"Now I start preparing dishes the moment I open my eyes, and even when I close my eyes and dream, I'm still cooking malatang."

After Zibo and Harbin went viral, Tianshui, located in the southeastern part of Gansu Province, successfully broke out of its niche as its local malatang repeatedly trended on major social platforms. As tourists from all over "rush" to check in, the owners and staff of local malatang shops in Tianshui are also busier than ever.

Since March, dine-in orders for Tianshui malatang have grown more than 140% year-on-year for the month

"Auntie, make me 3 pancakes with eggs, thanks." After 11 p.m. on March 15, when The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) reached Gu Cui (pseudonym), the person in charge of Tianshui Xiaohong Malatang Shop, she and two other colleagues had just finished a day of business and were buying pancakes nearby. "I haven't eaten anything since morning," Gu Cui said. "Before, we could leave around 9:30 p.m. if we finished a bit later; now, we've only just seen off the last group of customers at this hour."

Asked why she didn't eat malatang at her own shop, Gu Cui's voice sounded both happy and somewhat helpless: "Because there are no vegetables left, no vegetables at all."

Recently, Tianshui malatang has exploded across major social platforms. Tourists from all over, luggage in hand, "rush" over, eager to taste the local malatang. After all, Tianshui malatang really does look tempting in the videos.

Video source: Guangming Daily

In a video by a blogger with over 8 million followers on a certain video platform, a heaping basin of bright red malatang makes one's mouth water. "So fragrant! The aroma of chili oil, with a slight numbing sensation, and the flavor of its specially blended seasoning broth... the more you eat, the more you drool," the two bloggers introduced in the video.

Data from Meituan and Dianping show that since March, dine-in orders for malatang in the Tianshui area of Gansu have grown more than 140% compared with the same period in the previous two months, ranking among the top in the province and surpassing the provincial capital Lanzhou. At the same time, nationwide attention to "Gansu malatang" continues to heat up. In the past week, keyword searches for "Tianshui malatang" on Dianping grew more than 13-fold week-on-week.

The Paper's search found that the per-capita spending at malatang shops in Tianshui is generally around 20 yuan.

It is worth noting that Gansu's local malatang-related enterprises were already among the top in the country. Data from Qichacha show that there are 190,600 existing malatang-related enterprises in China. Over the past decade, registrations have shown an overall growth trend; in 2023, registrations grew 25.51% year-on-year to 41,400, surpassing the pre-pandemic growth rate. By region, Jilin has 23,500 existing malatang-related enterprises, ranking first; Heilongjiang and Shandong have 18,200 and 16,800 respectively, ranking in the top three. Gansu Province, which broke out this time thanks to Tianshui malatang, ranks seventh nationwide in malatang-related enterprises.

Weekend Tianshui travel bookings grow 18-fold

After Tianshui malatang went viral on social platforms, tourists from all over have flocked there, including KOLs (key opinion leaders) from various social platforms. Some local Tianshui netizens said bluntly in videos they shot: "There are as many people livestreaming as there are people eating malatang."

Ctrip data show that over the past month (February 12 to March 12), overall travel orders with Gansu's Tianshui as the destination grew more than 20% year-on-year, among which hotel orders grew more than 40% year-on-year and ticket orders grew more than 4-fold year-on-year. Tianshui's search volume grew more than 1-fold compared with the same period last year.

On the Qunar platform, bookings for stays in Tianshui hotels in March grew 50% year-on-year, with an average payment price of 177 yuan, flat with last year. Qunar data show that last year, Tianshui's source markets were mainly surrounding areas such as Lanzhou, Xi'an and Baoji; this year, many travelers from Beijing, Shanghai, Shandong, Shanxi, Henan and other provinces are heading there.

Image source: provided by the interviewee

Gu Cui told The Paper that her shop has been making malatang for seven or eight years and had never encountered the current "grand spectacle."

"Before, two people in our shop could handle a whole day; now five people can't keep up," Gu Cui said. In the past, even when there were more people at mealtimes, the shop wouldn't be full, but for the past two weeks, customers have basically been nonstop from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and the quantity of ingredients purchased is three times that of before, so they recently plan to hire part-time workers to cope with the huge customer flow. In addition, because many netizens who want to eat Tianshui malatang but cannot go there have asked, Gu Cui also plans to make some mail-order malatang noodles.

