When it comes to pig farms, many people's first impression is two words—"dirty" and "smelly." They would rather avoid them, let alone visit them. However, Zhejiang Panda Pig International Farm has subverted everyone's perception.

The Panda Pig International Farm covers an area of 1200 mu (approximately 80 hectares) and is located in Jinhua, Zhejiang. With a total investment of 350 million yuan, since its opening in August 2021, the farm has received over 2 million domestic and foreign tourists and achieved a total operating income of 186 million yuan.

Unlike traditional farms, the Panda Pig International Farm has broken away from the traditional livestock industry's profit model of "raising and selling pigs." It uses the rare breed Jinhua Two-headed Black pig as its IP image, integrating breeding sightseeing, science and education research, conference team building, food experience, parent-child fun, and internet celebrity check-in.

The Two-headed Black pig is the first of China's four famous pigs, a national treasure-level pig breed. The farm uses the Two-headed Black pig as the prototype to create the Panda Pig IP, designed with the brother-sister image of Xiao Wu and Xiao La, full of childlike innocence and girlishness. This move can not only shorten the distance between tourists and the pigs but also associate pigs with pandas, allowing everyone to immediately understand the preciousness of the Two-headed Black pig and increase the popularity and added value of the products.

Panda Pig elements are visible everywhere in the farm. Whether it's the hollowed-out Panda Pig patterns on the escalator or the large pig nose at the ticket office, this silly "Panda Pig" has become a cultural symbol. The park's creative store has hundreds of Panda Pig-related toys, stationery, and other peripheral products.

The farm, centered around the Panda Pig IP image, has created sections such as the Two-headed Black Pig Museum, the 5G Smart Breeding Center, the Castle Garden, the Happy Little Pig Village, and the Two-headed Black Pig Food Experience, covering a variety of rich business formats. For example, the park's Tea Mountain Pig Train, Pig Castle, and Pigsty Cafe, a series of pig-themed businesses, enrich the tourist experience and expand the park's monetization paths.

To facilitate tourists' photo-taking, the entire park adopts a trendy and artistic exhibition style. For example, the park's futuristic time tunnel, the pink house full of girlish hearts, the cute pig models, and the huge Jinhua ham model, etc. These facilities allow tourists to immerse themselves in a fun and novel interactive experience, and many tourists will take photos and check in at various internet celebrity installations.

In the farm, children can visit the entire production process of Panda Pigs, from selection, breeding, pregnancy, production, lactation, conservation to fattening. They can learn about the development history of the Two-headed Black pig in the pig museum. Parents can wait comfortably in the cafe, then go to the Happy Little Pig Village to experience various tourist facilities and watch piglets playing skateboarding, piglet races, etc. They can imitate the variety show "Running Man" and take photos at the castle garden, and then go to the Panda Pig restaurant to eat braised pork made with Two-headed Black pigs.

This innovative model has achieved the transformation and upgrading of the livestock industry, completing the cross-border integration development of the first, second, and third industries, and successfully extending the leisure tourism industry chain, transforming the digital pig farm into an internet celebrity check-in paradise. Last year, Panda Pig's total revenue was 100 million yuan, of which tourism revenue was 30 million yuan, fresh meat revenue was 32 million yuan, and various processed meat products were 38 million yuan.

The "Hermès" of Highway Service Areas

Not a Scenic Spot, But Comparable to One

"I didn't expect it to be like the Humble Administrator's Garden. I just went in to use the restroom, and I was stunned." This is what people say about the Yangcheng Lake Service Area, which has been rated as the "Most Beautiful Highway Service Area in China." It far exceeds the traditional service area model of "gas station + restroom + convenience store." It has transformed a tourist transit point into a tourist destination.

In 2016, based on the development concept of "transportation + tourism + culture," the Yangcheng Lake Service Area, with the design concept of "Dream Water Town, Poetic Jiangnan," uses Suzhou's "one street and three gardens" as its characteristic. It draws on the unique features of the Lingering Garden, the Humble Administrator's Garden, and the Lion Grove, building four mini gardens: Hanbi, Hefeng, Mu Xi, and Xiuzhu, with a total garden area of 10,000 square meters. Through the creation of large-scale external waterscapes, the white-walled and grey-tiled human-shaped slope skyline, and the shrubs and trees in front of and behind the houses, it forms a "dream" of the Chinese water town, allowing visitors to enjoy the scenery of Suzhou without entering the city.

It's not just the architectural design; the service area has as many businesses as a scenic spot. From folk customs and intangible cultural heritage displays, quyi culture, and local cuisine to science and technology museums, tourists can't finish exploring in three hours. For example, a wooden traditional stage has been set up, and artists are invited every Friday to perform traditional quyi such as Kunqu opera, Pingtan, and crosstalk for free. The intangible cultural heritage exhibition hall showcases Suzhou's intangible cultural heritage skills such as Su embroidery, kesi weaving, Song brocade, and nuclear carving. In addition, there is a crab culture museum, showcasing the development history of crab culture and creating the Flying Crab theme IP, showcasing the history, development, and food culture of Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs.

The science and technology experience hall, which uses VR technology to showcase interactive entertainment and science education, has naked-eye 3D equipment and VR game devices, allowing tourists to explore history and culture and relax and have fun.

In terms of food, the Yike Restaurant has a 100-meter self-service food area with a variety of dishes from all over the country. If you don't like self-service, there are many catering brands to choose from, such as Wuxi small buns, auspicious wontons, Yunnan rice noodles, and mala tang, which are both characteristic and affordable.

Apart from the Yangcheng Lake service area, highway service areas in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces are all "unique," offering a wide variety of attractions that leave tourists "spoiled for choice." For example, there's the Changzhou Fangmaoshan service area, which features a "dinosaur park," the Changzhou Pehu service area with its castle theme, and the Wuxi Meicun service area, known as a service area shopping mall…

Some tourists exclaimed, "We don't even need to go to the scenic spots after visiting these service areas. Not only do we save on tickets, but we also get to enjoy the garden scenery, try the local cuisine, take tourist photos, and even bring some local products home."

From pig farms to service areas, this "tourism + other industries" model not only promotes the deep integration and synergistic development of tourism and other industries, but also helps meet the growing diversified and personalized needs of tourists, enhance the competitiveness and attractiveness of tourism products, and ultimately drive the growth of the local comprehensive economic benefits.

To further study and implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions and directives on tourism work, implement the relevant work arrangements of the National Tourism Development Conference, promote the steady innovation, quality improvement, and efficiency enhancement, and deep integration of the tourism, leisure, and entertainment industry, and contribute to the modernization and high-quality development of the tourism, leisure, and entertainment industry, the China Amusement Machine and Amusement Park Association will hold the 2024 China Tourism, Leisure and Entertainment Industry Development Conference in Zhengzhou from October 23-25!