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Starbucks， Costa Café， McCafé and Central Perk Café… All of these cafés have something in common –they have their origin from the West. But while the first three cafés exist in the real world the Central Perk Café was a fictional set used in the famous American TV-show“Friends”. The 35-year-old owner Du Xin who calls himself the Chinese Gunther is a big fan of the TV-Show “Friends” and wanted to create a place where he could share his passion about the TV-show with other Friends fans：
“I wanted to gather a lot of ‘Friends’-fans in a place where we all could sit and talk about the series. I call it a‘Friends’-club，” Du Xin explains.
In 2010 he opened the first copy of the café from the show in Beijing and because of it’s great success he expanded his company in 2012 and opened another café in Shanghai. And the café in Shanghai is just as popular as the one in Beijing and also visited by many different customers.
In the popular TV-show that began in the early 90’s the viewers follow the six friends： Joey， Rachel， Ross， Phoebe， Chandler and Monica and their daily ups and downs. A lot of the series takes place in the characters regular meeting place“Central Perk”， more specifically in a big orange sofa where they have coffee， discuss their problems and talk about life in general. The owner Du Xin has copied almost every detail from the café in the TVshow and of course there is a big orange sofa as well. This orange sofa in Shanghai has gathered a lot of Chinese friends as well as foreign friends from all over the world.
The café is about friendship
According to 23-year-old Peggy Sheng， who has been working as a waitress in Central Perk Café for three months， the café is not just an ordinary café like the rest of the coffee houses or cafés you find in Shanghai：
“We need to make coffee to the customers and clean the tables but because it is a theme café， we also have to talk to the customers about the TV-show ‘Friends’ and the interesting things that have happened in the different episodes，” Peggy Sheng explains.
Peggy Sheng also explains that she is convinced that the socializing is one of the reasons to why the café has become so popular. According to her the café is about friendship and that is what attracts people：
“I think this café is really popular because the TV-series is so popular. A lot of Chinese people know the TV-series. But I also think this café is popular because it is about friendship and people value friendship. People can come here and refresh their old friendships but you can also come here and meet new people and gain new friendships. I have made a lot of new friends in this café actually，” Peggy Sheng says. She continues and explains why it is very important to socialize with the customers.
“Because we are a theme café we prefer to let the customers know about the TV-show. It is not only about making money or making coffee，” she says.
The owner of the café shares the same opinion with his employee Peggy. Because the café is built on his passion for the TV-show he thinks it is more important to expand the knowledge of the TV-show to the customers， make them feel comfortable and give them the same experience he imagines the characters from the show have when they go to their local Central Perk.
And that is exactly what the customers get. Peggy Sheng is good at her job and her socializing with the customers has definitely paid off. The 18-year-old student and customer Ivonne Gu was not only visiting Central Perk because of the coffee when China Business Focus met her：
“The food is very delicious. And the employee （Peggy） is very nice. She is very friendly and I feel comfortable at this café，” Ivonne Gu says with a smile on her face.
Customers from all over the world
The TV-series popularity is clearly the reason why the café in Beijing and the café in Shanghai are so popular. A lot of people all over the world know about the series and that is also why the café does not only have Chinese customers.
“We have different customers， both foreigners and Chinese people. The foreigners mostly come here because of the TV-series whereas a lot of Chinese just randomly come without knowing about the show，” Peggy Sheng explains.
Because the café is about friendship a lot of customers are actually willing to travel a long way to meet in the café：
“We have a lot of customers who come here every weekend. And people also travel from far away. Both big and small groups of friends meet in this café，” Peggy Sheng says.
When it comes to the foreign customers Peggy Sheng is convinced that “Central Perk Café” is more like a tourist attraction to them：
“Most of the customers are really excited about the café. They want to take pictures and talk to us about the TV-show，the café and how they have heard about it through Weibo. Some of our customers who have gone to America have even brought home souvenirs from the TV-series for us.”
The café also focuses a lot on the cultural part. They really want to expand the knowledge of western culture and the TV-series. Peggy Sheng used to be a costumer of the café in Beijing herself before she started working in the caféin Shanghai. One of the main reasons to why she started working in this particular café was because she is a big fan of the TV-series herself and because she wanted more Chinese people to know about the TV-series and the western culture as well. That is also why the café do different events every month. “Once a month we host activities where we invite people to quiz-nights about the TV-series. And the winner of the quiz wins a cup. We also host the socalled ‘Phoebe’-nights where we invite the customers to sing different songs，”Peggy Sheng proudly says.
