A Tale of Two Cities Supporting Xinjiang

At the debriefing meeting after the cultural festival, Ding Xuemin didn't ask everyone to talk about their achievements, but instead asked two questions.

"First, now that the cultural festival is over, what do we do for the next three months?"

Secondly, if they want to hold the event again next year, why should they be allowed to come again?

The meeting room fell silent.

This past month has been incredibly busy, and no one has thought about the future.

Batur tentatively suggested, "Let's continue raising crabs, and wait until next year..."

"Should we start all over again next year?"

Ding Xuemin shook his head, "We can't start from scratch every year."

The cultural festival should become something that can be seen, played, and experienced year-round.

He walked up to the whiteboard and drew a circle.

"From today onwards, the Liaoning-Xinjiang River Crab Culture Festival will no longer be an annual event, but a brand and an IP."

Just like the Yangcheng Lake hairy crab festival, people immediately recognize it as a symbol.

"But we only have a few crab ponds..." someone whispered.

"Yes, just a few crab ponds."

Ding Xuemin drew a few dots in the circle, "But we can turn it into a crab pond sightseeing experience park."

Just like a winery, it's not just about making wine; you can also tour the premises, taste the wine, and experience the winemaking process firsthand.

Over the next two weeks, Ding Xuemin took Batur to all the tourist attractions in the county, including the grasslands at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains, the Grape Valley, the Karez irrigation system, and two well-established agritainment businesses.

"Look at how others do it."

Ding Xuemin pointed to the sightseeing route in Grape Valley, "See the flowers in spring, pick fruit in summer, taste the fruit in autumn, and see the snow in winter. There's something to do all year round."

"Where are our crab ponds?"

Batur asked, "What about harvesting crabs in the fall? What will you do in the winter? The ponds will all freeze."

"There are different ways to have fun in winter."

Ding Xuemin had already thought it through: "We can hold indoor experiential Liaojiang cooking classes to teach tourists how to cook with our crabs."

Folk-style blessing breeding, with Aunt Sadette teaching how to make blessing knots;

We can also hold a cultural festival results exhibition, showcasing photos, stories, and contracts signed each year.

Back in the breeding area, Ding Xuemin began to make plans.

Five acres of land to the east have been officially designated as a crab pond sightseeing and experience park.

A wooden signpost stands at the entrance, with the visitor route written in both Uyghur and Chinese.

The first route is the Aquaculture Exploration Route, which takes you from the seedling pond to the adult crab pond. The entire route is explained, and there are three interactive points along the way where visitors can test the water quality, experience feeding the crabs, and observe their activities.

The second route is the cultural experience route. The exhibition area by the folk pond has been expanded, with more traditional fishing gear on display, and on-site experience activities such as weaving blessing knots and embroidering tapestries have been added.

The third route: "Food Tasting Route" - The newly built tasting area has become a permanent venue, where, in addition to eating crab, you can also learn to cook two simple crab dishes on site.

Pointing to the planning map, Ding Xuemin said, "Most importantly, these projects are not only available in the fall."

Watch the crab larvae in spring, observe their growth in summer, harvest them in autumn, and experience them indoors in winter.

Just as the plan for the tourist park was finalized, Director Zhao from the county's Culture and Tourism Bureau came to visit.

"Director Ding, I heard you're planning to develop year-round tourism?"

We are designing a county-wide tourism route and would like to include your aquaculture area.

"How do you add them?"

"We went on a spring outing to see the flowers on the Tianshan Grassland and stopped by your place to see the crab seedlings."

Enjoy grapes in Grape Valley during the summer heat and experience traditional farming here.

Needless to say, you are the stars of the autumn crab harvest.

Enjoy skiing and snow activities at the winter snow-themed cultural tour, and also take cooking classes and see exhibitions here.

After listening, Ding Xuemin thought for a moment and said, "Director Zhao, this is a good idea, but tourists may feel that this is just an extra activity for us."

"So what do you mean?"

"We offer exclusive packages."

Ding Xuemin took out a calculator. "For example, for the autumn tour, tourists pay a fee that includes transportation, attraction tickets, a crab feast here, and a souvenir."

We share the revenue with the attractions, which saves tourists time and effort, and also ensures a stable flow of visitors.

Director Zhao laughed: "Director Ding, you're really quick-witted. Okay, let's try it for one season."

Just as the tourism deal was finalized, Ding Xuemin had a new idea.

That day, he went to a meeting in the county and passed by a cotton mill, where he saw workers carrying newly picked cotton.

The snow-white cotton bales were piled up like small mountains, dazzlingly bright in the sunlight.

"The cotton here is among the best in the country."

Old Ma, the director of the supply and marketing cooperative who was traveling with us, said, "But we just can't get a good price for it, so we're selling it all as raw material."

"The same applies to the fruit industry."

