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Experience the "摔碗酒" (shuāi wǎn jiǔ) in Yongxingfang, Xi'an; take a ride on the "magical light rail" that passes through buildings in Chongqing; visit Orange Isle in Changsha; see giant pandas in Chengdu; enjoy barbecue in Zibo; experience the Ice and Snow World in Harbin… In recent years, more and more cities have used new media platforms such as graphic platforms, short videos, and videos to create unique "internet celebrity" city labels, successfully breaking through and attracting tourists from all over the country to check in, driving the city's tourism and service industries, and injecting new impetus into urban development.

Wave after wave of internet celebrity cities have become popular with the help of the internet. Summarizing the reasons for these internet celebrity cities' success can be categorized into three points: firstly, they possess profound urban heritage and unique cultural and natural resources; secondly, they grasp the characteristics of each era's media, creating unique city IPs and city labels; and thirdly, local governments provide strong support, building a public service-oriented government and earning good reputation.

Summary: Resources + Dissemination + Service, a trinity; this is the victory of a service-oriented government.

China's Eight Most Popular Internet Celebrity Cities

1.1 Changsha: A popular destination for red culture, low housing prices and low living costs, and vibrant new consumption

Changsha's popularity benefits from early entertainment promotion, strong economic growth, the rise of new consumer brands under the background of the national tide, and the government's reasonable regulation of housing prices. On this basis, coupled with the prevalence of internet celebrity check-in tourism in the mobile internet era, Changsha becoming an internet celebrity city was expected.

Changsha, a city with over 4,000 years of history, boasts rich cultural heritage and cultural relics. Changsha's journey to becoming an internet celebrity city can be traced back to around 2000, when Hunan Satellite TV created a series of entertainment variety shows such as "Happy Camp," enhancing Changsha's national recognition.

In 2017, Changsha joined the "GDP trillion-yuan city club" for the first time, achieving a GDP of 1053.55 billion yuan; in the same year, the "2017 China Night Economy Industry Report" was released, showing that Changsha's night-time consumption was developing rapidly, surpassing first-tier cities. Around 2017, a batch of local Changsha "new national tide" brands such as Chayan Yuese and Wenheyou became popular, attracting young people from all over the country to visit and check in through the internet celebrity IP effect.

In 2018, Changsha was named a new first-tier city by the media, and its label as a strong economic city received widespread attention. In 2019, the documentary "Guardian of Jiefang West" became a hit on Bilibili, introducing more young people to the city of Changsha.

In 2021, with the increasing popularity of the topic of "escaping from Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou," Changsha once again received widespread attention and discussion due to its low housing prices and low living costs. In 2022, Changsha's housing price-to-income ratio was 8.9, significantly lower than that of other key second-tier cities nationwide, making it popular among young people.

1.2 Chengdu: The "Land of Abundance" with a slow pace of life and a vibrant atmosphere

A profound historical and cultural atmosphere, unique cuisine, a vibrant street atmosphere, and a slow-paced lifestyle have shaped Chengdu's unique city IP. In addition, seizing the opportunities of the times and using magazines, films, songs, short videos, and other traditional, self-media, and new media for active marketing has also been key to promoting Chengdu as an internet celebrity city.

Chengdu is one of the earliest internet celebrity cities to gain popularity. Its journey to internet celebrity status can be traced back to around 2000. During the traditional media era, Chengdu used magazines such as "New Weekly," "City Pictorial," "China National Geographic," and promotional videos to market its city image. The slogan, "Chengdu, a city you won't want to leave once you've been!" became widely circulated.

In 2011, "Kung Fu Panda 2" was released globally, and the Chengdu elements incorporated into the film allowed more people to learn about and understand the city, enhancing Chengdu's city image and influence. In 2017, Zhao Lei's song "Chengdu" became a hit across the country, and "walking to the end of Yulin Road, sitting at the entrance of a small bar…" made Yulin Road and small bars iconic places to check in to Chengdu.

With the rise of short-video social platforms, Chengdu has used short videos to promote its characteristic cuisine, vibrant street scenes, the bustling Chunxi Road, trendy street photography in Taikoo Li, "small bars" at night, and giant pandas at the Panda Base… presenting an image of Chengdu where a slow pace of life and vibrant atmosphere, fashion, and trendiness coexist.

In 2023, Chengdu ranked first among new first-tier cities in the "City Commercial Charm Ranking" for the eighth consecutive year.

