Gansu Malatang's popularity review: Zibo copied the homework well, and it is bound to be rich

Recently, Gansu Tianshui Malatang has become popular on the Internet, just like Zibo barbecue last year. Let's take a look at the author's review of this incident and learn from the experience~

This time, the "sky-high wealth" belongs to Gansu Tianshui Malatang.

Recently, Gansu Tianshui Malatang has become extremely popular and has been on the hot search list of major social media platforms, attracting many diners and food bloggers from far away.

Even the B station food section UP host "Dao Yue She Food Encounter" who has tasted delicacies from all over the country could not resist the temptation. He traveled to Tianshui to find out what was going on and posted two videos in a row, one of which has been played more than 3.54 million times.

According to Douyin's life service data, from February 29 to March 13, the number of orders for Tianshui Malatang increased by nearly 180% month-on-month. According to data from a leading OTA platform, from February 12 to March 12, the content related to Tianshui tourism and Tianshui Malatang surged, and the overall tourism orders for Tianshui, Gansu Province increased by more than 20% year-on-year, of which hotel orders increased by more than 40% year-on-year, and ticket orders increased by more than 4 times year-on-year. The search volume for Tianshui increased by more than 100% compared with the same period last year.

Why is Gansu Malatang so popular? It’s nothing more than two magic weapons: chili oil and hand-rolled noodles.

Gansu's oil-splashed chili is famous for its bright color, thick meat, rich oil, and strong flavor. Dingxi, Gansu is also known as the "Hometown of Potatoes in China" because the potatoes here have a high starch content and are very sticky.

The fresh vermicelli made by malatang restaurants using potato starch and noodles and cut into strips is chewy and crystal clear after being cooked. It is then mixed with the soul soup and chili oil. Netizens have said that "the fragrance is so delicious that they are dizzy even through the screen."

But it doesn’t stop there. On the one hand, word of mouth among netizens and popular content created by bloggers are important boosters for Gansu Malatang’s popularity. On the other hand, the hospitality of local people and the active response of local departments also played a key role in the process.

Less than a year after Zibo barbecue became popular, Gansu Tianshui Malatang has become a new food landmark. We reviewed the reasons why Gansu Malatang became so popular, and took a look at the new stories of content traffic + offline cultural and tourism consumption, and how Gansu's culture and tourism industry has taken on this wave of "huge wealth".

1. The total number of online views exceeded 1 billion, and a bowl of spicy hot pot made a city popular

The source of the sudden popularity of Gansu Tianshui Malatang can be traced back to at least February 13, when a Douyin netizen named "A Beibei Liang Baikai" posted a Malatang video, suggesting that "Gansu Malatang should be popularized nationwide." In a short period of time, it received over 1 million likes and reposts, and more than 200,000 comments.

The spicy hot pot in the video was so tempting and hot that netizens were salivating and asked, "Where is this spicy hot pot?" Subsequently, a check-in craze for Gansu Tianshui Spicy Hot Pot was set off on social media, from ordinary diners to bloggers and internet celebrities.

On March 3, a Guangxi netizen named "Sun Escapes the City" posted a video on Douyin about traveling thousands of miles to Tianshui to eat spicy hot pot, pushing emotions to a new climax.

On March 15, the owner of a spicy hot pot restaurant in Tianshui, Gansu Province, quickly changed the signboard and became a hot search on Weibo.

On March 16, Xi'an motorcycle enthusiasts assembled a team of 180 motorcycles and headed for Tianshui, Gansu. They set out from Xi'an at six in the morning and rode 300 kilometers to a spicy hot pot appointment.

In front of the Malatang restaurants in Shuangqiao Road, Qinzhou District, Tianshui City, customers lined up early in the morning. The ingredients cost one or two yuan a string, and they were grabbed in handfuls, like a bunch of "vegetable flowers".

One netizen joked: "The last time so many people were eating in Tianshui was when Emperor Wu of Han set up stoves to fight the Huns."

