Zibo Barbecue and the Internet互联网下的淄博烧烤

张承昊

“Zibo barbecue” has become a buzzword（ 熱词） in China， evenoverseas just overnight. As a native Zibo resident， I am proud of myhometown when a question comes to my mind — What contributes to thesuccess of today’s Zibo？

One of the important factors， from my point of view， is the Internet.

For a long period of time， it isuniversally acknowledged that Zibo，lying in the middle of ShandongProvince， mainly relies on heavyindustry， which contributes to ashort booming（繁荣）. However，with the environment protection and resource exhaustion（资源枯竭），Zibo gradually lost its glory， buried by the huge development trend.

Until last year， things started to change. A documentary（纪录片）called The Story of Chuaner was published on Bilibili， and Zibo barbecuewas included in it， which provoked people’s initial desire.

In 2023， during the five-day May Day holiday， thousands of touristsflocked to the tiny city from all over the country. Everyone was impressedby the enthusiasm of Zibo residents， the small expenses and the taco-likebarbecue. They recorded everything they saw， and then posted on socialmedia to attract more people， which formed a magical cycle betweennetwork and real world.

Sparked by Internet celebrities（网红） and promoted by thenetizens， Zibo barbecue， on behalf of a kind of fresh trend， has becomehotter and hotter. It not only raises the popularity of those celebrities，but also contributes to the satisfaction of people’s life and the economicbooming of a certain area， which is a win-win situation.

Moreover， the cycle plays an important role in introducing local culture. Those Internet celebrities not only taste a barbecue simply，but they also try to find out the reason why it can be in the spotlightnationwide. Obviously， Zibo has a thing that many people pursue —honesty. Along with honesty， celebrities find more and more local features，cultures， even those kind residents， and then share with their audiences.With their appreciation in their videos， Zibo has been tagged with honestyon social media， and in every netizen’s heart.

Internet changes and improves this small city greatly. From anunknown town to a nationwide well-known city， Zibo has witnessed thepower of today’s social media. I hope that Zibo barbecue will keep itsglory consistently， and become a pride in every Zibo resident’s heart.