After this year’s Spring Festival, Gansu Tianshui Spicy Hot Pot has become a sensation nationwide, attracting a steady stream of tourists from all over the country who come to Tianshui to check it out. The ancient city of Tianshui, for a time, has become a popular destination for netizens from across the country and even globally. Sensing the opportunity, the Gansu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism and the Tianshui Municipal Government swiftly launched promotional campaigns, ensuring that the popularity of Tianshui Spicy Hot Pot has remained constant since its explosion onto the scene. Recently, with the arrival of motorcycle teams from Beijing and tank teams from Guangdong, the popularity of Tianshui Spicy Hot Pot has surged even further. Regarding this phenomenon, our reporter conducted a special interview with relevant officials from the Gansu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism.

Question: Since March this year, the topic of “Gansu Tianshui Spicy Hot Pot”has been trending on major online platforms, making Tianshui a nationwide “internet sensation.” How did Tianshui Spicy Hot Pot become popular online? What processes did it go through?

Since the second half of 2023, food influencers have continuously been promoting Spicy Hot Pot, with the earliest video under the “Gansu Spicy Hot Pot” hashtag on Douyin posted on July 25, 2023. As of February 4, 2024, a total of 46 videos had been posted, but they had not gained much traction. On February 5, the Douyin account “Legend of the Bozi” posted a video titled “Gansu Spicy Hot Pot on the Streets of Tianshui,” and on February 13, the account “One Cup of Liangbaikai’posted a video suggesting the nationwide popularization of Gansu Spicy Hot Pot. These two videos attracted a large number of views, likes, and shares, prompting other internet users to post related content subsequently.On March 1st, the Gansu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism released a short video titled “Gansu Spicy Hot Pot Applies to Join the Battle” on the “Micro Travel Gansu” video platform. Mainstream media and influential internet personalities quickly followed suit, and efforts were coordinated to boost traffic for the topic on various online platforms such as Douyin, Kuaishou, and Sina Weibo. A concentrated promotional campaign for “Gansu Spicy Hot Pot” was launched with full force. On March 2nd, the “Tianshui Online” team organized activities to direct online traffic for hot pot towards offline establishments. From then on, the topic of “Gansu Spicy Hot Pot” began to rapidly gain traction, with an increase in video content. Mainstream media outlets such as People’s Daily, Xinhua News Agency, and China Central Television, as well as internet personalities like “Xiaohei Zhuming”and “One Man’s Shakespeare,” actively promoted and reported on the topic. Since mid-March, multiple topics related to “Gansu Spicy Hot Pot” and “Tianshui Spicy Hot Pot” have consistently ranked in the top ten on national hot lists on platforms like Douyin and Kuaishou. On April 6th, “Tianshui really has a population of one billion” topped the Douyin hot list.

From March 1st to April 22nd, a total of 290 million short videos and pieces of information related to “Gansu Tianshui Spicy Hot Pot,” “Gansu cuisine,” and “Gansu cultural tourism’’ were published across various online platforms. These posts accumulated over 28.5 billion views, received more than 2.4 billion likes, and generated over 1.6 billion interactive comments.

Q: After Gansu Tianshui Spicy Hot Pot gained popularity online, what efforts did the Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism make?

Under the strong leadership of the provincial party committee and government, and with the overall coordination and guidance of the provincial propaganda department, the Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, in collaboration with relevant departments and Tianshui City, seized the opportunity and promptly followed up, making concerted efforts to seamlessly connect the online traffic with offline activities.

(1) Establishing a working mechanism for overall coordination and dispatch. The main leaders of the provincial party committee and government have issued instructions multiple times, emphasizing the need to solidify and refine various service guarantee tasks and to maintain the bottom line of safety and public opinion. The provincial propaganda department has coordinated and directed efforts, leading the establishment of a task force composed of multiple departments including propaganda, culture and tourism, internet security, public security, and the Tianshui municipal committee and government. This task force has formed a mechanism for seamless coordination, real-time dispatching, and daily reporting throughout the province. The Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism immediately set up a task force, with top leaders taking command, closely monitoring hotspots, making real-time adjustments, and controlling the pace. Deputy directors led task force members to work closely in Tianshui, coordinating and implementing actions on the ground. The Tianshui municipal committee and government also established a task force, initiating a “city-wide mobilization” to wage a successful “battle of seizing the moment” in response to the surge in popularity.

