The following article comes from Reading the City Studio, written by Li Hang.
Reading the City Studio.
Give me three minutes to show you the city.
Try to catch the "sky-throwing traffic"
Reprinted | Du Cheng Ji Studio
If you are in Xuchang for the first time, ask the driver what interesting places there are in the taxi, and the answers are basically the ruins of the Three Kingdoms and Pangdonglai, which represent Xuchang’s past and present respectively.
Xuchang is a fourth-tier city about 100 kilometers south of Zhengzhou, with an area of two-thirds of Zhengzhou and a population of only one-third of Zhengzhou. In 196 AD, Cao Cao welcomed Emperor Xian of Han Dynasty to move the capital from Luoyang to Xuxu, and lived in Xuchang for 25 years, which made it famous.
In 2024, Super Fat Donglai, a local merchant in Xuchang, was well-known in China for its excellent service and humanized management, attracting online celebrity, research teams and young people from all over the country.
As a result, some people joked: "In ancient times, Cao Cao held the emperor to make the princes, but now there is a fat east to stabilize the supply of goods and rectify the supermarkets."
According to official data, during the May 1 holiday in 2024, the three stores of Pangdonglai Angel City, Times Square and Life Square received about 1.55 million tourists. Because you can wander around casually without spending tickets, Fat Donglai has also been dubbed as the most cost-effective "5A scenic spot" in China.
The popularity of Fat East has also revived Xuchang’s tepid tourism market.
Before Fat Donglai became popular, Xuchang’s tourism industry was actually not strong. The data shows that in 2019, Xuchang, the main theme of the "Three Kingdoms", received a total of 31.9662 million tourists, with a total tourism revenue of 21.355 billion yuan. In the same year, Luoyang received 142 million tourists, and the total tourism revenue reached 132.102 billion yuan, six times that of Xuchang.
Nowadays, with the explosion of Fat Donglai on the Internet and the increase of tourists’ attention to small town tourism, the popularity of Xuchang’s cultural tourism market continues to climb.
During the May Day holiday in 2024, Xuchang received a total of 4.8 million tourists, achieving a comprehensive tourism income of 3.744 billion yuan, up 115% and 118% respectively compared with the May Day holiday in 2023 and 169% and 196% respectively compared with the May Day holiday in 2019, reaching a record high.
Born in Xuchang, Fat Donglai has grown into a "god-like existence of retail industry in China" on this fertile soil, and after he left the circle, the traffic from the sky has also "exploded" the city.
"Multi-faceted" Xuchang
Before the popularity of Fat East, many people didn’t know about Xuchang.
"Grasping one hand is a legend, and kicking one foot is a brick and tile". Xuchang has a long history and splendid culture.
In 196 AD, Cao Cao moved the capital to Xuxian (now Xu Changdong, Henan Province), "relying on the emperor to make princes"; In 220 AD, Cao Pi established Wei in the Han Dynasty. Because Wei Jichang was in Xu, Xu County was changed to Xuchang, and the name of Xuchang has been used for more than 1800 years.
It has been calculated that 59 of the 120 Romances of the Three Kingdoms took place in Xuchang. In Xuchang, the story of the Three Kingdoms is widely circulated, and the monuments of the Three Kingdoms are scattered everywhere. Names related to the culture of the Three Kingdoms can be seen everywhere. Among the 300 cultural sites of the Three Kingdoms in China, Xuchang monopolizes more than 80 sites, including Baling Bridge, where Guan Yu resigned his robes, and the Spring and Autumn Building, which was read by candlelight at night.
△ Xuchang Chunqiu Building Source: official website, Xuchang Municipal Government
Today’s Xuchang, the modern atmosphere slowly spreads from the thick historical gap.
As a traditional old industrial city in the hinterland of China’s Central Plains, Xuchang has carried out large-scale industrialization since 1960s. Equipment manufacturing industry, food processing industry, textile industry, energy and electricity industry are all traditional advantageous industries in Xuchang.
Moreover, Xuchang’s private economy is developed, and it is known as "Wenzhou in Henan", and the proportion of private economy in the total economic output ranks first in the province.
If you have seen the hit drama "Chicken Feathers Fly to the Sky", you will be particularly kind to Xu Changren’s family history. Xuchang wig entrepreneur who made his fortune in the streets and lanes is exactly the same as Chen Jianghe’s story.
