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September 28, 2017

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‘Tofu Goddess’ puts village on tourist map

Source: Xinhua | 00:01 UTC+8 September 28, 2017 | Print Edition

White, smelly and fried — a grand tofu banquet is laid before guests in a rural family stay in the village of Zhaibao in southwest China’s Guizhou Province.

In the middle stands Xie Qiong, known locally as the “Tofu Goddess.” Wearing clothes of the Tujia ethnic minority, she introduces the specialties to scores of tourists munching on the delicacies.

“Zhaibao Village is very close to the famous Buddhism mountain Mount Fanjing, which is a very, very clean environment,” Xie said. “The beans and leaves we use to make the tofu grow in such an environment, giving them very good texture.”

Mount Fanjing is a popular tourist destination in Guizhou, attracting a large number of tourists throughout the year. But the village is relatively unknown.

Xie Qiong, 28, is a tourism employee in the county of Jiangkou, which administers Zhaibao. Last April, she was assigned by the county government to complete an 18-month residency in Zhaibao to help tackle poverty.

Zhaibao is home to 2,086 residents, mostly from the Tujia ethnic minority, and 177 are living in poverty.

“When I first came here, I was unfamiliar with the local conditions, so I had to follow local officials and went door to door to find out about people’s lives,” Xie said.

Xie found that the tofu made by the locals tasted great but was not being properly promoted or marketed.

“They could make different dishes with tofu, but due to a lack of promotion, the village had few visitors,” Xie said.

Xie decided to help advertise the food herself.

“I thought that as an ethnic girl, it would be really special to wear ethnic clothes and become a model for the local specialties,” she said.

In August last year, she posted pictures of herself in ethnic clothing touting Zhaibao’s specialties on WeChat. The ad became an instant online hit.

The Tofu Goddess then began promoting Zhaibao’s environment and food in the media and on shopping websites. In January this year, the village’s first tofu festival was held. Media outlets and pop singers were invited to help with the event, which drew large crowds.

Thanks to the publicity, local villagers started to see success in their tofu businesses. Chen Yang, 24, runs a homestay in Zhaibao and sells tofu. Over the past year, Chen said visitors had flocked to his business and revenue exceeded 200,000 yuan (US$30,000).

“Business from the homestay and the tofu barbecue helped me build a new house and buy a new car,” Chen said. “Life is much better.”

Li Shijiu, Zhaibao’s Party chief, said more young people like Xie were needed to give fresh ideas.

“As the old generation, our thoughts have also been influenced by Xie’s ideas,” Li said, adding that though he has served as an official in the village for more than six years, he did not know how to use traditional and social media. “We learned a lot from Xie Qiong,” Li said.

Li Mihua, an official in charge of women’s affairs in the village, had never dared to sing in front of tourists in the past, but with Xie’s encouragement, she has started singing songs about Zhaibao.

The songs are basically pop songs, but with the lyrics altered to praise the village.

“Xie said that officials should not only do their jobs well, but also learn new skills to get our village’s stories across to the public,” Li Mihua said.

“I never knew being an official could be so different.”

Recently, local officials joined Xie to help raise money to develop the local tofu culture. A rural restaurant has been built with around 170,000 yuan of loans. It went into operation in June, serving tofu banquets to tourists.

“We will use the rest of the money to transform an abandoned garden next to the restaurant to attract more visitors,” Xie said.

Today, Zhaibao’s tourism is booming.

Nation


 

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