(2) Launching a series of activities to continuously create hot topics. Precisely grasping the rules and rhythm of being a “internet-famous city,” the province phasedly launched a series of cultural and tourism activities. In the first phase, from March 6th to 13th, a traffic-driving policy was introduced. Media outlets and internet influencers were organized to produce multiple short videos and articles focusing on the ingredients and craftsmanship of Gansu Tianshui Spicy Hot Pot, quickly increasing its popularity. In the second phase, from March 14th to 17th, various counties and districts in Tianshui City staged a series of cultural performances to enhance the atmosphere. The Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism organized 100 internet influencers in two batches to visit scenic spots such as the Maijishan Grottoes, Tianshui Ancient City, and the Fuxi Temple. They produced and published 1,130 articles and short videos, accumulating over 520 million views.In the third phase, from March 17th to 28th, coordination efforts were made to organize 14 municipalities, 56 counties and districts, and 27 out-of-province teams to visit Tianshui. Various activities such as food making, specialty giveaways, and intangible cultural heritage exhibitions were conducted, creating a lively and cheerful atmosphere. In the fourth phase, from March 29th to April 10th, the Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism held the “Gansu Spicy Hot Pot and Specialty Food Grand PK” and the “Gansu Cultural and Creative Intangible Cultural Heritage Market Exhibition” at the Fuxi Temple Square in Tianshui. It showcased and sold 45 specialty foods and 492 intangible cultural heritage products from 93 companies across the province. Sales reached 1.06 million yuan in the first four days alone. At the Longcheng Square in Tianshui, multiple performances were held daily as part of the “Our Chinese Dream, Cultural Outreach to Every Home - Spring on the Loess Plateau, Gansu Cultural and Tourism Performance Season.” These performances, featuring flash mobs every evening, provided a rich cultural feast for visitors and became the main content attracting online traffic.

(3) Organize Promotional Coverage to Guide Public Opinion: The Provincial Party Committee'sPropaganda Department coordinated extensively with central media to focus on reporting, overseeing provincial media, and collaborating with municipal party committees' propaganda departments to capitalize on traffic opportunities and precisely steer public opinion. This involved coordinating with media centers across cities, towns, and counties in the province to conduct cooperative promotions, with important articles being distributed across the entire network to amplify their impact.

Over 200 journalists from central mainstream media outlets, including People’sDaily, Xinhua News Agency, and China Central Television, were on-site for interviews and live broadcasts, resulting in over 1,500 articles being published. Influential provincial media outlets like Hubei Daily (JiMu News), The Paper, and The Beijing News published over 980 articles.Major provincial media dispatched teams to coordinate between front and back ends, utilizing all media platforms to publish over 3,398 original articles, with a total reading count exceeding 430 million. The Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism appointed personnel to daily summarize and publish information on tourist reception and online dissemination, previewing upcoming activities and providing real-time publicity materials for mainstream media and internet influencers, generating waves of interest.The "Ruyi Gansu" new media matrix produced and released 950 short videos related to "spicy hotpot," accumulating over 240 million views. One-on-one service guarantees were provided for key teams such as China Global Television Network (CGTN), Tide News, "Time Difference Island," and "Grandpa Sanxi" to ensure smooth operations.The Gansu International Communication Center launched 30 original works such as "Welcome to Taste Tianshui Spicy Hotpot," with a total viewing count of 430,000; overseas social media platforms featured "Gansu Spicy Hotpot" related hashtags, accumulating over 1.6 million reads.

(4) Leveraging All Resources to Strengthen Fan-Base Initiatives: The province initiated various measures to strengthen fan-base initiatives, including offering free or half-price tickets for all A-grade tourist attractions across the province at different time slots. Measures such as advancing opening times, extending closing times, improving reservation management, and simplifying booking procedures were implemented to maximize visitor satisfaction.Coordination with the Lanzhou Railway Bureau led to the introduction of dedicated tourist trains for "Tianshui Spicy Hotpot," while Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport and Tongcheng Travel launched the "Fly through Lanzhou, Taste Hotpot" air-rail intermodal discount products. TianShui City issued a "Call to Action," urging citizens to present a positive image and uphold civilized conduct. Over 460 volunteers were recruited to provide voluntary services, and public institutions with available facilities opened up free parking spaces and restrooms to out-of-town visitors.Collaboration with the three major telecommunications operators ensured full coverage of free wireless networks in key public areas. Comprehensive efforts were made to ensure food safety, fire safety, price order maintenance, and handling of petitions and complaints. Market supervision was continuously conducted, and inspections were intensified to address various safety hazards such as gas leaks. Round-the-clock patrols were conducted with no blind spots, and all traffic police were deployed to guide traffic, providing robust security guarantees.

