Aqi Badu is a small village in China’s much-loved coffee and tea region of Yunnan, home to the farm and mill Banka. It’s owned by Mr. Hu, who is one of the region's earliest coffee producers and has been a part of the vanguard of new Chinese coffee farmers for two decades. Mr. Hu has been growing coffee for 20 years, and his farm, Banka, has been an incredible representation of the quality transformation in Chinese coffee over that time. By investing in education and new growing techniques, coffee from China has transformed from a lower generic grade to being able to take its place among the world's most unique and distinct coffee regions. China is one of the world's youngest coffee origins. Although coffee has been in the country since the 1800s, it wasn’t until 1988 – through government-led initiatives – that the industry began to really take root and grow. Being so young, it has only been in the last couple years that coffee from China has been able to rise to the level of speciality, like this lot from the producer Banka.