Youngsters now under great pressure to find a job in China can have a new option: serving as baristas in the mushrooming coffee bars.

According to a survey by China's Ministry of Labor and Social Security, job vacancies for baristas in Beijing and Shanghai alone hit more than 10,000.

Even though China is known for tea drinking, coffee has become more and more popular in major cities, not just as a beverage but also as a taste of lifestyle.

A barista is expected to be competent to taste and blend coffee beans, make coffee of various taste, masterly use the coffee set, and more, spread the coffee culture.

Majority of Chinese people sip the first drop of coffee, then known for "a taste similar to Chinese herbal medicines" as drinkers put it, after the 1980s when the first batch of instant coffee was imported.

In the following decades, more and more cafes and bars have mushroomed in the main streets and star-rating hotels in China's major cities, promoting the spread of the "bitter drink" in the country.

In Shanghai, there are more than 1,000 cafes and bars with an annual sales volume of 2 billion yuan (about 250 million US dollars).

Starbucks coffee has been known as a modern lifestyle for teenagers and white collars. Starbucks Coffee Company has even managed to set up a cafe in the Forbidden City, Chinese royal palace for centuries.

To meet the demands of labour market, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security has officially recognized barista as a new profession.

A professional contest for barista was held in Beijing in 2005, but the result showed only ten persons could meet the international criteria of the profession.

With a growth pace of 20 percent annually, coffee bars keep strong development momentum. "So does the demand for baristas," said an official with the ministry.

Source: Xinhua