Question: What effects has the popularity of "Gansu Tianshui Malatang" brought to local economic and social development, especially the development of cultural tourism?

(1) Boosting Significant Growth in Specialty Snacks: According to data from Douyin's lifestyle services, during the first two weeks of March, orders for Tianshui Spicy Hotpot in the city surged by nearly 180% compared to the previous period, while orders for spicy hotpot across Gansu Province increased by 62%. On Dianping, searches for the keyword "Tianshui Spicy Hotpot" increased by over 13 times on a weekly basis, with a more than 140% growth in dine-in orders for Tianshui Spicy Hotpot in the city compared to the same period of the previous two months. In popular areas like "Tianshui Siheyuan," the average daily foot traffic reached 24,300 people, peaking at 45,100 people. Well-known hotpot establishments like Haiying and Kaiyuan had queues forming as early as 3 a.m., with over a thousand customers lining up daily, resulting in several-fold increases in daily income compared to before the craze. Fueled by the popularity of spicy hotpot, the number of new spicy hotpot dining merchants on the Meituan platform in Gansu increased by over 51% in the past month compared to the previous month, while the number of spicy hotpot trading merchants in Tianshui City increased by over 90%. Since February, 66 new spicy hotpot shops have been registered in Tianshui City, bringing the total number of spicy hotpot shops in the city to nearly 700.

(2) Driving Rapid Growth in Accommodation Consumption: Since March, accommodation in Tianshui has reached a historic peak. Data from Qunar platform shows a 50% year-on-year increase in hotel bookings in Tianshui in March, with a recent surge of 186% in tourism search interest over the past week. Data from Tujia homestays indicates that bookings for Tianshui homestays have nearly doubled year-on-year, with prices remaining consistent with the previous year. According to on-site investigations, on March 15th and 16th, occupancy rates in Tianshui's hotels and guesthouses reached 100%, with a revenue increase of over 50% compared to the same period last year. One large-scale hotel saw its revenue nearly sevenfold compared to the same period last year over the past two weeks. In terms of visitor origins, there has been a significant influx of tourists from Beijing, Shanghai, Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, and Shaanxi.

(3) Driving Rapid Growth in Retail Sales of Specialties such as Chili: The popularity of Tianshui Spicy Hotpot has significantly boosted the retail sales of specialties such as chili. Popular hotpot establishments are consuming around 50 kilograms of chili daily, with key hotpot restaurants using approximately 10 tons of potatoes and vegetables combined, and around 5 tons of starch and wide noodles. In order to taste authentic Tianshui Spicy Hotpot, many internet users are placing orders to purchase raw materials. At a chili production and processing company in Gangu, online platform daily orders have surged to around 10,000, with parcel deliveries increasing fivefold, and couriers transporting thousands of kilograms of chili daily. According to JD.com data, in the past two weeks, searches for Gansu Tianshui Spicy Hotpot on JD.com have increased by 4.8 times, while the transaction volume for Gangu dried chili and Gansu hotpot seasoning has grown by over 10 times and 9.2 times respectively compared to the previous period. Zhongxing Mushroom Industry, which supplies mushrooms to hotpot restaurants, saw its stock rise by over 26% over three trading days, successfully hitting the limit on the 15th.

(4) The significant growth in tourism consumption is evident. In the first quarter, the province received 72.5 million visitors, with preliminary estimates indicating a total tourism expenditure of 49.5 billion yuan, marking increases of 34.5% and 56.8% respectively compared to the same period last year. These figures also represent growth of 43% and 38% respectively compared to the same period in 2019. Tianshui City received 4.64 million visitors in March, with tourism expenditure totaling 2.7 billion yuan, marking year-on-year increases of 64.8% and 67.2% respectively. From March 1st to April 22nd, Tianshui City accumulated 9.036 million visitor arrivals, generating tourism expenditure of 5.23 billion yuan.