"A wisp of hair" gave birth to Xuchang’s annual cross-border e-commerce transaction volume exceeding $1 billion. In 2022, the cumulative import and export volume of hair products in Xuchang reached 17.9 billion yuan, making it the largest distribution center and export base of hair products in China and even in the world.
Among them, the products of Rebecca, the star enterprise of Xuchang wig industry, are sold to more than 40 countries in Asia and Africa and more than 100 large and medium-sized cities in China. In 2023, Rebecca achieved a total operating income of 1.226 billion yuan.
Besides these, Xuchang is a livable city.
In 2023, the short video "Xuchang Don’t Panic" shot by Fan Jinlin, a native of Xuchang, became popular on the Internet. In the video, he takes "3,000 yuan a month to experience the happiness of Xu Changren" as the main line, showing the pyrotechnic side of Xuchang.
In Xuchang, water bus, which travels around the city, 3 pieces; Open-air barber shop, 5 yuan; For 300 yuan, you can invite the students in the whole dormitory to open a booth and listen to the LIVE SHOW for one night. Even, you can find many free pleasures here, such as swimming in Yinma River, or going to Liyuan Pavilion to watch a movie for free.
Fat East brings "sky-splashing traffic"
Henan Ozawa fell in love with this place when he first went to Xuchang in 2018.
He thinks the city is clean and tidy, and there are free football fields and basketball courts everywhere, and there are also many smart bookstores. In other cities, high-rise buildings stand on the central axis, while Xuchang is a central park several kilometers away. This layout is very much like Manhattan, the core area of new york in the United States.
"What is special about Xuchang is that in today’s fast-paced society, life here is very relaxed. Persimmons and pomegranates can be picked from trees, mussels and crayfish are planted in the river, and various aquatic plants are planted along the river. Living here can experience the joy of nature. In addition, there are many companies with temperature such as Fat East, so it can be said that life in Xuchang is guaranteed. " Ozawa said.
△ Shenyu Ancient Town Source: official website, Xuchang Municipal Government
Ozawa said that at that time, Fat Donglai had not been out of the circle on the Internet, and there were still few tourists. It was very fast to enter and leave the station at the railway station. "At that time, some people knew about Xuchang, but they didn’t understand that the city was like transparency. When everyone mentioned the cities around Zhengzhou, the first reaction was Luoyang and Kaifeng, and even more college students went to Xinxiang than Xuchang. "
The trip from the fat east gave the outside world a chance to know Xuchang.
In 2020, Fat Donglai boarded a hot search because he sold all vegetables at the purchase price during the epidemic, and was called a "conscience enterprise" by netizens. After that, Fat Donglai began to be known by the public.
In 2022, Fat Donglai Supermarket launched "online celebrity Big Moon Cake", which was sold out immediately after it was put on the shelves, and the enthusiasm of customers for buying it continued to heat up. Fat Donglai Big Moon Cake quickly became popular on the Internet and was snapped up by the market. Many customers queued up all night to buy moon cakes at high prices.
Fat Donglai gradually changed from Xuchang local supermarket to online celebrity supermarket.
By 2023, with the opening of Zhengzhou-Xuzhou regional railway and the boost of network traffic, the passenger flow from Fat East has increased significantly. According to the summary released by Xuchang Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, during the Mid-Autumn National Day holiday in 2023, Fat Donglai received a total of 2.7 million tourists, and only Angel City of Fat Donglai received 1.4 million tourists, of which foreign tourists accounted for more than 95%.
During the holiday, Xuchang received a total of 7.504 million tourists. In other words, nearly one-third of the tourists have visited the Fat East.
In recent years, with the change of young people’s travel concept, it has become common to travel for a concert, a small barbecue and a bowl of mala Tang.
According to Sun Jiashan, an associate researcher at the Central College of Culture and Tourism Management, the consumption of cultural tourism is shifting from traditional scenic spots to diversified entertainment consumption. With the gradual diversification of the tourism market, tourists are no longer satisfied with the traditional "cursory tour", but pay more attention to the high-quality experience in the whole process of travel, looking forward to finding a tourist destination that can really make them feel happy psychologically and deeply feel the local lifestyle and customs.
For today’s young people, they often don’t like the traditional way of traveling when traveling with a group, such as getting on the bus and sleeping, getting off the bus and taking photos, and getting together to travel to big cities has become a past tense.
They prefer to jump out of the already tired tourism formula, find some small cities and personalized scenes full of beautiful life elements, such as those small cities in the fourth and fifth lines or unpopular scenic spots that are not so popular, and visit here at will. Fat Donglai and Xuchang just meet this demand.
