Located near the ancient Xi’an City Wall’s Yongning (South) Gate in Xi’an, the new HEYTEA café is aiming to connect the past with the present. This is nothing new as pretty much every café project coming out of China right now reveals similar aspirations. Designers trip over themselves talking about emerging lifestyles and historical metaphors, experiential spaces and digital highlights. But straddling both the respected, ancient history of the Chinese...