"At the beginning, it was mostly locals joining the fun to eat, because Tianshui had never had such a 'grand spectacle.' But in the past two days, locals 'can't keep joining in,' because eating malatang requires waiting for a very, very long time, so it's basically all tourists now," Gu Cui said. Because Tianshui is close to Lanzhou and Xi'an and very convenient by high-speed rail, there are relatively more tourists from these two places. Currently, the proportion of customers in the shop from within and outside the province is about 1 to 4.

The Paper's search of online travel platforms found that there are not many direct flights to Tianshui; most flights require a transfer in Tianjin or Chongqing, or flying first to Lanzhou or Xi'an and then taking a high-speed train. However, even inconvenient transportation options cannot stop tourists who have been "crying from craving" malatang.

Tongcheng Travel data show that in the week ending March 14, flight bookings on the platform with Gansu's Tianshui as the destination rose 45% week-on-week. In terms of hotels, hotel bookings in Tianshui, Gansu, rose 28% week-on-week in the past week and 46.1% year-on-year.

Data from Meituan and Dianping show that as of March 14, advance bookings for tourism consumption (including hotels and homestays, attraction tickets, transportation, etc.) in Tianshui, Gansu, for the most recent weekend (March 16-17) grew about 18-fold year-on-year, far higher than the national average. At present, the out-of-town customer base is mainly from surrounding cities such as Lanzhou, Xi'an, Dingxi, Pingliang and Baoji.

"Over the past week, we have also received many consultation calls from Lanzhou residents about Tianshui travel, up more than 200% from last week," said Sun Yu, general manager of Gansu Hu Chunqiu International Travel Agency Co., Ltd.

Tujia homestay data show that since March, homestay bookings in Tianshui have grown nearly 2-fold year-on-year, while the average nightly price has fallen rather than risen compared with the same period last year, from 170 yuan/night to 164 yuan/night. Tourists born in the 1990s and 2000s are the main bookers. In terms of source markets, travelers from Beijing, Lanzhou, Mianyang, Shijiazhuang and Xining are the most numerous; they have already set off first, traveling to Tianshui in search of flavor.

"Xihuang Avenue" resumes construction

Today's Tianshui, like Harbin not long ago, also makes locals feel "unfamiliar."

"For example, our dialect sounds rather 'fierce,' but when locals take a taxi, both sides are used to it. But now Tianshui taxi drivers all say things like 'Princess, please get in.'"

Gu Cui also mentioned to The Paper that a couple of days ago, she saw among the diners a girl from another city wearing hanfu who had come to eat malatang and was filming; she murmured that her phone had no battery, and a local customer at another table sitting next to a socket stood up with a "whoosh" and moved aside, letting her sit where it was convenient to charge.

What's more, what local residents of Tianshui "never expected" is that Tianshui's "most famous" road, "Xihuang Avenue," whose construction date can no longer be verified, has started construction again.

Local residents have said that Tianshui malatang is the "god" that saves Xihuang Avenue. Some netizens also commented, "Thank you, people of the whole country."

Cheng Chaogong, chief researcher of the Tongcheng Research Institute, pointed out that Tianshui's explosion this time is essentially an inevitable product of the Internet's transition from the graphic-text era to the "era of light and shadow."

"The rise of various video-based media platforms is the hallmark of the Internet's 'era of light and shadow.' It provides people with platform support for real-time on-site sharing; beautiful things can be shared more intuitively and quickly, making 'viral' spread easier and continuously producing various 'internet celebrities,' thus creating era opportunities for 'internet celebrity marketing' for individuals and businesses. We can see that whether it was last year's Zibo or this year's Harbin, or the recently trending Tianshui malatang, all started from various recommendation platforms," he said.

Cheng Chaogong believes that in the tourism industry, from individual businesses to cultural tourism enterprises to cities, over the past few years they have invested resources hoping to use "internet celebrity marketing," this brand-new path, to maximize marketing returns and unlock their own "traffic codes." This should be the era background and business logic behind the continuous emergence of internet-famous cities.

