Zibo barbecue brings popularity to the "Shandong Tour" during the May Day holiday

Introduction: The May Day tourism season is approaching, and Zibo barbecue has quietly appeared in front of the public. Whether it is the locals who cannot buy return tickets or the popular online stores, it shows that Zibo's tourism industry is booming. The author of this article starts from the source, analyzes the reasons, and gives a new perspective from the perspective of development.

The barbecue three-piece set of "small pancake oven and dipping sauce" is becoming a new social code for young people.

So far, the total number of video views on the topic of "Zibo BBQ" on the Douyin platform has exceeded 6.2 billion, it has topped the Weibo hot search list 18 times in two months, and there are 660,000 notes about "Zibo" on Xiaohongshu. On these social platforms, you can see college students going to Shandong for "special forces-style tourism" on weekends, as well as young people looking for "May Day team" and "barbecue partners".

Tickets to many cities in Shandong were quickly sold out. Meituan data showed that on April 14 and 15, the growth rate of searches for "Zibo" train tickets ranked first in the country, up 988% month-on-month. As of April 15, all train tickets to Zibo on April 28 were sold out.

Zibo, a city in central Shandong Province with a total population of 4.7059 million, is flooded with diners rushing to eat barbecue. It has recently replaced Cao County and become the new "center of the universe" on the Internet. Faced with the sudden popularity and popularity, the local government acted quickly and pushed Zibo's popularity to a new height through a series of actions. Many Zibo merchants estimate that this "barbecue fever" is expected to continue until this winter.

At least in the upcoming May Day holiday, Zibo has firmly taken the top spot. At the same time, after eating barbecue, tourists will also travel to other nearby Shandong cities. During the May Day holiday this year, it is difficult to get a ticket or a room in the whole Shandong province.

The paths that Internet celebrity cities take to become famous seem similar. For netizens, "Zibo BBQ" may be more like the current "Internet celebrity". But perhaps we don't need to predict a Hegang-style ending for Zibo too early.

Because for the people of Zibo, an old industrial city, they have been working hard and waiting for many years to return to the position of "Lu C (the prefix of Zibo's license plate number)". Since the beginning of the 21st century, Zibo's economic ranking in the province has long been fifth, but it slipped to seventh in 2019. This time, the "barbecue fever" can be said to be an excellent opportunity for the city's development and going viral.

01 How did Shandong tourism become so popular?

The popularity of Shandong tourism during the May Day holiday first became popular among college students. "Shandong has been 'crazy' about college students since the beginning of this year," said a food influencer on Weibo.

The timeline goes back to the "Free Tour of Mount Tai for College Students" event. From January 21, 2023 to March 31, 2023, Mount Tai scenic area adopted a free ticket event for college students. According to official statistics from Mount Tai scenic area on March 28, the ticket orders of post-00 tourists in the past two months increased by 565% month-on-month, and the tourists mainly came from college students.

The free admission event at Mount Tai has encouraged college students to form groups to climb Mount Tai at night. They posted videos on social media platforms to check in, with the caption "Youth has no price, and Mount Tai is right at your feet."

A trip cannot be just about climbing mountains. Cities such as Zibo and Jinan, which are not far from Mount Tai, have also been targeted by college students, and a special way of traveling has become popular, "special forces tourism for college students" - walking 30,000 steps a day, intensively checking in popular attractions and tasting local food in three cities over three days , to achieve "maximum efficiency and minimum cost."

First-year graduate student "Stealing Milk Tea Lin" took a three-hour train from Beijing to Jinan with his friends after the last class on Friday, March 24, starting a 72-hour "special forces-style tour" with an average cost of 1,300 to 1,400 yuan per person.

• On the first day, we arrived in Jinan at 5 pm and visited attractions such as Furong Street and Qushuiting Street after dinner.
• On the second day, at 8 a.m., I visited Baotu Spring, Quancheng Square and Daming Lake and ate the classic Meihualao. In the afternoon, I drove to Zibo, visited Haidai Tower and Zhongshuge, watched the sunset on the rooftop, had a Zibo barbecue in the evening, and grabbed tickets to Mount Tai in the early morning.
• On the third day, I took the high-speed rail to Tai'an at 9 am, had a self-heating hot pot for lunch, started climbing the mountain at around 1 pm, and spent three hours climbing to the Five Sacred Mountains scenic spot. I returned to the bottom of the mountain around 8 pm, rode an electric scooter to have dinner, and returned to the hotel at around 10 pm.
• On the fourth day, I had Linyi millet soup in the morning and visited Dai Temple. I rushed back to school in the afternoon and went to the classroom for evening classes at 6 o'clock.

"偷喝奶茶lin" explained to Kaibo Finance the reason for this "training trip", "Because I was really driven crazy in the past few years, now this kind of carefully calculated and fully scheduled trip is to make up for the time I missed before . Going out for one trip is equivalent to going out for three trips before."

