Chinanews client, Beijing, May 18, "I would rather have a bed in Cao County than a suite in Beijing"

　　"I often feel inferior because I am not from Cao County"

　　...

　　In recent days, Caoxian, a small county in Shandong, has been on fire.

　　What's more, some people directly refer to Cao County as the "center of the universe."

These are obviously ridicules by netizens.

But how did Cao County become popular?

Cao County of 666

　　The popularity of Cao County is closely related to short videos.

　　It is reported that a man who claims to be a native of Caoxian often yelled "Caoxian cattle in Heze, Shandong *666 my baby" in Caoxian dialect in the video.

　　This move caused many video creators to follow suit and imitate, and began to tease Cao County.

Subsequently, many netizens also joined.

　　Even Liang Huimin, deputy secretary of Caoxian County Party Committee and county head of Caoxian County, Heze City, Shandong Province, publicly responded to "Cao County's popularity" in recent days.

Video screenshot

　　She said: "(Recently in Caoxian County) short videos are quite popular, with positive publicity and sensationalism, and even the appearance of "Northern Shanghai Guangcao". This is a mockery on the Internet. But from another perspective, it is at least expressive. There are two meanings. One is that everyone is very concerned about the information from their hometown and the development of their hometown; the other is that the hometown has indeed changed a lot, and even the changes make people a little unbelievable."

　　Faced with Cao County, which has become the "center of the universe," Liang Huimin also told the local media that all netizens have a high degree of attention to Cao County, and there are positive and ridicules of Cao County. Both positive and ridiculous are welcome. Come to Cao County for a walk and take a look at the real Cao County.

　　So what is the real Cao County like?

Weibo screenshot

Real Cao County

　　The reporter consulted the general situation of the county and district of the Cao County People's Government, and the first impression was that "there were many people."

　　The page shows that Cao County is one of the first 20 provincial-administered counties in Shandong Province, with a total population of 1.75 million. It is the most populous county in the province and the largest county in labor resources.

　　But in the past, Cao County was the largest exporter of rural labor in Shandong.

For local farmers, part-time work is their main source of income.

　　A report in 2006 showed that in 2005 Cao County exported 200,000 rural laborers, and the labor income reached 1.7 billion yuan, accounting for 30% of Cao County’s total GDP (5.7 billion yuan); the net income of farmers was 3017 yuan, and the income from work accounted for farmers. Over 30% of income, farming income only accounts for about 20%.

　　Sunzhuang Village in Daji Town, Cao County was once called the "Sanduo Village": there were many singles, many elderly people, and many left-behind children.

　　The change occurred in 2009.

This year, China's online shopping users exceeded 100 million, and e-commerce has become the direction for many people to start their own businesses.

Also in this year, a couple in Dinglou Village, south of Daji Town, opened a Taobao store to sell photo studio clothing, breaking the dimensional wall between this agricultural town and the Internet.

　　In the past 10 years, Daji Town has vigorously developed the e-commerce industry, from online sales to offline production. The town has not only become a large gathering of e-commerce, but also a large gathering of talents, and has explored a way to promote rural revitalization through e-commerce development. path of.

Data map: Workers are adjusting machines in a computer embroidery factory in Daji Town, Cao County, Heze City.

Photo by Sha Jian Long

Two "legends" about Cao County

　　During this period, two "legends" about Cao County were circulating in the rivers and lakes.

　　One is about clothing.

　　As more and more young people like Hanfu and cosplay, the performance costumes produced in Cao County have begun to be sold across the country with the help of e-commerce.

　　Earlier, some media referred to Cao County as the "Hanfu Base Camp", and an article claimed that "Hanfu products sold by local e-commerce companies in Cao County have accounted for one third of the national Hanfu sales."

In 2020, Liang Huimin, the mayor of Caoxian County, Heze City, brought the goods live for Hanfu "Taobao Village".

Video screenshot

　　Is this statement reliable?

The data may explain some problems.

　　According to the company's data, there are more than 6,300 performance costume companies nationwide.

Among them, there are 1483 in Caoxian County, accounting for as much as 25%. It is also the place with the most performance costumes in my country, and most of these companies have been established for more than 5 years.

Enterprise lookup for pictures

　　Another "legend" dates back to 2017.

　　At that time, a film crew of a variety show on TV Tokyo once walked into Heze, Shandong. According to the screenwriter of the show, the coffin 9 Chengdu bought by the Japanese came from this city.

Video screenshot

　　This statement is not without basis.

According to the company's data, there are a total of 413,840 "wood processing"-related companies operating across the country, including 88,798 in Shandong, 8,886 in Heze City, and 1,301 in Cao County.

Data map: Heze coffin.

Photo by Liang Ben

　　Past reports show that Lankao County, Henan Province, on the west side of Cao County, produces paulownia, and the paulownia processing industry in Cao County is relatively mature.

In 2000, Japanese merchants discovered the advantages of the Tongshu processing industry in Cao County, and came to the Cao County factory to reach a cooperation in coffin processing.

In 2013, due to the hot sales of the apparel industry in Cao County, the e-commerce platform began to actively cooperate with Cao County in resources.

With the help of the e-commerce platform, Caoxian began to sell wood products overseas. Paulownia's racks, taekwondo boards, wine boxes, etc. have become popular on cross-border e-commerce platforms.

　　Is this Cao County the same as the Cao County in your impression? (Finish)