In Jingdezhen, the "porcelain capital of the world", chickens and porcelain have an inseparable relationship.
In the early morning, an "object" covered with porcelain clay was put into the kiln by Wan Junhui, a native of Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province, and fired. For the next four hours, Wan Junhui stared at the kiln every inch, just waiting for a delicious dish to be baked.
Wan Junhui is the fourth-generation inheritor of Jingdezhen's intangible cultural heritage dish "simmered fresh chicken in porcelain clay", and three years ago, he opened a restaurant called "Sanbao Courtyard" in Jingdezhen's Sanbao Tourist Scenic Area. A few days ago, he excitedly told a reporter from the China Securities Journal: "Now many tourists are more and more fond of going to small cities to play, and Jingdezhen is also on fire." My restaurant's customer traffic has increased by 30% year-on-year this year! ”
With the rise of the county-level tourism market and the "taste bud tour" that continues to rise in popularity, county-level catering has the opportunity to "show its face". A few days ago, a reporter from the China Securities Journal interviewed a number of county-level catering practitioners, and they all said that with the accelerated development of cultural and tourism integration, county-level catering consumption is "bucking the trend" and the growth momentum is booming. The Internet platforms and catering enterprises, which play a role as a bridge between consumers and merchants, have also added a fire to polishing the county's food business card.
The rise of county-level consumption
In Yiwu, Zhejiang, hundreds of kilometers away from Jingdezhen, many restaurants are also doing hot business.
In 2002, Arab Naide opened his first Arabic restaurant near Yiwu International Trade City. With the development of Yiwu, Naide's small shop has also expanded step by step, and in 2017, it has developed into a Bedi restaurant with chefs from 6-7 countries and a total of nearly 400 dishes.
Now, Yiwu is active with more than 25,000 foreign merchants every day, and these foreigners who have integrated into Yiwu are no longer the so-called "outsiders", but "new Yiwu people", and they and their restaurants have also become the new business card of Yiwu tourism. "In recent years, Yiwu tourism has exploded, and there are more and more Chinese tourists in the store. This year's 'May Day' and Qingming, the customer flow in the store has increased by 3 times compared with previous years, and the queue takes 2-3 hours. Ned told reporters.
An Arabic restaurant in Yiwu. Photo by reporter Yang Ziyan
With the rise of county-level consumption, the business of Sanbao Villa and Bedi Restaurant is becoming more and more prosperous, which is also a microcosm of the continuous growth of county-level catering consumption. The sinking market, represented by the county market, is increasingly becoming the main battlefield for driving national consumption. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first quarter of this year, the total retail sales of consumer goods in mainland China 120327 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.7%. The retail sales of consumer goods in counties and townships, including townships and rural areas, increased by 5.3% year-on-year, accounting for 40.1% of the total retail sales of consumer goods.
Eat while playing, play while eating, and play while eating
In fact, whether it is Jingdezhen or Yiwu, it is inseparable from the popularity brought by the integrated development of culture and tourism.
From the perspective of the cultural tourism market environment, a group of data shows the hot momentum of the accelerated development of the cultural tourism market. According to data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, during the Spring Festival holiday this year, there were 474 million domestic tourism trips across the country, a year-on-year increase of 34.3%, and a comparable increase of 19% compared with the same period in 2019; The total travel expenditure of domestic tourists was 632.687 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 47.3%, and an increase of 7.7% compared with the same period in 2019 on a comparable basis. During this year's Qingming holiday, there were 119 million domestic tourism trips across the country, an increase of 11.5% compared with the same period in 2019 on a comparable basis; Domestic tourists spent 53.95 billion yuan on travel, an increase of 12.7% over the same period in 2019. During this year's "May Day" holiday, the total number of domestic tourism trips nationwide was 295 million, a year-on-year increase of 7.6%, and an increase of 28.2% compared with the same period in 2019 on a comparable basis; The total travel expenditure of domestic tourists was 166.89 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.7%, and an increase of 13.5% on a comparable basis compared with the same period in 2019.
From the perspective of market segments, the county market is blooming in many places, and the momentum of small town tours is booming. According to data from a number of online travel platforms, since 2024, during holidays such as the Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, "May Day", and Dragon Boat Festival, the number of air tickets and hotel bookings in "small airport" cities has gradually increased. From the perspective of the Qunar platform, in third-tier cities and below with "small airports", the number of air tickets and hotel bookings ushered in explosive growth during the Qingming holiday, and the number of air ticket bookings increased by more than 70% year-on-year.
