Chinese Lantern Festival: Yunnan villagers celebrate day with 'coffee banquet'

And as you can see, people across China have different ways of embracing the traditional festival. In Baoshan, located in southwest China's Yunnan Province, locals are holding an unconventional special "coffee banquet." Make some room for the little roast beans. Reporter Yang Jinghao is there to have a taste.

These are coffee beans, but in the Xinzhai village of Baoshan City, they're more than just ingredients for one of the world's most popular drinks.

"What are you going to do with the beans?"

"I'll cook them with chicken."

It sounds fresh to many to celebrate the traditional Lantern Festival, residents hold a special banquet highlighting coffee – something they are proud of.

WANG JIAWEI Director, Xinzhai Village, Baoshan City "We combine coffee with local delicacies. The banquet is not just held to celebrate the festival, it's also an attempt to promote our coffee products."

Yunnan is China's largest coffee-producing region. The Arabica coffee grown in Baoshan has put the city on the world map, with a special terrain and climate guaranteeing high quality.

On this occasion, quite a few innovative dishes are prepared. The coffee blossoms are steamed with eggs.

"The flowers make the dish look more alluring and add a faint aroma to it as well."

The peels of the cherries are stewed with meat for flavouring. And even the leaves can be made into a fried snack. Almost every part of the coffee tree won't be wasted.

YANG JINGHAO Baoshan, Yunnan Province "One of the main traditions of the Lantern Festival is to eat 'Tangyuan,' or sweet dumplings made of glutinous rice flour. Today, the snack is also served here, but it's made in a rather unusual way – they are mixing black coffee with the flour."

It's quite an experience for those tasting these dishes for the first time.

SHI JINCAI Baoshan Resident "It's an exciting experience. I hope I can taste these dishes again in the future. Locals have unlocked so many potentials of coffee. They're very smart."

DANIEL O'KANE British Resident in Baoshan "It was very nice. You could definitely taste the flavor of the coffee in lots of the dishes. It was interesting. Some of it was still very sweet yet has a bitter coffee flavor. One of the most flavored is the chicken soup. And also, the braised pork was very delicious."

With a long cultivation history, coffee has become a pillar of Baoshan's economy. As coffee consumption soars in China, locals hope the small beans will bring them more opportunities.

YJH, CGTN, Baoshan, Yunnan Province.