The influx of tourists has brought a lot of changes to Xuchang. "There are obviously many more cars during the holidays than in previous years. I also specially looked at the license plate, which is found all over the country. " Ozawa said.
Since the beginning of this year, because of pet events such as "Fat Donglai earns only 30 cents for a down jacket", "Fat Donglai can get a half-price refund in response to dissatisfaction after watching the movie" and "Fat Donglai’s 13-page report investigates the incident of employees trying to eat", Fat Donglai has boarded social media hot searches more frequently. At this time, people’s tourism demand began to explode, and tourists from all over the country organized groups or punched in from Fat East by car to experience the service from Fat East.
"Before Fat East came out of the circle, Xuchang was a four-tier town in Henan. Now, with the help of traffic, this treasure city has been discovered, its popularity has been greatly improved, and urban development has begun to become faster and faster, which is more prosperous than before." Ozawa said.
In this regard, Sun Jiashan believes that "cultural tourism promotes the city" can not only directly promote the development of related industries, but also enhance the visibility and reputation of the city, attract more tourists and even investment, thus promoting the high-quality development of the city economy.
Adhere to IP empowerment
While Xuchang was seen, the city was also trying to catch the "sky-splashing traffic".
In March this year, in order to make it convenient for tourists to go shopping in Shangchao, the public transportation department of Xuchang City optimized and adjusted the bus line of Xuchang No.18, canceled nearly 40 stops, and started from Xuchang East Station and went directly to many stores in Pangdonglai, creating a convenient and efficient bus line for tourists.
This is just a microcosm of Xuchang’s "pet guest".
During the Spring Festival this year, Xuchang City released eight special tourist routes, including the Three Kingdoms Cultural Experience Tour, the Wonderful Tour of Jun Porcelain Treasures, the Experience Tour of Non-genetic Inheritance, and the Shopping Tour of Punching Cards from Fat East, and the places where 100 famous eaters and must-buy goods punched cards in online celebrity. Public parking spaces such as the Municipal People’s Congress, CPPCC compound, tourism service center and museum will continue to be open to tourists free of charge, which is convenient for tourists to park and visit.
In 2024, Xuchang’s government work report mentioned many aspects of culture and tourism. Clearly put forward to promote the development of traffic supermarkets such as Fat Donglai, support the "China Supermarket Week" and encourage all kinds of supermarkets to promote the "Fat Donglai" service standard. Accelerate the construction of two squares of modern commercial service industry in Weidu District and Hengda Xinduhui Commercial Complex in Jian ‘an District to create more new consumption scenes.
Xuchang is also making every effort to build the IP of the culture of the Three Kingdoms.
Up to now, Xuchang has held the 14th Three Kingdoms Cultural Tourism Week, which has successfully attracted a large number of tourists to visit the old places of the Three Kingdoms. At the same time, Xuchang also pays attention to combining the culture of the Three Kingdoms with the modern tourism format, and has launched a series of innovative products, such as the first domestic scripted entertainment "The World of the Three Kingdoms" for the new consumers of Z generation; Relying on Xuchang Museum, we will hold "Xu Guo chimes home" and "Three Kingdoms Cultural IP Global Creator Competition", so that visitors can deeply understand the history and culture of the Three Kingdoms during the experience.
△ Xuchang Caowei Ancient City Source: Xuchang Municipal Government official website
It is reported that the overall strategic positioning of Xuchang’s "14 th Five-Year Plan" cultural tourism is to build "three cities". That is, to build a famous historical and cultural city in the Three Kingdoms, an international cultural and creative city and an ecological and healthy city.
It can be seen that what Xuchang wants is not a temporary heat, but a long-term attraction to tourists.
Being a online celebrity-bound city can certainly enhance the influence of a city quickly, thus promoting the overall development of cultural tourism. However, in order to attract tourists continuously, it is necessary to dig deeper and show the unique local cultural characteristics. This in-depth cultural experience is very important for maintaining tourists’ interest and promoting sustainable tourism.
In the era of online celebrity, cities wanted to be red. Keeping sincerity and insisting on IP empowerment are the must-have skills for a small town like Xuchang to win in the highly competitive cultural tourism market.
Writing | Li Hang Editor | Li Guang Layout | Song
* Title Source: official website, Xuchang Municipal Government * This article does not represent the viewpoint of urban evolution, and the reprint is authorized.
Original title: "Fat Donglai" Explosive Reform "Xuchang"
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