and decorations.
http://www.nap-cafe.com/
门上的“NAP” “NAP” on the door
一进门后满院子的花花草草 Plants full of courtyard
店内卖的一些装饰品 Some decorations been sold in the shop
院子里 More in courtyard
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