Walking into Oucuo Community on Jinhai Street in Xiang’an District, one is greeted by sea breezes mingled with the aromas of fish Congee and coffee. Amid this everyday vibrancy, time seems to flow quietly. Light and shadow shift across weathered red brick walls, their once-bright hues softened into gentle shades over the years. The wooden window frames still bear faint traces of hand-carved patterns, creaking softly when pushed open, as if stirring long-slumbering memories of the fishing harbor.

Fourteen classrooms, two modest stories, though small in scale, the century-old Oucuo Primary School carried the laughter, dreams, and campus memories of generations. For a lot of children in the fishing village, it was the place where their hopes and dreams first began to soar.

As the years passed and times changed, the once-bustling schoolyard gradually fell silent. Having fulfilled its first mission, Oucuo Primary School faded into quietness, standing like a venerable elder by the sea breeze, preserved only in the depths of collective memory.

Today, the 900-square-meter former school campus has undergone protective restoration and a creative transformation. Reborn under Xiang’an’s new cultural and tourism IP, it has now re-emerged as the distinctive “Yuzhou (Fish Congee) Coffee” landmark.

Inside the traditional Minnan dwellings, the former teacher’s podium has been recast as a stylish bar counter; the classroom bulletin wall has been reimagined as an artistic graffiti wall. Half of a classroom has been adapted into a fishing-village culture exhibition hall, displaying fishing nets, oars, and yellowed nautical charts, while the other half has been turned into a retro convenience store, with its shelves neatly lined with Minnan treats such as olive candies, Shacha sauce, and handmade salty biscuits. Every item and detail records the village’s past and its rebirth.

The birth of “Yuzhou (Fish Congee) Coffee” was no coincidence. In recent years, Jinhai Sub-district Office and Xiang’an Municipal Group have been deepening modernization governance of Oucuo urban villages and exploring an integrated path of “cultural creative IP + tourism.” They discovered that old buildings are not only a community memory but also a development potential. Starting with Oucuo Primary School, they launched a program of preserving and revitalizing traditional dwellings, turning dormant bricks and beams into cultural exhibition spaces, creative marketplaces, and experiential learning bases, ensuring these structures remain part of the community’s unfolding story.

Here, visitors can try fishing-net weaving and join guided tours to hear elders recount maritime days gone by. For locals, it serves as a casual coffeehouse for chats and a stage for festival activities; for tourists, it offers the serendipity of tasting traditional fish congee, the novelty of experiencing Minnan flavors fused with coffee, and, above all, an entryway into the culture of a fishing village.

Salty and sweet, old-fashioned and trendy, these contrasts find harmony in a single bowl of congee and a cup of coffee. The pairing may seem unlikely, and yet here it feels entirely natural. Renovating one building isn’t just about the structure itself; it’s about continuing a narrative of memory, culture, and living. It transforms the old primary school from a relic of the past into a current gathering place and a future cultural symbol.

Looking ahead, Oucuo Community plans to build on this new cultural IP by upgrading its farmers’ and seafood markets, while introducing music bars, yakitori shops, craft studios, and other diverse businesses, forming a new cultural-tourism landmark that blends “dining, shopping, leisure, and learning.” Whether in the lively bustle of the fish market at four in the morning or in the music drifting along the seaside at night, Oucuo’s sea breeze and vibrant spirit will be carried further through these renewed spaces and stories.

Image source: Yexiang Min’an