Author: Peter | Editor: Kelvin & Jack

For those who follow our WeChat platform, you should have noticed we recently have a new editor named “Grass-Eater Designer”. He recently introduced a new column - Coffee Voyagers, which have helped him to gain a great amount of fans even without his real identity. 

As an initiator who started Torch’s WeChat account, I am really glad for this new blood, it also give me a sense of relief that let me wonder, perhaps, is the time for me to retire. 

The thoughts of retired quickly get erased, by the sudden request of this new editor. I were tasked to write about my coffee voyager story for this column. 

Ok, maybe just one more time?? I think that I shall let our Torch fans who followed us for quite awhile to know who am I. Otherwise, I would have to retire quietly without anyone knowing who are the one who wrote some of the articles before. 

Let me share some of my bittersweet experience! 

(If you would like to get to know me more after reading this article, please contact me via wechat/tik tok (id: p….) 

No... No...No!!!! This shouldn't be the beginning of the column...

Grass-Eater Designer:

The editor's authority has broken the usual style of coffee voyager. This week topic let us talk about dream.

“Dream is impractical. Stop dreaming anymore. Just focus on your endless tasks list in your hands.”

I believes that this isn’t the first time that you have seen such a statement? How many times or even yourself will you put this sentence in your mind, even if it is not a comment given by others or a conversation between friends?

I always wonder and curious about, does everyone, every animal, or plant have their own dream? 

What make a dream, dream? Money? A sense of achievement? Or is it a sense of mission? 

If you are unsure what your dream is, you can try to ask your parents, because I believe what you have spoken while you are a child should be the dream that unfiltered with much concern. 

So, what were my dream back then? According to my mom, I aim to be a taxi driver. This is because I can always check out different people house! 

You might as well try to ask your parents. Let's share it. The answer, which may be beyond your expectations.

Well, but then again, is all the dreams really that important to our lives? We can pretend that it is a thing that does not exist. In fact, dream are something that is intangible after all. 

Life still goes on without a dream. Plenty of us live life without knowing what is our dream. In addition to that, we are all busy with our errands in life. Dreams are exclusive to those who are free and have plenty of time to spare on. 

So, how do you define a person who have plenty time to spare on? Everyone has 24 hours a day, therefore, are people who have dreams is because they have 48 hours a day?

I believe that everyone has at least a dream, whether is small or big, crazy or plain, it must be the most precious thing to you, and it can not be plundered. 

Dream is just like an egg, it still lay inside your heart that yet to be hatched. Maybe it has already been hatched, but you do not know its existence.

However, I can assure you that it’s existence. Perhaps having a dream can clearly distinguish the difference between we are merely surviving and existed in the world. 

Dreams do not need to be fancy. Or make a change to the whole world. But it must be loyal to yourself and understand what is your dream clearly. 

So what is Peter’s dream?

Coffee chose me, I don't know whether I was lucky or not.

I should have entered the entertainment industry, However,I was accidentally picked up by coffee.

Coffee chose me, I definitely don't know whether I was lucky or not.

My name is Peter, my family name is Yu, and the given name is Zhi Hui which mean “Wisdom" in chinese , I come from Henan.

My mother once told me that my name came from the Bible and meant to bring me wisdom and intelligent (obviously it has not been realised yet). 

I have carry this name for past 26 years, whenever people heard about my name and have always thought that it is the name of the girl. They will never expect a dude with 6 ft 3’  tall and weighed 160 with such a feminine name. 

(There should be music here) (Grass-Eater Designer: Sorry, I am not a DJ :)

It would have been three years in a few months since I had came to TORCH COFFEE in September 2015, Three years really passed fast through my life.I didn't understand the coffee at all from the moment I arrived, Now I don’t know much about it, either. God knows what kind of journey of life that I have experienced.

I graduated from university in 2014, when I was so confused when i graduated from university. I didn’t know how to chart my career path. I have thought of pursue my master in English Language, hence I decided to stay at university for an extra year, I also thought of become an interpreter. 

With that in mind, I went to shanghai to participate in a training camp. I was once thought to venture to Shanghai to chart my career path there. 

Unfortunately, due to various reasons, I did not become a "simultaneous interpreter" nor did I go to Shanghai. Instead, I turned to Dali, Yunnan.

Come to think of it the decision of turned to Dali, simply because I want to escape the confusion and the anxiety. I just need the period of silence to find back the direction of my life. I heard that Dali is a great place that can help you to find the goal in life. With that, I bought a train ticket and spent 40 hour on the hard-seat from Zhengzhou to Dali.

That's the longest train that I've ever sat in my life. Passengers went on and off the train, but not me. It’s just like the passerby you encounter in life, the last man standing is you and yourself. 

The first night after arrival at Dali, I lived in the youth hostel to figure out what to do next. 

With just few hundred chinese yuan in my pocket, I barely can get through a week. I still remember it was a raining night, without exploring much the city of dali, I straight away went after to the owners of the hostel and asked for a volunteer job.

