After barely a year in business, Luckin Coffee is challenging Starbucks in one of the US coffee giant’s top markets.

开业仅一年的Luckin咖啡向咖啡巨头星巴克的顶级市场头衔发起了挑战。

More than 1,700 Luckin outlets have sprung up across China this year. That includes a store in Beijing’s Forbidden City, the historic cultural site from which Starbucks (SBUX) was famously evicted more than a decade ago.

今年，在中国各地涌现出1700多家Luckin咖啡门店，其中一家坐落于北京故宫。而十多年前，星巴克被踢出故宫的事情就闹得沸沸扬扬。

Luckin plans to have 2,000 outlets by the end of the year. It’s luring customers with cheap prices and savvy use of technology, which is forcing Starbucks to up its game.

Luckin计划在年底开设2000家门店。它以低廉的价格和精明的技术吸引了不少顾客，甚至逼得星巴克不得不提高自己的业内水平。

The rapid of ascent of Luckin to challenge the US chain shows how Chinese upstarts are increasingly rivaling Western brands in one of the world’s top consumer markets.

Luckin迅速崛起无疑对星巴克来说是个挑战，这表明在中国这个全球最大的消费市场之一，中国新贵与西方品牌之间的竞争日益强烈。

While both serve coffee, the similarities largely end there. Unlike Starbucks’ trademark coffee shops, most of Luckin’s outlets are tiny booths in out of the way spots that take orders online for both delivery and pickup.

虽然这两家公司都提供咖啡，但这几乎是他们唯一的共同点了。与星巴克不同，Luckin的大多数门店都是小型店面，远离闹市区，网上下单，到店取货。

More important, Luckin has placed technology at the heart of its business from the start. Its outlets don’t accept cash, instead customers can only pay through the Luckin app, which offers loyalty bonuses.

更重要的是，Luckin从一开始就将技术放在第一位。它不接受现金，顾客只能通过Luckin应用上的积分消费。

Customers demand these kinds of services in an increasingly connected China. But until recently, Starbucks didn’t offer them.

在日益团结的中国，客户会越来越多地需要这类服务。但直到现在星巴克也没有过这样的服务。