Happy New Year to all my readers and with the new year comes the Chinese New Year merchandise. 2012 is the year of the Dragon so the most prominent theme will be the character “龍” or the dragon itself. The first batch of the Valentines series will also be released as well as the new Dragon bearista.
Have a look at the new mugs, coin bank, candy holder, tea holder and tumblers released today.
Christmas is just around the corner and what better way to warm yourself up than sip the Christmas beverages at Starbucks. Furthermore, to make it merrier, Starbucks is launching the 12 Days of Christmas promo.
12 Days of Gifting
For 12 days starting from December 1, Starbucks store in mainland China will have a daily promo for their customers. Here are some of the promos that they’re having based from conversations with the baristas.
As of today, there’s 67 more days till Christmas. No more Halloween, let’s go straight to Christmas. This year’s Christmas items will be launched on November 8. Mark your calendars and choose from the items below for Christmas presents to your friends and loved ones.
My Starbucks Rewards VIP Night
Loyal customers will be given a chance to be one of the 500 people to get a first glimpse of the new Christmas merchandise. From now till October 31, MSR card members who would like to participate the VIP night must register online for a slot. On November 4, an SMS message invite will be sent to your registered phone which will be your ticket to the VIP night. Five hundred members of Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Shenzhen will be pampered on the night of November 7.
First and foremost, I’d like to wish all my readers a belated Happy Mid-autumn festival! I would also like to thank Starbucks for the delicious box of Starbucks mooncake which they gave me for free! The box of mooncake came with 2 each of Espresso Coffee Cheese & Orange, Espresso Coffee Milk Chocolate, Green Tea Toffee Cheese and Espresso Blueberry Cheese mooncakes. They also included a buy one get one coupon for you to enjoy the mooncake with a friend drinking a cup of your favorite beverage. The box of mooncake was then placed in a recycled cloth bag in brown. This mooncake retails at RMB 298. Another box of mooncake retails at RMB 398 and has drawers in it. Thank you Starbucks!
Anniversary Collection
Every year in September, Starbucks releases their Anniversary collection aka The Mermaid. The Anniversary collection includes new tumblers, mugs and coffee blend.
As autumn officially kicks off in China, Starbucks launched today the autumn 2011 beverage, food and merchandise. The rabbits are back to celebrate the mid-autumn festival on September 12.
Beverage
One new frappuccino and two new ice cold drinks were launched to suit the palate of fruit lovers. For a bit of sweet and sour taste almost similar to a smoothie, opt for the Strawberry Lemon Frappuccino blended juice drink (RMB 30/33/36). For a perfect blend of two types of berries, try the Iced Black Currant and Raspberry Juiced Tea (RMB 24/27/30). For a flowery and fruity taste, the Iced Hibiscus Mango Juiced Tea (RMB 24/27/30) will be perfect.
To those planning to travel to Hefei in Anhui province, you can now avail of your daily dose of Starbucks coffee as Starbucks had a soft opening yesterday morning. In the first two hours of their opening, news reports indicated that they have already sold 100 global icon city mugs and tumblers. They have also launched the mid-autumn items ahead of other cities.
The icon for Hefei’s city mug and tumbler is Lord Bao or Bao Zheng. A famous government official in the Northern Song Dynasty who was renowned for his filial piety, stern demeanor and intolerance for injustice and corruption. The mug and tumbler has a red lid or inner mug color.
Note: This Starbucks store is not yet officially in the list of stores on Starbucks China website.
Photos: Hefei mug from ebay and other Hefei items from various Chinese news website. 
Summer is just right around the corner and tomorrow, new merchandise and products will be launched at Starbucks. What are they? Here’s a short list of items.
However You Want It Frappuccino
Starbucks in China introduced three new frappuccino flavors: Soy Strawberry and Cream, Extra Coffee Caramel and Low Fat Mocha. Moreover, from May 24 to June 5, when you order the new frappuccino, you will get a free coupon for additional syrup or cream on your next frappuccino. I wonder how will the Soy Strawberry and Cream will taste.
To celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival (端午节) on June 6, Starbucks won’t be paddling any rivers but will be peddling triangular sticky rice traditionally eaten during this festival. Pre-orders already started for these sticky rice and Starbucks will be selling them in a green felt basket for RMB 98. Each basket will contain 12 sticky rice weighing 60g each. The sticky rice comes in four flavors: coffee, mango, green tea with red bean and mocha chocolate. I probably should order two baskets to bring home as presents to my relatives and friends.
More Starbucks Via Merchandise
You got mail! Since Starbucks stores in China do not have the same type of promotion for each region, I have to search the internet for items which interests me. In the eastern region of China, Starbucks stores gave away Starbucks Via mobile phone straps for every RMB 88 purchases with any Starbucks Via items.
In northern China stores, customers who purchased RMB 50 in a single receipt with any Starbucks Via items will stand a chance to win either 1 sachet of Starbucks Via coffee, 3-pack sachet of Starbucks Via coffee or a Starbucks Via tumbler. The northern China stores already ended their promo last 30 April 2011 but I can’t confirm the eastern China stores.
In any case, I’m happy with the Starbucks merchandise I got in the mail today.
Now you don’t have any reason to miss your daily brew of Starbucks coffee as Starbucks Via is officially launched today in mainland China, Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong Starbucks store. This instant coffee pack is filled with 100% roasted Arabica coffee. All you need to do is pour the packet in a cup, add hot water and stir to enjoy your coffee.
Coffee blends
For the initial launch in China, they introduced the Italian Roast and Columbia blends. The Italian Roast blend is perfect for coffee drinkers who like it black as it has a strong bold flavor. The Columbia blend flavor has just the right boldness and can be lessen if you pour in milk and sugar.
The Starbucks Via coffee packs can only be purchased in packs of 3 or 12. A pack of 3 costs RMB 25 while a pack of 12 costs RMB 88. From April 6 to 10, customers can try these Starbucks Via coffee for free at your nearest Starbucks store. Moreover, if you wish to purchase these coffee packs, you will be able to get 10% off on your purchase.
Mark your calendars as new merchandise will be released on April 6, 2011. According to the friendly baristas, the Starbucks Via will be officially launched in China. A pack of 3 will go for RMB 25. I’m hoping that they will giveaway free samples so that I can taste them. I bought some last year as presents for my staff from my trip to Japan and they didn’t really love it. Hopefully the new merchandise will include the Via bearista and the discount card. (Bring them back! I’m not a fan of the Starbucks rewards card. There’s no life after 50 stars!). If not the bearista and the card, I hope they’ll release the new mugs and tumblers with the new icons.
When the new logo was unveiled on March 8, 2011, only four stores around the world has this logo as their store signage. The four are located in Paris, New York, London and Beijing. After church today, I went for a sunny walk towards Starbucks Solana which has the new logo of Starbucks as its signage. It would have been great if it’s located in the store window but it wasn’t meant to be. They’re using the old logo on the paper cups as they ran out of stocks. Twas nice while it lasted. I hope they release some more soon. According to the baristas, they won’t be replacing the mugs which they use to serve dine-in customers till next year.