The café uses the Chinese twitter“Weibo” to promote itself and to tell about the different events that are happening in the café.
“Central Perk Café”should be more Central
According to Jojo Cheng， a 25-year old marketer， the location of the caféin Shanghai is not that great. She would like to be able to go to the café more often and therefore she wishes that the caféwould have been located in a more central place：
“Usually I go to a place like Starbucks in more commercial buildings close to my office. So I am not sure if I will come to this place as often as I want to because it is not as central as many other places，” Jojo Cheng clarifies.
25-year-old Frederic Ju who works for a fashion company agrees and says that he would visit the place more often if it was situated more central：
“It would be better if its location were more central. I can only meet up with my friends when we all have time off from work， such as a holiday or something like that. Because of the location we need to spend more time on getting here. When I just want to meet up quick with my friends I would rather grab a cup of coffee from Starbucks or a place like that，”Frederic Ju says.
But Du Xin doesn’t want to expand or relocate the “Central Perk Cafés”. He explains that for him it is more a fan café that he enjoys to have as a hobby rather than a business.
Almost a religion
At this moment Du Xin is negotiating about the copyrights with the producers of TV-show.
“I didn’t copy anything from the real world – I copied something from a TVshow. I don’t want to use the TV-show or hurt the TV-show – I want to support it. If they don’t want me to continue with the theme café I will also stop，” Du Xin explains.
Du Xin is so devoted and passionated about the TV-show that he is willing to do whatever it takes to support the series. He even uses the TV-show as a guide on how to live his life and he is trying to make the rest of the fans live by the guidelines as well.
“We have a lot of loyal cutomers who also are loyal ‘Friends’-fans.‘Friends’ is a belief to us and you have to believe in love which is what the TV series is really about. We have to spread the same love that the TV-show has spread. ‘Friends’is my life and I always try to learn from the show，” Du Xin explains.
But apparently Du Xin is not the only big fan of this TV-show who has opened a copy of the café. In Liverpool， England， Steve Trimpy has had the exact same idea. He is also a huge fan of the series “Friends”. He has been watching the Friends episodes over and over again to get every detail for his own copy of the Central Perk Café.
“I wanted to gather a lot of ‘Friends’-fans in a place where we all could sit and talk about the series. I call it a‘Friends’-club，” Du Xin explains.
In 2010 he opened the first copy of the café from the show in Beijing and because of it’s great success he expanded his company in 2012 and opened another café in Shanghai. And the café in Shanghai is just as popular as the one in Beijing and also visited by many different customers.
In the popular TV-show that began in the early 90’s the viewers follow the six friends： Joey， Rachel， Ross， Phoebe， Chandler and Monica and their daily ups and downs. A lot of the series takes place in the characters regular meeting place“Central Perk”， more specifically in a big orange sofa where they have coffee， discuss their problems and talk about life in general. The owner Du Xin has copied almost every detail from the café in the TVshow and of course there is a big orange sofa as well. This orange sofa in Shanghai has gathered a lot of Chinese friends as well as foreign friends from all over the world.
The café is about friendship
According to 23-year-old Peggy Sheng， who has been working as a waitress in Central Perk Café for three months， the café is not just an ordinary café like the rest of the coffee houses or cafés you find in Shanghai：
“We need to make coffee to the customers and clean the tables but because it is a theme café， we also have to talk to the customers about the TV-show ‘Friends’ and the interesting things that have happened in the different episodes，” Peggy Sheng explains.
Peggy Sheng also explains that she is convinced that the socializing is one of the reasons to why the café has become so popular. According to her the café is about friendship and that is what attracts people：
“I think this café is really popular because the TV-series is so popular. A lot of Chinese people know the TV-series. But I also think this café is popular because it is about friendship and people value friendship. People can come here and refresh their old friendships but you can also come here and meet new people and gain new friendships. I have made a lot of new friends in this café actually，” Peggy Sheng says. She continues and explains why it is very important to socialize with the customers.
“Because we are a theme café we prefer to let the customers know about the TV-show. It is not only about making money or making coffee，” she says.
