When Lawrence Chen opened Unconditional Love Coffee in the then-emerging art district next to Today Art Museum, he was warned the area was dead, with many of the buildings still unfinished and piles of dirt and construction waste lining the streets.

"The first year was very hard," said Chen. "I worked up to 12 hours every day and had a hard time finding the right staff. Luckily, my uncle was also here to help me. Importantly, there were several regular customers who became dedicated to the shop and they contributed in many important ways. They still do."

A pioneer in the new up-and-coming Pingguo Community's 22 International Art Plaza, Unconditional Love Coffee serves coffee, bagels and sandwiches during the daytime.

In the evenings it is also a bar with handcrafted beers, premium drinks and snacks.

The big breakthrough for the coffee shop came in 2009 when a few Chinese magazines and television programs featured it as part of the upcoming new art district.

"This business is a small market, everything works by word of mouth. All I want to do is to give my customers a great cup of coffee," he said.

Although large chains like Starbucks have made coffee drinking more popular in China, Chen said many misunderstandings still exist. "Some customers ask me for a coffee bean they might have heard of in a movie or seen in a magazine. I tell them that certain coffee beans can't be kept for longer than a month after roasting," he said.

Raised in Northwest China, the entrepreneur went to the United States to study when he was 17 years old. After college, he worked as a quality assurance technician at a kitchen products company for six years before the company decided to relocate.

Chen had to choose either to stay with the company and move to Tennessee or to end his contract and stay in California.

"Since my studies in the US included extensive courses at the American Barista coffee school in Portland, Oregon, I already had a few part-time jobs in different coffee shops," he said. "My dream was to open my own."

He decided to stay in California and started working for a chain called Peet's Coffee to learn the business. After spending almost 18 years in the US, and with the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on the horizon, Chen saw his chance to open his own coffee shop in the Chinese capital.

"I've always had great support from my family, especially my grandparents, who I stayed with before I went to the US," he added.

"I wanted to return the unconditional love they gave to me, so that's how I named my coffee shop."

For China Daily

(China Daily 04/07/2011)