Can Tianshui catch this "windfall from heaven"?

It is worth discussing how Tianshui can firmly catch this sudden "windfall from heaven."

It is visible that various local departments in Tianshui have also responded quickly, evidently "copying the homework." In addition to repairing roads and painting walls, they have also opened a "Tianshui Malatang" special line.

According to news from Tianshui Integrated Media and Qinzhou Integrated Media, Tianshui Xitong Passenger Transport Company has opened two malatang bus special lines since March 11, welcoming tourists at the exits of Tianshui South Station and Tianshui Railway Station respectively and taking them directly to Lantian City Plaza to eat malatang.

Image source: screenshot from the WeChat Channels account of "Tianshui Qinzhou Release"

The Tianshui Culture and Tourism Bureau has also compiled local travel guides on various social platforms, receiving attention and likes from netizens. The Paper's search found that, taking the official Douyin account of the Tianshui Culture and Tourism Bureau as an example, before March this year, the account's likes never exceeded three digits; after March, as of press time, the video with the highest number of likes on the account had reached 44,000.

Image source: screenshot from Tianshui Culture and Tourism video

On March 16, Tianshui held the "Tianshui Malatang 'Foodie Festival' Series of Activities: Eat Delicious Food, See Beautiful Scenery, Tour the Dragon City."

According to New Tianshui, on the afternoon of March 16, Tianshui Party Secretary Feng Wenge also chaired a "Tianshui Malatang" service guarantee work meeting. The meeting pointed out that Tianshui malatang's explosive breakout is both a rare opportunity to expand the city's visibility and a practical test of service levels and guarantee capabilities. The whole city should seize the opportunity, ride the momentum, act as one, show full sincerity, make meticulous efforts, arrange carefully and prepare meticulously, do all service and guarantee work well with full effort, and strive to achieve "a bowl of malatang drives Tianshui's great development."

The Paper found that whether in Tianshui itself or among "Tianshui people" away from their hometown, they have all begun to promote their hometown. A "Tianshui native" working in Shanghai told The Paper that recently they had "popularized science" about Tianshui's unique "Gangu chili" to many friends around them and also planned to ask family back home to mail some over so friends could taste it.

It is worth mentioning that as early as May 23, 2022, through cooperation between the Tianshui Culture and Tourism Bureau and Gansu Culture and Tourism Technology Co., Ltd., Tianshui launched the Tianshui Culture and Tourism Card. For 200 yuan, consumers can enjoy the rights and interests of cooperating scenic areas, venues and cinemas within one calendar year, such as free visits to 17 scenic areas including Lanzhou Wildlife Park, Maijishan, Fuxi Temple, Yuquan Temple and Heidelberg Lanzhou Polar Ocean World, with many scenic areas allowing 12 free admissions; free admission to activities such as skiing, hot springs, go-karts, script murder games, billiards and gyms. In addition, they can enjoy free movie viewing at 5 cinemas for a total of 15 times, truly realizing "one card in hand, tour all of Tianshui."

Cheng Chaogong believes that from the government's perspective, the most fundamental thing is to plan well the path from "internet celebrity" to brand and adhere to long-termism. It is necessary to clearly understand that creating an "internet celebrity" is a means, while forming brand accumulation is the ultimate goal; the means need to continuously iterate around the brand positioning and advance continuously, being a "star" rather than a "shooting star." On the one hand, continuous innovation and iteration in experience are needed; on the other hand, a good consumption environment should be created through the establishment of various management mechanisms, so that tourists can consume with confidence and spend happily, realizing the transition from "internet celebrity" to "long-term popularity."

Cheng Chaogong pointed out that in building and maintaining a destination brand, the government should adhere to the "mass line." On the one hand, through policy advocacy, consensus should be formed among citizens, calling on every citizen to consciously safeguard the city's image; on the other hand, in the process of continuously increasing the city's popularity, efforts should also be made to give every citizen a sense of gain and fully mobilize everyone's enthusiasm and initiative to participate in creating the destination brand. From the perspective of ordinary businesses, they should cherish the city's hard-won traffic and brand effect, avoid any short-sighted behavior, establish a sense of ownership, and create a friendly and enthusiastic environment and atmosphere for guests from all directions.