Talking about the leading role of the integration of culture and tourism in the catering market, Zhang Chuan, senior vice president of Meituan, told reporters that everyone used to play more and eat less in tourism. Nowadays, the ingredients eaten are gradually increasing, and it just so happens that the small county stores are suitable for consumers' needs for leisure, relaxation and taste of local characteristics.
This coincides with the views of Cheng Chaogong, chief researcher of Tongcheng Research Institute. Cheng Chaogong told reporters that before Zibo, Tianshui and other cities due to the popularity of food, the source of traffic is scattered in people's daily life fragmented elements, can be a barbecue or a bowl of snacks, this phenomenon reflects the important characteristics of the popularization of tourism consumption.
The platform is empowered
Behind the frequent appearance of county-level catering business cards, the empowerment of relevant platforms and head catering brands is also indispensable.
Take Wan Junhui's Three Treasures Villa as an example. Wan Junhui admitted to reporters: "In fact, the current catering peers are feeling the pressure, and the catering industry has not been easy to do in the past two years. In addition to the increase in tourism popularity in Jingdezhen under the integration of culture and tourism, an important factor for Wan Junhui's restaurant to achieve "contrarian growth" is the empowerment of the platform.
"After being selected into the Dianping must-eat list, the customer flow in the store has increased by 20%-30%, and there was no queue at noon before, but now it is also queued at noon." Wan Junhui said.
On June 27, Dianping's 2024 "Must Eat List" was officially released in Beijing, with 2,797 restaurants in 119 cities and regions on the list. This is the first time that the number of cities on the Dianping "Must Eat List" has exceeded 100, and the number of merchants and cities has reached a record high. It is worth mentioning that nearly half of the 58 new cities on the list are popular cities for "taste bud tourism", covering more surrounding counties.
Zhang Xuejiao, the person in charge of the Dianping must-eat list, told reporters: "In this year's list, we found a lot of 'treasure districts and counties', and I am more impressed by the tourist destinations around big cities, such as Wushan, Dujiangyan, etc., and many counties have three lists of 'must-eat list', 'must-live list' and 'must-play list'. ”
Zhang Chuan also told reporters: "The number of user reviews on Dianping has increased by 200% compared with last year. We will select the cities based on the number of evaluations, and there is a bottom line standard. At the same time, we're seeing more people traveling, and more people willing to write reviews. Based on more user reviews, it turns out that it is difficult to have reviews or cities with enough reviews to enter our field of vision. Most of these cities are tourist cities and county seats, which will greatly promote local economic development. ”
Not only the platform, but also the head catering companies are also helping the county cuisine "out of the circle". On June 21, Haidilao launched the Leishan sour soup pot in Leishan County, Guizhou, and the bottom of the pot was added with the "Leishan Fish Sauce Sour" fermented by intangible cultural heritage skills. The People's Government of Leishan County authorized Haidilao to be the "designated promotion agency of fish sauce acid in Leishan County, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province". "Behind the sour taste of 'Haidilao Leishan Sour Soup Pot', it is an important attempt for us to promote regional flavors to the whole country, and it also opens up a new path for Haidilao to support rural revitalization and local industrial development." Zhou Zhaocheng, vice chairman of the board of directors of Haidilao, said.
In Leishan County, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, fish sauce sour walked out of Miao Village with the help of catering enterprises. Reporter Yang Ziyan photography
Platforms and enterprises are connected to consumers at one end and merchants at the other. Dianping's "Must Eat List" is helping merchants and platforms grow together through measures such as online traffic support and digital business guidance. According to the data, after the release of the list in 2023, the online traffic of the merchants on the list increased by nearly 50% year-on-year.
"Food is the best calling card of the city. The development of each city and the development of gastronomy are very closely linked. Zhang Chuan said that the responsibility of the "must-eat list" and "must-eat festival" is to let more authentic delicacies in the market and alleys be linked with more consumers and passed on for a long time.
Reviewer: Ren Mingjie Editor: Ya Wenhui Proofreader: Wang Yin Producer: Li Ruoyu Signed: Peng Yong