Three months in Dali, I deeply fell in love with the lovely place, those days where I listened to the wandering singers singing by the road, riding near the seashore of “Er” sea while the wind was blowing and even watching the stars and the moon on the roof.

These comfortable and pleasant days made me linger. However, after I stayed for a long time, I felt that I couldn't live this way forever. 

Poems and the distance were wonderful, but it also caused you to lose your will and dreams. I can't be a hermit who doesn't ask the world at the age of the effort due to I still have dreams to achieve. 

I have family members to take responsibility for, and I have to look farther into the bigger world.

After three months in Dali, I decided to leave this comfort zone and look for the next destination in my life.

After leaving Dali, under the recommendation of a university teacher, I met Marty, who had already started a business in Pu'er. He told me that I could come to Pu'er to make coffee and make living with it. With that, I took a 10-hour bus from Dali to Pu’er as well.

First experience of “entrap”

I came to Pu’er on September 3, 2015, which was the first day when I entered the coffee industry.

To be honest, coffee is just a hobby for me. Even if I came to Pu'er, I have never thought that I would stay here for several years. I have never thought that coffee would be a career for me.

At the beginning of my idea that it was to stay here for just two or three months, learn how to make coffee, and then roll back to Henan or hop to elsewhere.

I didn’t expect the stay have lasted for more than 3 years.  I have witness TORCH’s magnificent growth in china. 

When I first entered the company, which was named “Greenhouse”. My job was to be a assistant of marketing department and did some translations. Then I was responsible for the operation of all new media, mainly the official WeChat platform and MicroBlog. I would be very gratified whenever I heard others said that they had known about TORCH through WeChat platform, maybe there would be some people who still didn’t know me, but the effort that I devoted without in vain.

First year in Torch, I didn’t really spend much time on understanding coffee. I have a rough idea of it but never take it seriously. I clearly know that my dream is to venture in broadcasting or making movies. Nowadays, thinking about it, I was so gratified that I hadn’t addict myself to make coffee at that time, once I did, I may have not been able to escape.

But later on, the moment after obtaining some experience in translating several courses, I generally began to change my perspective and slowly felt that the coffee is such an object that it was really interesting. 

The point of my view that I referred was not only about the “coffee” itself, but to me, there have been something that I was more interested in, is coffee that brings me more than I imagine. Coffee is known as a catalyst that connects people of different races and different backgrounds in different regions. 

Coffee makes me acquaint with many interesting friends and instructors. It is a chance that I can explore various culture of different regions through the knowledge of coffee that I learnt as well as I am accustomed to schedule the agenda for my future.

Fortunately, TORCH offered a variety of courses that I was able to attend (including even cheaper price for the internal staff), and could have met with a lot of more knowledgable instructors and coffee professionals. Hardly had I generally became a more occupational coffee professional when I certified with relevant Q and R from SCAA, SCAE, and then SCI etc. 

TORCH also started from a few small rooms in origin with seven to eight people to a famous brand with multifarious branches in China, Thailand, the United States, the Middle East, and Europe.

With the three-year devotion, my own changes have been so great that TORCH has also contribute to it .

Nowadays, not only do I make coffee by myself, but also using knowledge of coffee to influence more people. Such a coffee trainer as I am now. It is my great honor by using coffee to make people dreams come true, so do I myself.

Future

Only two words in my scheme at this stage of my life now: Learning, whereas there have been a goal always encouraging and pushing me to reach: 

Continuously keeping learning the knowledge of coffee and struggle to become an Q instructor as soon as possible. Then go to different coffee origins to equip myself and help more coffee people, especially coffee farmers.

Continuous learning, gaining more abilities to earn money (for example, becoming internet celebrity) and realizing my own dreams (making films).

Well, this is my "coffee story”. I'm Peter Yu. If you want to get to know me, please add me into Wechat (and Tik Tok ): peteryzh, hoping to learn from each other with you (send small advertisers or borrow money). Don't add me.)

Sure enough, the peter is able to change the format habitably. Forget it, let him go. .

The sense of happiness is no more than a dream likes we talked about before, without changeable character as RMB which we can’t really get hold of by our own hand. But his value goes far beyond the famous coins, US dollars, or even pounds. (No, no) Respond to the false grammar. . . . .

Dream is just like happiness where we have discussed last week. An intangible commodity that we can’t get hold of by our own hand. But his values goes far beyond USD, or even pound!!! (Nah.. that’s not what I truly means.. lol) 

Perhaps we all already have been tied up by value (money) existed in the era or so. However, I hopes that everyone can spend some time in discovering the "egg" in your heart. If you have chances to discover it, you must let it hatch. Take care of it step by step. Because of a period of rebellion and decadence in the process of growth appears, but it must not be allowed to expire.

With your dreams in hand, slowly let them grow up:)

A word to the peter :  Take care of your own “egg”! thank you:)

Finally, the next periodical where small editor will write the story around a coffee elf (designed by small editor). She is a female! So male fans should pay attention and must scan the next coffee voyager! 

For female fans who shouldn’t be more about  worry, small editor already has helped you to collect more hot dude in the coffee circles to give everyone more benefits. See you next time!