The topic of "special forces travel for college students" has attracted attention on social platforms. Videos of eating all over a city in 24 hours are appearing more and more on social platforms. More and more college students are joining the "travel team", and many people are posting on the spur of the moment to ask for team formation and travel partners.

In early March, the topic "College students go to Zibo to eat barbecue" ranked first on the Douyin local search list. Afterwards, food KOLs on major social platforms went to Zibo to check in, explore restaurants, and learn about eating methods. As the May Day holiday approaches, Zibo barbecue has not only spread to surrounding cities, but has also attracted the attention of tourists from all over the country.

At the same time, due to the concentration of tourist attractions in Shandong Province, the "Jinan-Zibo-Tai'an" and "Linyi-Rizhao-Qingdao-Weihai-Yantai" loops have become popular tourist routes. In this way, the " Zibo barbecue fever" has developed into the "Shandong tourism fever" . "Whether it is for college students, working people, family travel groups or couples, it saves a lot of time on the road and improves travel efficiency," said "Stealing Milk Tea Lin".

On April 7, the topic "Shandong launches 399 yuan high-speed rail tour package" became a hot search on Weibo. Passengers who purchase this package can transfer multiple times between eight high-speed rail stations in Jining, Zibo, Linyi, Jinan, Weifang, Rizhao, Tai'an and Qingdao within five days after visiting relevant scenic spots.

The data also confirms that Shandong ranks at the top of the list of popular destinations during the May Day holiday.

Data from Meituan and Dianping show that during the May Day holiday, Shandong's advance accommodation bookings on Meituan increased by 400% compared with the same period in 2019. Tujia's homestay data also shows that this year's May Day, Shandong Province ranked first in the country in terms of bookings, with Qingdao ranking first for the first time and Weihai ranking tenth.

Go to Tai'an to climb Mount Tai, watch the sunrise at the seaside in Rizhao, stroll along Daming Lake...Shandong tourism is booming during this May Day holiday.

02 How popular is Shandong tourism? Local businesses know first

More and more tourists are pouring into Zibo. According to Luzhong Morning News, on April 15 (Saturday), the total number of passengers arriving and departing from Zibo Railway Station and Zibo North Railway Station exceeded 100,000, setting a record high.

The barbecue craze in Zibo has not only boosted the tourism and transportation industries, but also the local catering and accommodation industries. Locals and local practitioners feel that the closer it gets to May Day, the more popular it becomes.

"Local people can't eat barbecue now." Xiaoxuan from Boshan District, Zibo, currently works in Beijing, but she also feels that her hometown is gradually becoming popular. Her mother took a video to tell her that many restaurants have added barbecue categories, and many new barbecue restaurants have opened on the street, and almost every store is full of cars.

Tianyancha shows that Zibo added 197 new barbecue companies in March, and more than 170 new barbecue-related companies in April. Currently, Zibo City has more than 3,000 barbecue-related companies.

Tongtong, the manager of Chuchen B&B in Zhoucun District, Zibo, said that last Monday, she and her friends went to a popular restaurant to queue up for barbecue, but they still hadn't gotten a seat by 8 p.m. "Before in March, there were only many people on weekends, but since last week, we have to queue up even on weekdays to eat barbecue."

In addition to barbecue, Zibo's famous Boshan cuisine (Boshan is the birthplace of Shandong cuisine) is also popular among tourists. Aunt Yuan, who works in a restaurant in Zhangdian District, has a clear sense of the Zibo fever. The restaurant she works for mainly sells Boshan cuisine. The current customer flow has more than doubled compared to the beginning of the year, and the turnover rate has also increased significantly. "As soon as I heard the guests talk, I knew they were all from other places. Many of them were college students before, and now there are some families who drive here from far away."

The restaurant where Aunt Yuan works is located in a shopping mall, which has fixed business hours. According to her, the turnover on Saturday was more than 40,000 yuan. The owner also has a street-side store of the same brand, which opens later. With the addition of alcohol, the turnover on Saturday was close to 100,000 yuan, setting a record in recent years.

Recalling the epidemic last year, the employees in the store took turns to work, and the store would subsidize 50 yuan on the days they did not work. They survived like this for more than half a year. "At that time, we could only rely on takeout. How could I imagine the situation now." Aunt Yuan said.

According to many local hotel and tourism practitioners, the industry was in a difficult period during the epidemic, and the popularity of Zibo barbecue also allowed the local hotel and tourism industry to recover faster . Tongcheng Travel data showed that as of April 18, Zibo's hotel bookings in April increased by 39% month-on-month, more than five times the same period in 2022, and scenic spot bookings increased by 30% month-on-month, more than 20 times the same period in 2022.

"Chuchen" managed by Tongtong was originally a health club. At the suggestion of a friend who runs a B&B, at the beginning of this year, three guest rooms were converted into a B&B, and they were prepared to be rented out during the May Day holiday.

