[Luqiao District] Cultivating a "Signature Cultural Symbol" Through the "Vitality of Local Life"

On the evening of September 12, at the "Xianglong" restaurant located in the core area of Luqiao's urban district, local delicacies like ginger soup noodles, herbal jelly, and agar jelly were widely popular among diners. "The Ten-Mile Long Street is a historic ancient street with profound cultural heritage, which aligns perfectly with our philosophy of specializing in traditional snacks," said Wu Haijun, founder of "Xianglong."

From the innovative preservation of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) snacks to the bustling celebration of festive feasts, Luqiao's culinary and cultural tourism is now flourishing across multiple fronts, achieving comprehensive development. Through institutional innovation and industrial synergy, the district is building a distinctive culinary economy ecosystem characterized by "depth, substance, and resilience." Since the beginning of this year, Luqiao District has driven nearly 100 million yuan in related consumption by leveraging food culture to empower the integration of cultural and tourism sectors, injecting strong momentum into the high-quality development of the regional economy.

Innovative IP Empowerment: Culture as the Soul, Breaking Boundaries for Renewal

As night falls, the Ten-Mile Long Street Historical and Cultural Block in Luqiao gradually comes alive. Warm yellow lights illuminate the bluestone-paved road, with traditional buildings lining the street complementing trendy businesses, creating an interesting contrast. Tourists weave through the area, experiencing the unique charm of the ancient street.

"Many tourists appreciate the rich cultural atmosphere here. At 'Xianglong,' they can sample all the Luqiao specialties without having to travel all over the city," Wu Haijun said. While preserving the core of Luqiao's authentic traditional flavors, the "Xianglong" R&D team never stops innovating: for their ginger soup noodles, they use their own specially grown "Yilian" ginger and replace regular greens with spinach, resulting in a ginger aroma that is sweetly lingering without being overpowering; for their dried plum vegetable soaked rice, they use locally sun-dried winter vegetables turned into dried plum vegetable, paired with dried eel, and simmered in the original pot's rice broth to recreate the "taste of grandmother's cooking"... "This one-stop culinary experience allows everyone to get a full taste of Luqiao's vibrant local life in one bite."

In recent years, Luqiao District has continuously deepened the brand matrix of "Hundreds of Dishes from Thousands of Counties · Luqiao's Hundred-Bowl Feast," nurturing 19 provincial and municipal-level "Hundreds of Dishes from Thousands of Counties" experience stores. Breaking the limitations of regional food's "small-circle communication," the district has persistently cultivated the "Spicy and Joyful" food IP, constructed model food streets, and nurtured 50 experience stores including Devil's Ginger Soup Noodles and Luo Ji Dingxiang Ginger Juice.

Activating ICH Skills: Old Crafts Emit a "New Aroma"

Luqiao's "Food+" cultural tourism encompasses not only the vibrancy of street restaurants but also the profound heritage of intangible cultural heritage skills. "Zichen Hui Tang Duck," a Taizhou intangible cultural heritage item, is also gaining new vitality through inheritance.

"Traditional Hui Tang Duck is stewed using the embers left after burning firewood, which takes over ten hours to prepare," explained Wang Dongju, the fourth-generation representative inheritor of the ICH, at the Taizhou flagship store of "Zichen Hui Tang Duck" on Tongyu Street. "Now we've switched to electric heating stewing ovens, where the temperature can be precisely controlled at 240°C, and it takes only five hours to stew."

Behind the improved efficiency lies an adherence to tradition. "All master chefs from franchise stores must come to the headquarters for unified training. Every detail, from ingredient selection to the stewing process, must meet the standard," said Xu Shu, administrative director of Zhejiang Zichen Catering Co., Ltd. "We want to bring the flavor of Luqiao's ICH stewed duck to more places across the country, making it a renowned 'signature health-preserving delicacy.'" Currently, the brand has opened over 100 stores nationwide.

To address the challenge of ICH preservation and transmission being perceived as "old-fashioned and difficult to pass on," Luqiao District has included 61 local ICH food skills, such as black glutinous rice cake and "wine cup print" pastries, into municipal and district-level ICH projects. It also explores ICH study tours, organizes public training sessions for "Hui Tang Duck" and seasonal solar term cuisine, and has established an ICH Food Hall within the Taizhou Intangible Cultural Heritage Crafts Museum, transforming traditional food-making skills like food carving into tangible cultural experience programs.

Integrating Diverse Formats, Expanding New Growth Poles for Consumption

The development of food IPs goes beyond store expansion; it must integrate into cultural tourism scenarios. Luqiao District skillfully combines food with festivals, making "eating" a core attraction of cultural tourism activities. Recently, the first series of Luqiao District's "Opening of the Fishing Season Thousand-Person Banquet" events kicked off vibrantly under the theme "Golden Port Serves Freshness · Fishing Feast Envelops the City," leveraging the "opening of the fishing season" to gather crowds and boost consumption.

At the event site, fresh seafood was cooked on the spot by chefs—steamed, braised, salted and peppered... the aromas filled the air. This integrated chain of "direct supply from fishing boats—on-site processing—tourist tasting" allowed visitors to immerse themselves in the freshness of "from sea to table." In just three days, the event attracted 100,000 participants, generating direct consumption exceeding 900,000 yuan and further driving over 1.8 million yuan in consumption in surrounding catering and accommodation.

The district is promoting the transformation of the food industry from "single-point breakthroughs" to "full-chain empowerment," constructing diverse consumption scenarios. Using "culture & tourism+" and "sports events+" as key levers, it aims to build an "all-day consumption" food economy belt. It organizes cultural tourism consumption-boosting activities featuring local specialties like Tongyu loquats, Luoyang black glutinous rice cake, and Fengjiang persimmons. Simultaneously, the district actively cultivates provincial-level key cultural tourism markets, integrating characteristic food and beverage formats such as ICH foods and local snacks. Among these, the "Great Song Market" has cumulatively driven over 2.4 million yuan in consumption. Various towns and streets, capitalizing on the popularity of the Zhejiang Basketball Association (ZheBA) events, have launched "basketball night markets," boosting revenue for more than 80 catering and bar establishments to 3.13 million yuan.

Translator：Jiayang Lin