Salvador's: A 'witness' of Yunnan’s opening up

Salvador's is a well-known coffee house in Wenhua Alley in Kunming, capital city of Yunnan Province. The Chinese name is “萨尔瓦多”. Colin T. Flahive,  the owner of Salvador's, is an American who has been living in Yunnan for 15 years.

"I traveled to many places, but never thought about settling down until I came to Yunnan," said Colin or Fan Xiaolin in Chinese. Colin worked in the United States for a while after graduation. Tired of his work, he came to Dali for a change. Colin initially planned to stay in Dali for a short period, but it turned out to be a 15-year stay in Yunnan.

“I moved to Kunming in 2002, when the city was going through an unprecedented re-building.” In his book GREAT LEAPS -- Finding Home in a Changing China, Colin wrote about his life experience in China, especially the experience where he set up Salvador's in Kunming with his friends Kris and Josh.

“Before opening the cafe, I lived in China on a tourist visa. I didn’t have the right to do business.” At that time, Colin had to visit Hong Kong every three months to renew his visa until the new policy was introduced. Later, foreigners were allowed to invest and set up businesses in Yunnan.

“Thanks to locals' help, we finally got a ten-year business license from the government department and my visa validity was prolonged from three month to one year." Colin said his coffee bar is specially cared by local authorities because the small businesses with an investment of around 30,000 U.S. dollars could hardly apply for a business license according to the new regulations then. 

“The local officials were very willing to help us open the café, but at first they did not know how because there was no relevant policies.” Colin feels that over the past years Salvador's  has in a way 'witnessed' the changes and progress in Yunnan’s opening up to foreign investment.

Now China is more open and confident, and local governments are good at attracting foreign investments and very clear about the policies related to foreign businesses, Colin said. The spring city of Kunming, once a kingdom of bicycles, has evolved  into a sea of cars and electric bikes. 

Most staff members in Salvador's come from southwest Yunnan's Lincang. At first they knew nothing about western food, but they gradually learned how to make coffee or bake the bread. They live together like a family, making Salvador increasingly popular among both expats and locals. 

Reporting by Chen Chuangye and Cao Yunbo; trans-editing by Wang Shixue