1.3 Hangzhou: "New E-commerce Capital," "Livestream E-commerce City," "Number One City for Digital Economy"

Hangzhou has always been a tourist city rich in historical and cultural resources. In the past, Hangzhou was a tourist city known for its "three rivers, two lakes, one mountain, and one river." However, the rapid development of the internet economy and live e-commerce is the real reason why Hangzhou has become an internet celebrity city.

"Above there is heaven, below there is Suzhou and Hangzhou." Hangzhou is located in the northern part of China's southeastern coast, with a long history, rich cultural heritage, and abundant tourism resources. In 1999, Alibaba, China's largest internet company, was founded in Hangzhou. In 2003, Alibaba launched Taobao, and China entered the Taobao era. In 2008, the first batch of "Taobao girls" boosted Hangzhou's e-commerce industry, making Hangzhou the "e-commerce capital." In 2013, Taobao live streaming began piloting in Hangzhou, and live e-commerce developed from this point. The first batch of internet celebrity Taobao stores became popular, and celebrity anchors and Double Eleven activities completely pushed live e-commerce to the forefront.

After the 2016 G20 Hangzhou Summit, Hangzhou was officially recognized as one of the first "digital economy" cities in China. In 2018, Hangzhou's digital economy core industry revenue reached 1.0824 trillion yuan, and it proposed to build the "number one city for the digital economy." In 2019, under the effect of industrial agglomeration, anchors and live streaming agencies from all over the country flocked to Hangzhou. Taobao alone produced 177 anchors with over 100 million yuan in sales.

In 2020, a batch of anchors with super strong live streaming sales capabilities emerged, making Hangzhou Jiubao the main base for live e-commerce, and Hangzhou gradually became the "livestream e-commerce city." In 2022, the three major live streaming platforms "Taobao, Douyin, and Kuaishou" achieved a total sales volume of 171.4 billion yuan in Hangzhou.

1.4 Suzhou: "China's Strongest Prefecture-Level City," a fusion of traditional culture and modern consumption, and the rise of cultural and creative brands

Suzhou's rise as a popular city is due to its outstanding economic performance and strength, an increasingly superior business and livable environment, and its long-term ranking among the top GDP cities nationwide. On the other hand, the recent surge in popularity of the Eslite Bookstore and the hit drama "All Is Well" have helped to boost Suzhou's image as a trendy destination.

Suzhou, a city with a long history of economic prosperity, is renowned for its unique cultural heritage and natural landscapes. As a first-tier city, Suzhou boasts rapid economic development and strong economic strength, earning it the title of "China's strongest prefecture-level city". In 2011, Suzhou's GDP exceeded one trillion yuan, reaching 1050 billion yuan; in 2020, it surpassed two trillion yuan, reaching 20170.5 billion yuan, ranking first among the major cities in Jiangsu Province in terms of economic scale.

Since 2013, Suzhou has incorporated innovation-driven development into its plans, transforming from low-end to high-end manufacturing through innovation, becoming a "global industrial powerhouse". Suzhou has a rich historical and cultural heritage and abundant tourism resources. In November 2015, the Suzhou Eslite Bookstore opened, attracting one million visitors in just 20 days; in 2018, the bookstore held over 5,000 cultural events, attracting approximately 200 million visitors. This combination of culture and commerce has made Eslite Bookstore one of Suzhou's trendy landmarks.

In 2019, the hit TV series "All Is Well" attracted a large number of viewers to visit filming locations in Suzhou. During the May Day holiday, thousands of tourists from all over China visited Tongdeli No. 7 (the "Su family's old house" in the drama) and the "Shi Hun Zhe" restaurant on Pingjiang Road to take photos. As a result, Suzhou gained the label of a trendy city.

1.5 Chongqing: "TikTok City", "Cyberpunk Metropolis", unique mountain city scenery

Chongqing's rise to popularity is due to promotion through short video platforms and film and television works, combined with Chongqing's unique mountain city scenery, creating a unique city IP for Chongqing. Secondly, the Chongqing municipal government actively uses marketing tools, seizes the opportunities of the times, promotes effectively and provides satisfactory services to the public, and uses the development of the tourism industry to drive the economy.

Chongqing has always been a historical and cultural city in China, with beautiful natural scenery and abundant tourism resources. However, Chongqing's rise to fame is inseparable from social media promotion and marketing and the rise of short videos. Since 2016, hit films and television works such as "From Your World", "Better Days", and "Rock Solid" have chosen Chongqing as their filming location, and Chongqing's unique regional features have left a deep impression on the audience.

