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Best Cafés in China (2026)

Coffee shops, bakeries, tea rooms and dessert spots for breakfast, a light lunch or a break between sights.

12 places · Updated October 27, 2026

Our top 3 cafés in China

  1. Lao She Teahouse Traditional teahouse with folk performances, QianmenA traditional-style Qianmen teahouse named after the writer Lao She, serving tea and snacks by day and staging Peking opera and folk arts shows in the evening.
  2. Starbucks Reserve Roastery Shanghai Coffee roastery and bakery, West Nanjing Road, Jing'anA two-floor Starbucks roastery on West Nanjing Road with a copper cask, a 27-metre coffee bar, a Princi bakery and a Shanghai-only coffee blend.
  3. Cafe Zarah Courtyard café and bar, GulouA café, bar and gallery in a renovated courtyard house on Gulou East Street, serving North European breakfasts, homemade cakes, coffee and cocktails near the Drum Tower.

Café

1. Lao She Teahouse

Traditional teahouse with folk performances$$Qianmen

A traditional-style Qianmen teahouse named after the writer Lao She, serving tea and snacks by day and staging Peking opera and folk arts shows in the evening.

View details — Lao She Teahouse

Café

3. Cafe Zarah

Courtyard café and bar$$Gulou

A café, bar and gallery in a renovated courtyard house on Gulou East Street, serving North European breakfasts, homemade cakes, coffee and cocktails near the Drum Tower.

View details — Cafe Zarah

Café

8. Park Hotel Bakery

Bakery (butterfly crackers)$People's Square, Huangpu

The bakery counter at Laszlo Hudec's 1934 Park Hotel, famous across Shanghai for its light, gently sweet butterfly crackers, the city's take on the palmier.

View details — Park Hotel Bakery