Entering ChinaRecently, at the Meizhou special matchmaking meeting of the series of activities of “entering the prefecture and city” of Guangdong Province’s cultural and tourism industry, the “Shanwei Stove Light Cultural Tourism Circle Project” stood out from 10 projects in 5 cities with the innovative model of “light assets + rejuvenation + local culture” and was highly recognized by the expert group. By reconstructing the traditional food culture and trendy consumption scenes, the project provides a “Shanwei sample” with reference value for the integrated development path of culture and tourism.
Aerial view of Zaowu Night Market, Zaowu Wharf Square, and Hong Kong and Macau Shipping Terminal
The stove wharf square in the night market is bustling with activity under the banyan tree
Explore new ways to activate the city’s night-time economy
In the context of the pain points of long return on investment cycle and high operating costs faced by traditional cultural tourism projects, the “Shanwei Stove Light Cultural Tourism Circle Project” abandons the asset-heavy development model and adopts the structure of “government guidance + enterprise operation + community co-construction” to explore the cultural and tourism integration innovation path of “asset-light operation + young scene + cultural empowerment”. The project has been rapidly implemented with lightweight carriers such as container pop-up stores and open-air markets, and through the policy of “rent-free + tax return in the first year”, it has attracted 32 local snack brands (including 4 intangible cultural heritage inheritor studios), 4 trendy handicraft businesses and more than 40 other cultural and tourism brands from local and foreign places to settle in, jointly forming a characteristic cultural tourism business cluster and activating the city’s night economy.
There are all kinds of stalls in the stove night market
Build a complete chain to realize the transformation of cultural IP business value
The project has created the IP of “Stove Night Market”, which deeply integrates the four core formats of gourmet snacks, intangible cultural heritage handicrafts, pop music, and Hanfu check-in, creating an immersive consumer experience space, among which 8 Internet celebrity interactive devices and weekly theme markets form a continuous attraction, with an average daily passenger flow of more than 3,000 people. In addition, through the joint development of limited packages with new consumer brands and the holding of “small train scenes” activities, the topic of Douyin and Xiaohongshu platforms has been played more than 15 million times, driving the growth of bookings for surrounding homestays. A series of measures have built a complete chain of “cultural IP development-scene experience creation-commercial value transformation”, forming a closed loop of “online traffic feeding offline consumption”, realizing the effective transformation of cultural value into commercial value, and providing an innovative paradigm for the activation of traditional cultural resources.
Retro check-in point at the door of the stove night market
Shanwei Cultural and Creative IP “Mazu Said” and Stove Wharf Cultural Check-in Point
The dazzling “Hi! Stove”
A night market in the train district made from retired trains
It can be replicated and promoted to build a cultural and tourism integration ecosystem
The core value of the “Stove Light Cultural Tourism Circle” model lies in its innovation and replicability. The “Stove Light Cultural Tourism Circle” project will start from Shanwei and build a “1+N” development pattern: with the central urban area as the core and radiating the surrounding areas. The project plans to complete the layout of 3 core business districts (Zaowu Train Block, Zaowu Wharf Square, Zaowu Tiantai Night Market Cluster, and Zaowu Cultural Tourism Town) in 2026, as well as the layout of the Jinmachi Bay and Poly Zaowu Beach Party.
Dusk view of Shanwei Poly Jinmachi Bay