An uncle working in a spicy hot pot restaurant was so busy that he gradually lost control of his facial expressions. Netizens added a psychological comment "It's impossible to finish the spicy hot pot, it's impossible to finish the spicy hot pot" and posted it on a short video platform, and he quickly became an instant hit.

On March 15, Gansu Culture and Tourism’s official Douyin account said, “Please pay attention to your facial expressions, bosses.”

After being "interviewed", the uncle immediately took off his "pain mask" and said in an interview: "I'm happy, very happy! I must let my friends from afar eat Tianshui Malatang, everyone is welcome to come!"

Not only in Tianshui, Gansu, but also in other cities, "Gansu Tianshui" Malatang restaurants have begun to emerge like bamboo shoots after a spring rain. According to Shandong Business Daily, in just a few days, four "Gansu Malatang" restaurants have popped up in Jinan, and some of them have daily sales of over 10,000 yuan.

As of now, the cumulative number of views of videos related to Gansu Malatang on social platforms has exceeded 1 billion, which shows how popular it is.

Tik Tok (left) Weibo (right)

According to Xinbang's Douyin data tool Xindou, in the past 30 days, at least 9,119 creators mentioned Gansu Malatang in their video descriptions, and the number of related works exceeded 13,500.

Among them, the single Douyin video with the highest number of likes was the video released by blogger "Nian Bao Mi Hu Hu" on February 26, reaching 912,000.

At that time, the blogger was studying in the UK, but was attracted by the delicious Gansu Malatang and asked loudly: "When can I eat Gansu Malatang?!" In the comment section of this video, netizens from many places shared photos of their local Malatang.

Since there are bloggers who want to eat but cannot, there will also be bloggers who can make their own way to have enough food and clothing.

On March 17, food blogger "Jiazhipai" shared a video of making homemade Gansu spicy hot pot, which upgraded the ingredients by adding high-end ingredients such as lobster and beef. So far, the video has received 547,000 likes on Douyin.

According to Xinhong, a data tool of Xiaohongshu under Xinbang, there have been at least 4,293 notes related to Gansu Malatang in the past 30 days, with a total of over 524,800 likes.

Among them, the video note with the highest number of likes was "Gansu Malatang clerk busy with emojis" published by "Cover News", which received 49,100 likes on Xiaohongshu. Blogger "Foodie Alalei" even paired Gansu Malatang with Roujiamo for a refreshing eating show, which received 26,100 likes on Xiaohongshu.

2. Gansu and Tianshui’s tourism industry has launched a series of major moves to start the “pampering fans” mode

In order to catch this "overwhelming wealth", Gansu and Tianshui Tourism have launched a series of big moves.

Since March 11, Tianshui Xitong Passenger Transport Company has opened two "Malatang Bus Lines" to directly send out-of-town tourists to Malatang restaurants for meals: tourists getting off at Tianshui Railway Station can take Bus Line 6, and tourists getting off at Tianshui South Station can take Bus Line 1 directly to Lantian City Plaza.

There are even many enthusiastic local citizens who put up banners at the entrance of the train station and airport to welcome tourists from other places to taste the spicy hot pot. Taxi drivers have also learned Internet buzzwords such as "Princess, please get in the car", which is said to be the Gansu accent version of "Gongzhu, please withdraw".

Attractions, hotels, travel agencies, etc. in Tianshui City have also taken action to provide scenic spot tickets, cultural and creative products, accommodation discounts, local specialties, etc. to tourists from other places who eat Malatang. Tianshui Qinzhou District Culture and Tourism Bureau issued an announcement stating that from March 8 to March 15, women from all over the country who go to Tianshui to eat Malatang can visit A-level scenic spots for free.

On March 17, Xiaohongshu blogger "Sunny Documentary" released a video titled "Large-scale Documentary: Tianshui Malatang", which reviewed a series of major changes in Tianshui brought about by a bowl of Malatang.

Xihuang Avenue, which took ten years to build, was completed in just one week. Workers cleaned overnight, painted walls and railings, beautified distribution boxes, and repaired the road surface... The Market Supervision Bureau also stepped up inspections of various stores to ensure the quality of food and services.

