Central Perk: From Hollywood set to Beijing
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It is 10 o'clock in the morning. A young man with a warm smile opens the timeworn wooden door to his coffee shop, right on time. A 20-something year old waitress is busy learning how to make her first cup of cappuccino. She says hello to customers and tells them her name is Rachel. On the glass window is scrawled the name: Central Perk.
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Owner Du Xin, who calls himself Gunther after the show's café manager, in his coffee shop. [China.org.cn] |
Sounds familiar?
The iconic coffee shop of the classic American sitcom Friends can now be found – not in New York, not in a Hollywood studio – but in downtown Beijing. The replica is the completely self-funded project of Du Xin, who first watched the show when it ended in 2004.
All for friendship
Du began watching the show on a friend's recommendation after his girlfriend broke up with him. "I fell in love with the six friends' life and stepped out of loneliness," he said. "As true fans know, the show is more than about just making people laugh. It shows people the existence of happiness and friendship."
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Friends sit on a replica of the iconic orange sofa. [China.org.cn] |
After four years in the Netherlands to earn his MBA and work, Du returned to Beijing to begin his own business. But Friends was still firmly on his mind. He looked for a coffee shop like Central Perk where he could hang out with friends, but failed. So he decided to open one himself. With passion instead of market research, he began his project in November 2009.
With a limited budget, Du set out to find a suitable decoration team to reproduce the original set. He made scene captures from the show and collected pictures from Facebook, YouTube and Flickr. Every piece of furniture in his coffee shop is customized.
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Beijing's version of Central Perk, the coffee shop in the American TV show Friends. [China.org.cn] |
"I said, ‘I love Friends' to myself during the decorating every day," Du said. "I believed I was the only person who could finish this. I had never been more confident."
Du, who calls himself Gunther after the show's Central Perk manager, worked with his team of workers from 9 am to midnight for five months. The coffee shop opened on March 28.
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