China News Service, Litang, Sichuan, February 5th, title: Visiting "Dingzhen World": How to catch the "top traffic" in a small county in Tibet in Sichuan

  China News Agency reporter Wang Peng

  At the beginning of February, in Letong Ancient Town, Litang County, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan, sunlight poured into a bookstore, and the Tibetan guy really learned to write Chinese characters one stroke at a time.

When in doubt, he scratched his head, smiled and consulted Gao Xiaoping, the "cultural teacher".

This 20-year-old student made Gao Xiaoping, deputy general manager of Litang County Cultural Tourism and Sports Investment Development Co., Ltd. (Litang Tourism Investment Company for short) full of reveries about the future of the small town.

  In mid-November 2020, Ding Zhen detonated the Internet due to a short video of "wildness and innocence" smiling.

A few days later, Litang Tourism Investment Company signed it, and the tourism promotion film was launched quickly.

The operation of social media and short video platforms has made the "Ding Zhen phenomenon" a landmark event on the Chinese Internet in 2020.

"Internet celebrity" Tibetan boy Ding Zhen.

Photo by Liu Zhongjun

  A small Tibetan county that only achieved poverty alleviation in February 2020, how to receive the "top traffic" stably and well?

After the reporter visited, he found that all this was "accidental and inevitable."

  Litang is located at the junction of Sichuan, Tibet, and Yunnan, with an altitude of over 4000 meters and a resident population of more than 70,000. Snow-capped mountains are straight into the sky, and the grasslands are endless, and it is known as the "city of the sky".

  When the reporter first went to Litang in 2013, the county town was very dilapidated. Pigs and yaks in the free range were walking on the potholes, and power outages were more common.

Nowadays, Litang County has taken on a new look, with Tibetan-style dwellings scattered and scattered, cafes, restaurants, homestays, and museums.

  "Over the years, the changes in Litang have been earth-shaking." said Zhang Xi, chairman of the Litang State-owned Assets Group Corporation. Litang is an important town in the tea-horse interchange on the southern Sichuan-Tibet line. The culture is naturally inclusive. In recent years, transportation, network, electricity, etc. The infrastructure is getting better and better. "More people come, and many photographers and painters come to create."

  Zhang Xi's explanation is not unreasonable.

Because the first video that made Ding Zhen popular came from the photographer Hu Bo who filmed "The Smile of the World's High City" in Litang last year.

  If infrastructure is the "hard premise" that Ding Zhen has emerged, then the development of Litang tourism in recent years and the popularization of the Internet brought about by poverty alleviation are "soft indicators".

  Zhang Xi said that before Ding Zhen, although Litang developed the Letong Ancient Town·Qianhu Zangzhai Scenic Spot, held horse racing festivals, Kangba Baihan Show, Cangyang Gyatso Poetry Festival and other activities, and frequently carried out online promotion, but Not many followers.

In response, they sighed, "God, give Litang some traffic!"

  In May last year, under the planning of the Rong Media Center in Litang County, Wen Xuesong, the first secretary of Hange Village, Zhuosang Township, participated in a live webcast to promote highland barley biscuits.

Ren Min, the first secretary of Ru Village in Zhuosang Country, has also been contacting major travel bloggers outside of work to introduce local scenery and specialties.

Wen Xuesong said, "The Internet is powerful, and we have been trying according to the county's plan."

  It was through constant exploration and practice that the ancient and remote Litang became more familiar with the use of the Internet and "waited" Ding Zhen.

  "The whole process is like walking a tightrope." Gao Xiaoping said. After signing Ding Zhen, Litang ushered in the largest number of media reporters in history, and online comments flooded in like a tsunami.

In the face of traffic, the company driver turned into Ding Zhen’s assistant, and the museum commentator became a translator. “At present, there are more than 10 people working around Ding Zhen. They also operate short videos and social media accounts. Although'unprofessional', they are familiar with the Internet. Thinking is still active."

  After Ding Zhen became popular, he did not frequently go to the hole to "harvest traffic". Instead, he learned Chinese, literature and art, and horsemanship under local arrangements, and worked as an ambassador for cultural tourism in Litang County.

This move was once questioned by some netizens as "wasting Ding Zhen's influence."

  "Ding Zhen and Litang are like fish and water now." Zhang Xi believes that Ding Zhen's unique Tibetan characteristics coincides with people's yearning for "poetry and distance."

"Now that the outside world sees the beauty of Litang through him, he will also perceive and discover the world and move towards a broader world. But he still needs to learn and grow, learn Chinese well, and master life skills in order to express himself better. Find a good development direction and steer your own business."

  For Ding Zhen's future, Litang has a longer-term plan.

Zhang Xi said that Ding Zhen will become a business card for ecological and environmental protection of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and an industrial IP for cultural tourism.

In contrast, the current publicity effect and tourist introduction for Litang and Ganzi are only preliminary effects.

"Of course, we will fully respect Ding Zhen's own wishes. With his growth and self-recognition, we will also support his desire to be an actor and singer in the future."

  When leaving Letong Ancient Town, the reporter ran into Ding Zhen in the alley, who was shooting a promotional video.

In front of the camera, he was calm and confident, dealing with everything with a smile and increasingly proficient Mandarin.

For Ding Zhen’s hometown of Litang, he has successfully captured the “top traffic” in 2020 and is also working hard to prepare for a broader future.

(Finish)