LANZHOU, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Following Zibo and Harbin, Tianshui, an unassuming city in northwest China's Gansu Province, has become the latest destination craze on social media, thanks to its iconic dish malatang.
Tianshui shot to stardom in late February, thanks to a video posted by a student on the popular social media platform Douyin. The mix of fresh vegetables and meat boiled in a mouthwatering scarlet, spicy soup soon garnered millions of likes, tickling the taste buds of foodies across the country.
The soup base contains Chinese peppers and dried chili peppers. These two ingredients provide the tongue numbing sensation and a spicy taste that Chinese call "mala."
In late March, taking advantage of the popularity of Tianshui malatang, Hao Erlong and his partner moved their malatang eatery, which had been in operation for more than a decade in a space of just a dozen square meters, to the ancient town of Tianshui, a popular scenic spot, and expanded it into a 60-square meter restaurant.
The malatang craze has brought him a substantial profit.
"Malatang is a low-margin business. Our average customer spend is only 26 yuan (about 3.6 U.S. dollars). But during the Labor Day holiday in May, our daily turnover exceeded 30,000 yuan. Even now, our revenue is hitting 13,000 to 14,000 yuan every day," he said.
The figure is in sharp contrast to before, when 2,000 yuan was already an excellent daily income in their original store.
To illustrate just how popular Tianshui malatang is, Hao did some calculations. During the Labor Day holiday, they had to restock potatoes two or three times a day, consuming nearly 200 kg of potatoes daily, and they used 150 kg of chili oil, each day.
There was always a long line of customers during their open hours from 9 a.m. until 1 a.m. during the holiday, he added. "We hired 10 people to just cut vegetables, and in total there were more than 30 employees working in two shifts during the Labor Day holiday."
The Ha Haiying malatang shop, where the street food gained initial fame, still sees an overwhelming influx of customers every day.
"We've been lining up for two hours since 3 p.m.," said Ms. Fan from Linxia, Gansu, visiting Tianshui specially for malatang with a friend. "It's really yummy, the chili in particular, is very fragrant. It's totally worth the wait!"
The social media buzz, coupled with local marketing promotions, have nurtured a whole malatang industrial chain.
A veteran businessman in the food industry for nearly 20 years, Qi Weihong keenly sensed the opportunity and started manufacturing pre-packaged malatang and seasoning packets in late March.
"We have so far sold more than 700,000 servings of malatang-related products, with sales exceeding 4 million yuan," Qi said, adding the products have received very positive market response.
In June, Qi made a business trip to Liuzhou in southern China, to learn from its Luosifen industry, hoping to improve the preservation technology to take Tianshui malatang to a broader stage.
Luosifen, a noodle dish known for its pungent smell, is a signature street food in the southern Chinese city. It has created a huge industrial chain and exports of pre-package Luosifen has registered remarkable sales volume in recent years.
"We'll invest more in the research and development of malatang-related products," said Qi.
Now a malatang industry cluster has been formed in Tianshui, with over 570 malatang stores in operation and 76 enterprises engaging in related businesses, data from the municipal commerce bureau shows.
Tianshui natives attribute the secrets of their malatang to the local specialty ingredients, most notably the chili peppers from Gangu County.
Already a pillar industry to drive local economic growth and a major source of income for local farmers, chili pepper in Gangu now embraces a new burst of market growth following the malatang buzz.
"In less than 20 days, the first batch of chili peppers will be ready for harvest," said Xie Gong, the general manager of a local agricultural technology company.
Xie noted that the popularity of malatang has ignited the development of the chili pepper industry, encouraging more farmers to grow chili peppers.
Xie's company has leased over 500 mu (about 33 hectares) of land in Xinxing Township and introduced advanced technologies such as the automatic fertilizer irrigation systems to improve the quality and output of the peppers.
"Previously, each mu of land yielded about 1,000 kg of fresh chili peppers, now the output can double," said Xie.
Machines at the workshop of a farmers' cooperative in Gangu are also running full steam to produce a wide range of products, including chili powder, shredded chillies, chili oil, and malatang seasoning packets.
"In previous years, we could only sell 1,000 kg of chili powder in a month. But this year, during our peak period, we could sell 1,000 kg in a single day," said Wei Hailong, who is in charge of the cooperative.
A bowl of malatang has heated up the cultural tourism industry as a whole, fully stimulating consumption vitality in the fields of catering, accommodation, leisure and entertainment.
According to statistics from the Tianshui municipal government, since Tianshui's malatang went viral, the city has seen an increase of 28,200 new jobs.
Lu Hongliang, an official with the local commerce bureau, said Tianshui has drafted plans for six malatang-extended chain industries, including Gangu chili peppers, convenience food and pre-made dishes, to enhance the product variety, quality, and scale of local deep processing enterprises, and further optimize the local industrial layout. ■
