This city has just become a mass tourism phenomenon in China. His secret: the barbecue

That “reinvent or die” has acquired in zibo, a metropolis of 4.5 million inhabitants in eastern China, a dimension worthy of study. Located in the heart of shandongUntil now, Zibo has lived off its solid manufacturing muscle, especially the chemical industry, crucial to its economy, but which has been seen shaken by cuts of the pandemic and a changing scenario. Despite this backdrop and not being by any means the most picturesque city in the vast Chinese territory, Zibo has managed to become a tourist phenomenon. One capable of moving crowds and surpassing the Great Wall itself in influx.

His secret: the barbecue.

Zibo, industrial city… and barbecue. So surprising is what has happened in Zibo that other towns in the country they have sent delegations to study what they have achieved there and, as far as possible, “export” their success. The reason? The city has achieved something seemingly impossible: despite being an eminently industrial hub and not too well known, it has become a tourist phenomenon. A destination that moves floods of visitors and that, only during the month of March, according to the data it handles The New York Times, received a flow of millions of tourists. So many, that they even exceeded their population.

The most curious thing, however, is not its sudden push tourism or the figures it has reached, but has managed to attract all these people with a hook that a priori has little to do with its heritage, museums and nature, which also has them, and of interest. The key to his revolution is quite another: the barbecue. To be more precise, the grilled meat, vegetable and fish skewers.

Wherever a good barbecue is… Where there is a good barbecue that is removed, for example, the big Wall. It may sound like an exaggeration, but the data it handles TNYT show that during at least one festive day in May a Zibo vegetable market won popularity over the country’s legendary fortification, one of the most celebrated monuments in the world. Visitors like Mrs. Zhang, who in May explained to the newspaper who had traveled 800 kilometers to enjoy the popular skewers. Until a few weeks before, he had never considered sightseeing in Zibo. And that, he confessed to her, despite knowing people from there.

What are they looking for there? What is Zhang looking for and thousands of people who, like her, get on the trains or buses to Zibo? Its extensive offer of premises and stalls dedicated to barbecue, one of the culinary stars of the north and west of the country and which is usually presented on skewers of meat and roasted vegetables or rolled into special pancakes. The bbc accurate that in Zibo, now considered the “outdoor barbecue capital of China”, there are more than 1,270 grills. The images collected by both local media as international they show extensive terraces full of diners, with grills and performances.

And what is the phenomenon due to? Definitely the key question. And the answer seems to be in social networks and university students. The BBC explains that one of the most popular theories is that the genesis of the phenomenon is in the health crisis, when Zibo welcomed more than 10,000 university students from other locations. Once the restrictions were lifted, the authorities decided to invite them to a barbecue and encourage them to return in the spring. The proposal worked and the photographs and messages about the juicy skewers began to triumph in douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. Comments and images shared by influencers in networks, including the popular Weibohelped consolidate the phenomenon.

Hit the tourist target. What is clear is that the authorities have not sat idly by. Whether chance played a greater or lesser weight at the beginning, the truth is that they have put all the meat on the grill to consolidate the phenomenon. The government has launched a campaign that is structured around a “barbecue festival”with intense promotional efforts, gifts, discount vouchers, more options for getting to the city by rail or bus, and entertainment.

Their effort includes strict surveillance to ensure that the service offered by the city’s restaurants and hotels is adequate and that prices do not skyrocket. The government would have threatened sanctions to those who raise their rates by more than 50% taking advantage of the barbecue reef. Add to this cocktail some adjusted prices, suitable for all budgets —there are skewers for two yuan, about 0.25 euro— and the end of the severe restrictions applied in China to combat the pandemic, and you will have the cocktail of the resounding success of Zibo.

And for sample, some numbers. Not all are impressions. There are figures that help to understand the extent of Zibo’s success. Perhaps the most surprising is the one brings TNYT: in March, at the height of the barbecue, the city received some 4.8 million visitors. Not bad at all if one takes into account that it has registered between 4.5 and 4.7 million people. To attend such a flow of visitors, the local government has enabled 21 buses that are responsible for transporting tourists from the station to the restaurants.

The town has a market, the epicenter of the festival, capable of accommodating around 10,000 people. Coinciding with the Labor Day holiday, SCMP calculate that Zibo received more than 120,000 visitors in a matter of just five days. “There are many similar industrial cities in the northwestern provinces, but they have never spent as much resources and efforts to promote themselves as Zibo,” highlights Chen Jiuniversity specialist in industrial economics.

Are all the numbers good? There are less flattering. The Hong Kong daily reports a drop in average spending: 540 yuan per traveler during the national holiday compared to 645 in the same period in 2019, although the Qunar agency calculates, for example, that the average expense is much higher and amounts to 750 yuan, at least if the money for transportation and accommodation is included. Another of the great unknowns in terms of the future is the future of the phenomenon and whether it will manage to consolidate or remain in a specific fashion, “post-pandemic”.

Images: Dan Lundberg (Flickr) and August (Flickr)

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