Since April, this homestay has been fully booked every weekend, with most of the guests being individual tenants. "In the past, 80% of our guests were locals and those in the surrounding areas, but now 80% are from other places. In addition to college students, there are also groups of girlfriends, couples, retired couples, etc."

Similar to the situation of newly opened barbecue restaurants, many local people in Zibo began to rent out their empty houses as B&Bs in April. Most of those who book B&Bs are college students traveling in groups of 2-5, most of whom choose Zibo as their first stop and then go to other cities in Shandong.

This May Day, Shandong businesses are about to usher in the first real short holiday in nearly four years. However, as the customer flow is still skyrocketing, there have been some reports online that "it's hard to find a room" and "the queue time for meals is too long", and Zibo and Shandong are also experiencing challenges.

Aunt Yuan said that the store usually takes a lunch break at 2pm, but at 3pm last Saturday, there were still 13 tables waiting outside the store . The staff could only eat something simple at 4pm and were busy until the store closed at 10pm. During the peak period, the store had to close the takeaway channel because the dine-in service was full. In order to accommodate more customers, the owner plans to open a new store in May this year.

In recent days, Tongtong has obviously felt overwhelmed, with more than 30 people inquiring every day. "Some people want to rent a single unit, but the date has already been booked, and some want to rent the entire unit, but are more concerned about the price."

Due to the popularity of Zibo barbecue, it was difficult to find a room in many cities in Shandong during the May Day holiday. Prices were higher than usual, and there were queues for meals and limited access to scenic spots.

03 How long will Shandong’s tourism boom last?

Tourism in Shandong is booming, but the focus is still on Zibo.

Many interviewees said that the barbecue craze in Zibo did not suddenly become popular due to a few videos, but was the result of years of transformation and paving by the local government, which gradually built up the Zibo of today.

In the minds of many Shandong people, Zibo is an old industrial city, and the local industry is particularly famous for silk, ceramics, glass and other industries. In the mid-1990s, Zibo's overall economic strength was second only to Jinan and Qingdao in the province. The license plate number "Lu C" is a testament to its former glory.

In Xiaoxuan's impression, he always heard the older generation say that Zibo is comparable to Jinan. Previously, the largest local civilian ceramic factory, the "Boshan Ceramics Factory", had a hospital and a school, and its scale was comparable to a town.

However, since Zibo's leading industries are mostly heavy industries, with the continuous improvement of environmental awareness, many factories have closed down, which has caused a certain impact on Zibo's economy. Xiaoxuan feels that "shopping malls are getting older and older, and more and more first- and second-tier brands have withdrawn their counters, and KTVs have not been renovated for many years."

In the following years, Xiaoxuan gradually realized that his hometown was striving to transform into a tourist city. Zibo built many new natural scenic spots. Among them, the Red Leaf Persimmon Rock Tourist Area cooperated with China National Geographic in 2020 and invited the well-known UP host "Infinitely Small Liang's Daily Science Popularization" to shoot videos to identify plants; in 2021, the first episode of the third season of "A String of Life" introduced Zibo barbecue, and the official production of Zibo "Wonderful Night in Zibo Canteen" also promoted Zibo barbecue; in September 2022, Zibo Railway Station South Station was officially opened.

Xiaoxuan sighed, "These actions seem to be helping Zibo's final burst. Now it's finally Zibo's turn to return to the C position in Shandong."

After Zibo barbecue became popular, the Zibo government responded quickly, including adding 24 weekend round-trip "barbecue trains" from Jinan to Zibo, opening a "Zibo barbecue bus line", regulating the behavior of merchants, and providing college students with half-price accommodation at 38 youth hostels in the city. In addition, the Zibo government also announced that March to November is the Zibo barbecue season and will hold the Zibo Barbecue Music Festival.

"Barbecue Customization Line" in Zibo City (Photo provided by the interviewee)

Tongtong said that people in Zibo are very united now and want to make some contributions to Zibo's popularity.

A travel agency staff member told Kaibo Finance that Shandong's Qingdao, Jinan, Tai'an and other cities have always been classic travel destinations, but in recent years, with the rise of Sanya, Luoyang, Dali, Quanzhou, and Qinhuangdao Aranya, Shandong seems to have been forgotten. Now, Zibo has become an Internet celebrity city, injecting new traffic into Shandong.

Many local practitioners said that after the May Day holiday, there is still summer vacation and the National Day Golden Week. " This Zibo barbecue craze and Shandong tourism craze will at least last until this winter."

In the eyes of many locals, Zibo and even other major cities in Shandong have attracted the attention of people all over the country. Whether it is Zibo barbecue or other popular food and attractions in other places, they are just an opportunity to attract local traffic. How to take advantage of this opportunity and embark on the road of "long-term success" is also a very challenging and exciting thing.

Author: Su Qi Editor: Jin Yufan

Source: WeChat public account "Kaiboli Finance"

The article is authorized by @开菠萝财经 to be published on Operation Party. Any reproduction without permission is prohibited.

The title image is from Unsplash, based on the CCO protocol.