Christopher Delong likes educating local people on coffee and pastries and recipes he and his wife came up with together. [Photo by Sun Yuanqing/China Daily]

Take one coffee shop, add a teaspoon of authenticity, a generous dash of American lifestyle and culture, and stir. The end result is a soothing place where customers can grab a cup of joe and relax after work. Sun Yuanqing reports.

Finding a coffee house where you can get an authentic coffee in a third- or fourth-tier city in China can be very difficult.

But people in Guizhou province's capital Guiyang have had one for seven years. American restaurateur Christopher Delong offers not only coffee but also the knowledge and lifestyle that come with it.

"We want to create a space for authentic coffee, an American experience to learn about coffee culture, as well as a soothing place for people to relax after work," the 49-year-old says.

In a city that doesn't yet have Starbucks, Costa or McCafe, Delong's Highland coffee shop is more than a shop. It has become part of the city experience. This is where local youth meet, travelers linger and the few Western residents get a taste of home.

Delong is both the cafe's boss and the walking signboard. He educates locals on coffee and pastries, and shares recipes he and his wife create.

The work starts as soon as the customer steps in the door. In a Chinese coffee shop, the customers are used to having a hostess wait at the door and take them to a seat. They then wait for the server to take the order. They are not accustomed to stepping up to the counter, looking at the menu hanging on the wall and deciding what they want.

"They would sit on the seat and wait for someone to come. That was the first thing that we explain about our service," Delong says.

Then the real work begins: the education about coffee. Delong recalls that, in the early days, people would come in and casually ask for a Blue Mountain Coffee - an expensive variety grown in Jamaica's Blue Mountains. But cheaper fakes that are actually produced in South China's Yunnan province are commonplace in the country.

"They are accustomed to the name but they have never tasted the quality of it," Delong says.

"And people who really know what Blue Mountain Coffee is wouldn't buy it because it was too expensive."

What Delong offers is a traditional American-style coffee house menu that includes espresso-based beverages. It also offers hot and iced teas, hot chocolate and smoothies. All the ingredients and equipment are imported.