Gansu Tianshui: Not just relying on spicy hotpot traffic to stay popular

At the Hahai Ying Spicy Hot Pot Restaurant in Tianshui, Gansu, the hotpot chef Na Guoping is live streaming while preparing food for customers. Photo by Chen Faming, Economic Daily

For some time now, internet celebrity cities have been emerging one after another. From Tianshui, Gansu, to Zibo, Shandong, from Harbin, Heilongjiang, to Altay, Xinjiang, a number of cities have gone viral overnight with the help of traffic. Two or three years have passed, and when the hype has settled, are these cities still popular? What governance experiences can be learned from them? Starting today, our newspaper launches a series of reports titled “Return Visit to Internet Celebrity Cities,” exploring how cities and traffic interact.

“Every day so many people, endless work, it’s really frustrating.” When saying this, Hahai Ying bursts into a hearty laugh, seemingly not bothered. The owner of the spicy hotpot shop that exploded in popularity along with Tianshui’s spicy hotpot, she has become accustomed to the “frustration” brought by large crowds.

In front of Hahai Ying’s small shop, although there are many customers, the scene of lining up for hundreds of meters two years ago is no longer there. In front of the hotpot chef Na Guoping stands a mobile phone live streaming stand. He skillfully prepares food for customers while introducing the specially made spicy hotpot ingredients with the “Hahai Ying” logo to viewers in the live broadcast.

In 2024, “Tianshui Spicy Hotpot” became a phenomenon-level IP, with a total online spread exceeding 86 billion views. Today, the streets of Tianshui have seen the peak traffic fade, but there are still many tourists. Two years ago, many people asked how traffic could turn into retention, what answers did Tianshui give?

Turning the shop’s flavors into takeaway products is one of Hahai Ying’s ways to monetize her traffic. Looking at the whole of Tianshui, the viral explosion two years ago was also seen as a key leverage point to deepen the local cultural tourism industry transformation and extend the industrial chain.

Can the fiery heat last?

When visiting Hahai Ying’s spicy hotpot for a check-in, Ms. Li from Xi’an was a bit surprised. “I wanted to come two years ago, but seeing the long lines online, I gave up decisively.” In mid-April this year, Ms. Li and a few friends came to Tianshui for fun, and their first stop was this “Spicy Hotpot Courtyard.” Unexpectedly, they still waited in line for half an hour. Although “not as delicious as I imagined,” Ms. Li still spent over 100 yuan on a large bag of hotpot products before leaving. She thinks this might be the effect of internet celebrity.

The attraction of the internet celebrity effect is not limited to tourists. Two years ago, when it went viral, many investors came to discuss cooperation with Hahai Ying and proposed various traffic monetization plans. But she ultimately chose to cooperate only with friends, producing hotpot ingredients and hand-rolled noodles.

“If I open many chain stores, I might make money, but whether customers get the taste of this old shop is beyond my control.” Some think Hahai Ying is too rigid and doesn’t know how to make big money, but she firmly believes that snack and catering businesses must stick to their own flavors. In May 2024, Hahai Ying partnered with friends to establish a company, producing a series of hotpot products based on her own seasoning recipes. “I can supervise the quality, and sales are pretty good—after all, the traffic is here.”

Our reporter found that two years ago, during the peak of hotpot traffic, many new hotpot shops that followed the trend had closed down, whether in Tianshui or other cities. As the hype receded, shops operating during the steady flow of traffic actually performed better.

Next door to Hahai Ying’s shop is Ma Shunshun’s hotpot restaurant, opened in 2025. “I used to run a barbecue shop in Hubei, but last year, because my child started school, I returned to Tianshui and took over this shop,” Ma Shunshun said. To his surprise, business is very good. “I thought hotpot was no longer popular, but on weekends and holidays, we make over 10,000 yuan daily,” he added.

The traffic effect also extends to hotpot-related products. “We used to mainly sell chili powder, which sold about 300 orders a day at best online. After hotpot became popular, not only did the chili powder sell out, but the subsequent products like chili strips and oil-splashed chili also sold very well,” said Huang Zhen, e-commerce operations staff at Gansu Longshang Pepper Agricultural Technology (Group) Co., Ltd. During the peak sales period, they could sell over 10,000 orders a day, but that was an unsustainable state. Now, they sell over 1,000 orders daily.

From tourism data, after the rapid explosion two years ago, the traffic for Tianshui spicy hotpot has receded but not disappeared. In 2024, Tianshui received 59.5 million tourists and achieved tourism revenue of 38.3 billion yuan, up 23.9% and 25.6% year-on-year respectively. In 2025, Tianshui’s cultural tourism market continued to release vitality, with 65.45 million tourists and tourism revenue of 44.045 billion yuan, up 10% and 15% respectively.

How to amplify a viral IP

Recently, the third Tianshui Intangible Cultural Heritage Food and Cultural Tourism Carnival opened. The previous two events were called “Tianshui Spicy Hotpot Foodie Festival” and “Tianshui Special Cuisine Foodie Festival.” The change from “Foodie Festival” to “Cultural Tourism Carnival” reflects the local effort to deepen the impact of the viral IP.