Xiao Liu from the Agriculture Bureau chimed in, "Apples, pomegranates, and red dates are all of good quality, but they lack deep processing and have low added value."

Ding Xuemin's heart skipped a beat.

On the way back, he said to Batur, "Could we collaborate with cotton and fruit on our crabs?"

"A collaboration? What does a crab have to do with cotton?"

"It's not that they actually put crabs and cotton together."

Ding Xuemin explained: "It's about creating co-branded products and selling them as a package."

For example, the Cotton-Crab-Fruit Cultural Festival gift pack uses Atlas silk as the packaging cloth, and contains our crab products, along with dried apples and pomegranate juice from the fruit cooperative.

Batur thought for a moment: "But Atlas silk is expensive..."

"Instead of using a whole piece of fabric, use scraps to make small packaging bags and decorative strips."

Ding Xuemin became more and more excited as he spoke, "Cotton mills have to pay costs to process scraps, so we buy them at low prices and process them into cultural and creative products."

"We can customize apple cider vinegar from the fruit cooperative, using their apple cider vinegar as a base and adjusting the acidity to suit the crab dipping sauce."

Without further ado, Ding Xuemin went to the cotton mill the very next day.

The factory manager was a Uyghur woman named Anarhan. Her eyes lit up when Ding Xuemin explained his purpose.

"Our factory processes mountains of scrap every year, in red, blue, green, and all sorts of patterns. If you really need it, I'll give it to you at cost price."

"We don't just need scraps," Ding Xuemin said, "we also need your designers. They need to design packaging for us, combining the patterns of the Atlas silk with our crab culture."

Anarhan readily agreed: "I'll get the best girl in the design studio to help you!"

Things went even better with the fruit cooperative.

Upon hearing that there was a connection with the Dalian market, the president immediately made the decision: "We already have apple cider vinegar, and adjusting the flavor is simple."

"We'll produce as much as you need."

A month later, the first batch of co-branded products was released.

A small, dark blue sachet made of Atlas silk, embroidered with a crab pattern in gold thread, with a colorful silk cord tied around its opening.

Inside was a jar of crab meat chips, a bottle of apple crab vinegar, and a small packet of dried red dates.

"How much does this packaging cost?" Ding Xuemin asked.

Anarhan handed over the ledger: "The scraps of silk fabric have almost no cost, and the embroidery is done by the female workers in the factory during their breaks, so just calculate the wages."

The total cost of the packaging was less than five dollars, but it looked worth fifty.

The apple crab vinegar delivered by the fruit cooperative has a bottle designed in the shape of the Tianshan Mountains, with cartoon images of crabs and apples on the label.

"The vinegar's acidity has been adjusted, making it more suitable for pairing with crab."

The president explained, "We also tried the pomegranate flavor; we'll send you a sample later."

On the first day of the autumn tourism season, a tour group of thirty people visited the aquaculture area.

The tour guide, holding up a small flag, said: "Everyone, this is our last stop today, the Liaojiang River Crab Culture Experience Park."

Everyone is welcome to visit freely. We'll meet at the tasting area in an hour to sample the hairy crabs raised with snowmelt from the Tianshan Mountains.

The tourists dispersed.

Some people went to the pond to see the crabs, some learned to make blessing knots in the folk custom area, and some looked at photos of past cultural festivals in the exhibition area.

A middle-aged couple stopped at the gift shop.

The wife picked up an Atlas silk gift bag: "This is beautiful! Take it back as a gift."

The husband looked at the price and said, "Wow, not cheap."

Shop assistant Azgul introduced with a smile: "This is our cotton-crab-fruit co-branded gift pack."

The bag is made of genuine Atlas silk and hand-embroidered.

It contains crab meat chips, apple cider vinegar, and local dried red dates. Taking this set home gives you a complete taste of Xinjiang's specialties.

The wife liked it more and more as she looked at it: "Buy two sets, one to give to relatives, and one for ourselves."

While checking out the cashier, Batur was watching the real-time data in the back office. On the first day of business, the gift shop's sales exceeded 10,000 yuan.

In the evening, Ding Xuemin stood at the highest point of the sightseeing park.

Below, the aroma of crab wafts from the tasting area, colorful lights illuminate the folk culture area, and tourists are browsing in the gift shop.

Batur climbed up, his face full of excitement: "Director, four regiments have arrived today, more than 120 people."

The gifts are sold out, and Sister Anarhan said she'll send another batch of packaging bags tomorrow.

Ding Xuemin nodded without saying anything.

He looked at this place, which was once just a few ordinary crab ponds, and has now been transformed into a tourist park, an experience zone, and a hub for industrial linkage.

"Batur, do you think what we've done is worth it?"

"It's worth it!"

Batur blurted out, "The villagers have more income, the tourists have more fun, our crabs have become famous, and even cotton and fruit have been sold."

Isn't this worth it?