The owner of the café shares the same opinion with his employee Peggy. Because the café is built on his passion for the TV-show he thinks it is more important to expand the knowledge of the TV-show to the customers， make them feel comfortable and give them the same experience he imagines the characters from the show have when they go to their local Central Perk.
And that is exactly what the customers get. Peggy Sheng is good at her job and her socializing with the customers has definitely paid off. The 18-year-old student and customer Ivonne Gu was not only visiting Central Perk because of the coffee when China Business Focus met her：
“The food is very delicious. And the employee （Peggy） is very nice. She is very friendly and I feel comfortable at this café，” Ivonne Gu says with a smile on her face.
Customers from all over the world
The TV-series popularity is clearly the reason why the café in Beijing and the café in Shanghai are so popular. A lot of people all over the world know about the series and that is also why the café does not only have Chinese customers.
“We have different customers， both foreigners and Chinese people. The foreigners mostly come here because of the TV-series whereas a lot of Chinese just randomly come without knowing about the show，” Peggy Sheng explains.
Because the café is about friendship a lot of customers are actually willing to travel a long way to meet in the café：
“We have a lot of customers who come here every weekend. And people also travel from far away. Both big and small groups of friends meet in this café，” Peggy Sheng says.
When it comes to the foreign customers Peggy Sheng is convinced that “Central Perk Café” is more like a tourist attraction to them：
“Most of the customers are really excited about the café. They want to take pictures and talk to us about the TV-show，the café and how they have heard about it through Weibo. Some of our customers who have gone to America have even brought home souvenirs from the TV-series for us.”
The café also focuses a lot on the cultural part. They really want to expand the knowledge of western culture and the TV-series. Peggy Sheng used to be a costumer of the café in Beijing herself before she started working in the caféin Shanghai. One of the main reasons to why she started working in this particular café was because she is a big fan of the TV-series herself and because she wanted more Chinese people to know about the TV-series and the western culture as well. That is also why the café do different events every month. “Once a month we host activities where we invite people to quiz-nights about the TV-series. And the winner of the quiz wins a cup. We also host the socalled ‘Phoebe’-nights where we invite the customers to sing different songs，”Peggy Sheng proudly says.
The café uses the Chinese twitter“Weibo” to promote itself and to tell about the different events that are happening in the café.
“Central Perk Café”should be more Central
According to Jojo Cheng， a 25-year old marketer， the location of the caféin Shanghai is not that great. She would like to be able to go to the café more often and therefore she wishes that the caféwould have been located in a more central place：
“Usually I go to a place like Starbucks in more commercial buildings close to my office. So I am not sure if I will come to this place as often as I want to because it is not as central as many other places，” Jojo Cheng clarifies.
25-year-old Frederic Ju who works for a fashion company agrees and says that he would visit the place more often if it was situated more central：
“It would be better if its location were more central. I can only meet up with my friends when we all have time off from work， such as a holiday or something like that. Because of the location we need to spend more time on getting here. When I just want to meet up quick with my friends I would rather grab a cup of coffee from Starbucks or a place like that，”Frederic Ju says.
But Du Xin doesn’t want to expand or relocate the “Central Perk Cafés”. He explains that for him it is more a fan café that he enjoys to have as a hobby rather than a business.
Almost a religion
At this moment Du Xin is negotiating about the copyrights with the producers of TV-show.
“I didn’t copy anything from the real world – I copied something from a TVshow. I don’t want to use the TV-show or hurt the TV-show – I want to support it. If they don’t want me to continue with the theme café I will also stop，” Du Xin explains.
Du Xin is so devoted and passionated about the TV-show that he is willing to do whatever it takes to support the series. He even uses the TV-show as a guide on how to live his life and he is trying to make the rest of the fans live by the guidelines as well.
“We have a lot of loyal cutomers who also are loyal ‘Friends’-fans.‘Friends’ is a belief to us and you have to believe in love which is what the TV series is really about. We have to spread the same love that the TV-show has spread. ‘Friends’is my life and I always try to learn from the show，” Du Xin explains.
But apparently Du Xin is not the only big fan of this TV-show who has opened a copy of the café. In Liverpool， England， Steve Trimpy has had the exact same idea. He is also a huge fan of the series “Friends”. He has been watching the Friends episodes over and over again to get every detail for his own copy of the Central Perk Café.