“In recent years, Tianshui spicy hotpot has gone viral online, and many intangible cultural heritage foods like Tianshui Gua Gua have entered the public eye. We take intangible cultural heritage as an opportunity to tell Tianshui’s cultural tourism story from multiple angles and dimensions,” said Niu Xinhu, director of Tianshui Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism. The city continues to promote cultural tourism brands such as “Huxuan’s Hometown,” “Smile of the Orient,” and “Qianshan Water, Love Tianshui.”

Over the past two years, Tianshui has used spicy hotpot as a core trigger to upgrade the “snack economy” into “food culture tourism.” They have successively built hotpot demonstration shops, culinary tourism districts, created themed routes connecting core attractions like Fuxi Temple and Maiji Mountain. Meanwhile, they promote hotpot specialty restaurants into scenic spots and cultural tourism districts, creating a “food attraction + cultural sightseeing + immersive experience” consumption chain. Additionally, they activate nighttime cultural tourism economy and build one-stop cultural tourism consumption scenes.

In 2022, after renovation, Tianshui Ancient City in the Xiguan area of Qinzhou District welcomed visitors with a new look. With the “hotpot traffic,” the ancient city became a “city reception hall.”

“In 2023, the occupancy rate of shops in the ancient city was less than 30%. Currently, except for some cultural relics courtyards, the rental rate of shops exceeds 90%,” said Zhang Lijun, deputy general manager of Gansu Gonghang Tianshui Famous City Protection Investment and Development Co., Ltd. Over the past two years, the business formats in the ancient city have been continuously optimized and improved, with reasonable layout of various consumption scenarios, avoiding homogeneous competition, and enhancing visitor experience.

Zhang Lijun believes that the structure of tourists reflects the “city reception hall” function of the ancient city. In 2023, Tianshui Ancient City received 2.6 million visitors, with 30% from outside the city; by 2025, the number is expected to reach 4.6 million, with over 60% from outside. The city hosts various activities year-round to attract visitors. Last year, there were performances on 280 days, which not only drew more tourists for check-ins and consumption but also extended their stay.

To activate new momentum in cultural tourism consumption, Tianshui continues to upgrade A-level scenic spots, create characteristic cultural tourism districts, cultivate rural tourism demonstration sites, and enrich diverse cultural and recreational products such as study tours, health and wellness, and rural leisure. They also deeply explore local cultural heritage, develop characteristic cultural and creative products, and address shortcomings in cultural tourism consumption.

How to cultivate long-term driving forces

Tianshui became popular because of hotpot, but it cannot rely solely on hotpot to sustain its fame. The “Fifteenth Five-Year Plan Outline for the National Economic and Social Development of Gansu Province” proposes supporting Tianshui to build a “world-renowned cultural tourism destination.” To achieve this goal, Tianshui needs to further open up space for cultural tourism development.

As a national historical and cultural city, Tianshui boasts five “cultural cards”: Fuxi culture, Dadiwan culture, grotto culture, the ancient battlefield culture of the Three Kingdoms, and early Qin culture. Before the hotpot explosion, Maiji Mountain Grottoes were one of Tianshui’s most prominent cultural tourism destinations, especially the smiling little monk statue in Cave 133, which is simple and rustic, called the “Eastern Smile.”

“After hotpot became popular, we quickly caught this wave of traffic,” said Wang Wenxia, deputy director of the Maiji Mountain Scenic Area Management Committee’s Tourism Development Bureau. In 2024, the scenic area promptly launched a visitor service center, added over 4,000 parking spaces and charging stations; upgraded the “Eastern Smile” service brand, implemented tiered explanations and smart guides to retain visitors; built a dome theater and an immersive theater, established a study base, and shifted the scenic area from a “one-day tour” to a “multi-day tour.”

Recently, the Maiji Mountain Scenic Area Management Committee signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Xi’an Yuanjing Zhilian Technology Co., Ltd. on an AI cultural tourism intelligent guide project. The two sides will build a full-scenario smart guide service system that integrates precise positioning explanations, AI intelligent Q&A, personalized tour route planning, AR real-scene check-ins, VR immersive experiences, and cultural and creative commercial loops.

Xie Xiaorui, director of the Maiji Mountain Scenic Area Management Committee, said that in the coming years, they will explore a new path for the integrated development of mountain cultural heritage, promoting the transformation of the local scenic area from a single sightseeing destination to an experience-oriented, resort, and integrated scenic area.

It is understood that by 2025, projects such as the Fuxi Temple Visitor Service Center, Water Curtain Cave Visitor Center, Guanlong Ancient Road Scenic Line, Zizi Ranch, and Gupo Cloud Valley will be completed and operational, creating three national 4A-level scenic spots, four national-level tourism homestays, and two provincial-level tourism leisure districts.

Wang Hongming, head of the industry development section of Tianshui’s Bureau of Culture and Tourism, said that in recent years, Tianshui has transformed traffic dividends into long-term momentum, implementing the “Tianshui High-Quality Cultural Tourism Development Three-Year Action Plan,” and the Fuxi Ancestor Culture Inheritance and Innovation Zone plan. They are promoting a “food check-in—cultural experience—leisure vacation—deep residence” integrated cultural tourism industry chain, establishing a “planning—projects—brands—services” full-chain promotion mechanism, and systematically shaping the city’s core cultural tourism IP.

From snack-driven traffic to cultural breaking out and industry deepening, Tianshui’s cultural tourism path will become broader and broader.