“Life should be life,” as the owner Ben and all the windows tell you when you walk in the door. On the second floor of an old fashioned building, it’s not exactly the easiest place to find – but it may be worth it as it’s so much more than just a café or boutique, it’s also a book shop. And it provides the kind of coffee you would expect from an owner who is a gastronomist and freelance food and drink columnist. The Lattes (RMB29) and Benshop Twist (RMB29) will stand up against any coffee in the world, and paired with a huge library of design and culinary books you can easily lose an afternoon here. It’s a shop with a clear personal touch. A shop, as you will realise, that Guangzhou has perhaps been missing out on.