The locals exclaimed: "Tianshui, you make me feel strange."

Tianshui local netizens spared no effort to promote Tianshui on the Internet:

"Tianshui has more than just spicy hot pot. From May on, cherries, peaches, crisp melons, rose-scented grapes, Huaniu apples, fresh walnuts, and Fuji apples are available one after another, and each one is so delicious that it makes you dizzy. In addition to food, Tianshui is also worth seeing, including the Maijishan Grottoes, one of the four major grottoes, the 8,000-year-old Dadiwan Ruins, the Fuxi Temple, the Tianshui Ancient City, the Daxiang Mountain, the Water Curtain Cave, and a hot spring bath. It's beautiful."

Data from the Gansu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism showed that from January to February this year, Gansu Province received 44.5 million tourists, and preliminary estimates showed that the comprehensive tourism income reached 30 billion yuan, an increase of 33.8% and 56% respectively over the same period in 2023; the province’s seven 5A-level tourist attractions and the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang received a total of 1.526 million tourists, an increase of 803,000 over the same period last year.

Even Baoji, next door to Gansu, couldn't help wanting to get a piece of the pie. On March 17, a merchant in Baoji, Shaanxi Province brought 1,000 portions of rolled noodles to give away for free to tourists from Tianshui, inviting everyone to "eat the rolled noodles and then come to Baoji for a visit."

3. The inevitability behind the accidental explosion

From Zibo barbecue to Tianshui Malatang in Gansu, the reason why these two cities became popular so quickly is largely due to the exploration of local cultural hot spots + the dissemination effect of the Internet and social media. This is not only a victory for food, but also a great victory for the value of content traffic.

First of all, whether it is the combination of "small cakes, oven and dipping sauce" in Zibo barbecue, or the chili oil and hand-rolled noodles in Tianshui Malatang in Gansu, they all originate from the unique local culture, history and geographical characteristics.

The hospitality of local people and the proactive actions of the government also played a key role in the popularity of the app. Local authorities have joined forces with private forces by adapting to new communication methods and popular online culture, providing preferential policies, and improving infrastructure, providing a simple and sincere human experience.

The rap BGM created by Gansu Culture and Tourism and Douyin musician "Mr. Zhaoyu"

However, after quickly becoming popular, how to maintain this popularity, or convert short-term traffic into long-term cultural influence, how to ensure food quality, maintain market order, avoid excessive commercialization and maintain the purity of local culture are still challenges that local governments and businesses need to face together.

After experiencing the hot spots in cities such as Zibo and Erbin, some netizens asked a soul-searching question: "Are the people queuing in Zibo, Erbin, and Tianshui the same group of people?"

The answer to this question is both no and yes.

From a literal meaning, the three cities' popularity certainly attracts different groups of tourists. But what is certain is that there is indeed a group of young people who are keen on pursuing new experiences. They are active on major social platforms and are full of enthusiasm for emerging popular food and tourist destinations, becoming an important driving force behind the rapid popularity of these places.

"24-hour special forces travel" has become a content type

In the fast-paced modern life and the torrent of urbanization, people are often easily caught up in the grand and rational busyness, feeling stressed and tired.

Mobilized travel and trend-following check-ins are a way to temporarily escape the constraints of daily life and seek excitement, novelty and mental relaxation. This shared experience can enhance social connections and meet people's psychological needs for identity and belonging in social interactions.

In a sense, Zibo barbecue, Harbin Ice and Snow World, and Gansu Tianshui Malatang are no longer just a city landmark, but also a social venue, a stress-relieving space, and a lifestyle.

French gourmet Brillat-Savarin once said: "The joy of banquet exists every day, regardless of time, age or country; it complements other forms of entertainment, but its vitality far exceeds that of other forms of entertainment."

So, what kind of food experience do modern people need? Perhaps it is nothing more than good quality and low price, a sense of intimacy and the smell of fireworks, and feeling the hot life in the noisy stalls and markets.

Author: Yuexiaju WeChat public account: Xinbang