The Café

许诗诗

Abstract：This article is an analysis of Starbucks on which as a form of culture in Britain. It also discussed the difference of consumer groups and patter of consumption between China and United Kingdom.

Key words：a symbolic of British culture， consumer groups， Starbucks， patterns of consumption

This thesis dealt with a typical space in Portsmouth， the Café， as a symbolic reflection of British culture. What is culture？ A BBC radio program Desert Island Discs once interviewed some famous personnel about what books and music they would take if they had to live on a desert island. In addition to their choices they automatically receive the Collected Works of Shakespeare and the King James Version of the Bible. Why are these？ Because received wisdom says that these texts epitomize British culture in the form of literature and that no educated person should be without them. When speaking about culture， some people may think of classical culture and tradition——arts， literature， history and religion of a group of people. These people tend to link the word culture with civilization. However， other people may talk about street culture or popular culture， clothing， tourism or new trend of popularity. But for café， its not so easy to be classified whether it belongs to high culture or popular culture. Café can suit both refined and popular taste. But how can it gain such a special status comparing with other cultural elements？ So， its an excellent target for research on culture investigation and observation. In order to compare with the home culture in China， this thesis chose the Starbucks on commercial road as a research target. Since Starbucks is an international commercial giant as a café and meanwhile， the subsidiaries of Starbucks around the world are more or less the same. Thus， this thesis will deal with the differences of Starbucks here and in China from consumer groups as well as pattern of consumption. Furthermore， as a cultural research， it will do some relevant research on the historical factors that cause the differences.

1. Nearby cafés current situation and function

According to the Oxford dictionary （Horby 2004）， “café” is a small restaurant where drinks and light meals are served. This definition only gives a fundamental purpose of a café， more or less the same as a restaurant. But， do the café really act as a small restaurant？ Actually， through the field investigation and analysis， a café plays much more roles than only being a small restaurant. Whats more， the function of restaurant seems to be a rather subordinate one. More commonly it serves as a space for study， discussion， leisure and etc.

It may seem to be a little confusing why the café serves as a place for study？ Because this café is located next to the university， students from the university often visit and spend time there. For some university students， it's a favorable place for study——self-study or group discussion. The reasons for choosing to study there are： the comfortable environment， the tasty drinks， and free environment to discuss comparing with schools library. So the café is often brimming with the atmosphere of academy. Issues from natural sciences to human studies can both be heard being covered and discussed in this café. People， who are interested in certain subjects， may also join the discussion and exchange notes. Like most cafés， the café near the university also acts as a place for dates and meetings. Couples may have dates here. And some one may choose it as a site to meet new friends. Some overseas students are familiar faces in the café. Seeing those exchanging ideas with the natives is somehow particular comparing with other cafes.

However， in China， few Starbucks locate near the universities. With the expansion of university enrolment， a great number of universities moved to the suburbs of the city. Usually， its a little bit away from the downtown area. Starbucks was built only in the downtown. So few students will spend one or two hours just going to a café for study. For them， its unbelievable. So the scene of Starbucks with a number of students in on the commercial road seldom happens in China.

For both students and citizens here， Starbucks is just a chain enterprise or a chain café， which provides a relatively high quality of coffee. It seems to have no bigger difference from other chain enterprises like Mc Donald other than its commodities. But in China， it shows a totally different situation. Café， especially the world-famous brand——Starbucks is always attached with the label of elite and exotic. Last year， when the first Starbucks sub branch was set up in Zhengzhou， the capital city of Henan Province in China， hundreds of people stood in a queue just to have a taste of the “Starbucks”. Because， having coffee in Starbucks gave them the feeling of distinction.

Another significant difference is the kind of beverage the consumers choose in the two countries. For consumers here， they seem to have a wider range of choices. Some kind of tea is also popular here. In China， according to the test on the Internet， most people tend to only having coffee rather than other choices. They even hold the notion a café like Starbucks offers coffee only.

2. Evolvement from the teashop

Why the consumers behavior and attitude towards Starbucks can be so different？ Some historical factors should be taken into consideration. As it mentioned above， the dictionary gave the definition of café as a small restaurant. However， during the site investigation and observation， few people covered this place for meal. For a certain part， adopt tea rather than coffee in the cafe as their choice. William Gladstone （Davie， G， 2001）， once the prime minister from the British Liberal put that “Thank God for tea！ What would the world do without tea！ How did it exist？ I am glad I was not born before tea.” It may be because a cup of hot tea in the cool English climate has been a favorite of the Britain ever since Assam tea was discovered in India. For the British， they have the custom of tea-time and high tea （Spencer， 2003）， though they may have some teacakes or biscuits， it does not mean this equals the meal. They are just dessert for the tea. Traditionally， the city has teashops （Brenda， 2004）， which use teapots for the tea. But life in modern Britain is probably following American trends， with the fast spreading of café stores like Starbucks In order to gain a greater market share， they also offer tea to suit the British taste. So the café also to some extent takes the function of the traditional teashop. Some of the cafes were evolvement from the traditional teashops. In other words， it combines the tradition with modern.

Actually， China also has the culture of drinking tea. In some old cities with a profound history like Beijing， teahouse still plays a quite important role. For example， the Laoshe Teahouse in Beijing has already become a cultural symbol. But for some Chinese， especially the youngsters， they deem this kind of teahouse as old-fashioned， while drinking coffee in Starbucks is cooler. In addition， the traditional Chinese tea is served in a way quite different from the western one. So its rare to see someone entering a Starbucks for a cup of tea.

3. Conclusion

In conclusion， café， the most abutting space to the university is a tiny but shining aspect of the British culture. It combines the high culture and popular culture with its unique taste and characteristics. It can be a harbor for different taste of people. It can successfully combine the traditional forms of teashops and the modern trend. It provides a space for study， communication and pastime. To some extent， it just incarnates the characteristic of the city Portsmouth， a city with a long tradition， the hometown for the world-famous writher Charles Dickens and vital base for British Navy. Also it's a lively seaside tourist destination， modern and fabulous South sea city.

【References】

[1] Breda， L. The Café Brenda Cookbook： Seafood and Vegetarian Cuisine. Minneapolis： University of Minnesota， 2004.

[2] David， G. Human Geography of the UK. London： Routledge， 2001.

[3] Hornby， A. Oxford Advanced Learner's English-Chinese Dictionary. Oxford： Oxford University Press， 2004.

[4] Spencer， C. British Food： An Extraordinary Thousand Years of History. Colombia： Colombia University Press， 2003.