In 2018, short videos featuring the Liuzibaba "through-building" light rail, the Hongyadong night view, the Eling No. 2 Factory Creative Park, and the Yangtze River Cableway went viral on major social media platforms. Taking Douyin (TikTok) as an example, the total number of views of Chongqing-related videos reached 11.36 billion, ranking first. According to the "Short Video and City Image Research White Paper", Chongqing was rated as the most popular "TikTok City".

During the May Day holiday in 2018, Chongqing received 17.358 million domestic and foreign tourists, ranking third nationwide. The number of tourists visiting the Hongyadong scenic spot during the Dragon Boat Festival reached 173,500, a year-on-year increase of 143.3%.

In 2019, the Chongqing municipal government launched the slogan "Bring your script to Chongqing, and we'll take care of the rest", providing free co-filming services for film crews coming to Chongqing and providing up to 2 million yuan in support for films after they are released. In 2020, Chongqing surpassed Chengdu in the total number of tourists, ranking first nationwide.

1.6 Zibo: "Soul BBQ Three-Piece Set", "BBQ with warmth"

Zibo's explosive popularity as an "atypical" trendy city is due to its unique barbecue culture, affordable prices, and immersive experience where diners can grill their own food. Furthermore, the Zibo government intervened promptly and actively at the beginning of the event, guiding all forces to provide excellent tourist services and coordinating various departments to provide a series of supporting services, making "Zibo barbecue" a "warm barbecue" and creating an image of Zibo as "enthusiastic", "hospitable", and "warmhearted".

Zibo is located in central Shandong Province, the ancient capital of Qi and the birthplace of Qi culture, a city with a long history and rich cultural heritage. In early March 2023, a Douyin video of "college students taking a high-speed train to Zibo for skewers" received over 5.25 million views and became a trending topic. While barbecue itself is not uncommon, the unique style of Zibo barbecue, featuring "small stove pancakes", attracted the attention of netizens; on April 8, a popular anti-counterfeiting blogger, "superB太", posted a video about Zibo's Bada Bureau market, labeling Zibo as "reliable consumption", "no overcharging", and "affordable at 100 yuan per person", gaining positive feedback online. In the following month, more and more tourists came to Zibo to experience "Zibo barbecue", and the local government responded quickly with a series of measures: repairing roads overnight, adding 21 customized bus routes, conducting food safety inspections, strengthening traffic management, releasing a Zibo barbecue map, and providing on-board services by tourism officials. In addition, local residents spontaneously reduced their travel to "give way to tourists", published Zibo travel guides, and picked up litter, allowing tourists from all over the country to feel the warmth and simplicity of Zibo. Netizens commented that "sincerity paired with barbecue is a winning combination". "Small stove, pancakes, and dipping sauce, the soul BBQ three-piece set." In 2023, Zibo is undoubtedly the top trend in Chinese tourism.

1.7 Harbin: "Hogwarts Harbin Branch", "Frozen Pear Platter", creating a "pleasing city" persona

Harbin's rise to fame is both accidental and inevitable. On the one hand, this ice and snow city has unique tourism resources and strong tourism appeal. On the other hand, in the era of social media, short video platforms and popular KOLs have contributed significantly to Harbin's popularity. In addition, the Harbin government's service attitude of "prioritizing the needs of tourists" and the enthusiasm and sincerity of its people have earned the city a good reputation and established a three-dimensional city image.

Harbin, the ice and snow city, is famous for its long history, unique ice and snow culture, and ice and snow landscapes. On December 18, 2023, a "ticket refund storm" attracted attention. Due to excessive bookings, the Ice and Snow World park was overcrowded, causing many tourists to be forced to "stand in line". A large number of tourists demanded refunds, and the park immediately issued a sincere apology and promised to rectify the situation overnight. The park's unconditional refund and proactive response received positive feedback from netizens and praise from official media. For a time, Harbin tourism topped the trending searches, marking the beginning of Harbin's rise to fame.

With the increase in tourists from southern China, locals affectionately call them "little potatoes from the south." Since then, Harbin has gone to great lengths to ensure tourists have a fun and enjoyable time, fulfilling their needs: outdoor warming stations, frozen pear displays, artificial moon at Saint Sophia Cathedral, ice-skating with Pegasus, hot air balloons over the Songhua River ice, and carpets laid on Central Street. Netizens continuously share short videos of their travel experiences in Harbin, creating viral trends, making this old northeastern heavy industrial city the first top cultural tourism destination of 2024.

Statistics show that during the 2024 Spring Festival, Harbin received a total of 10,093,000 tourists, generating a total tourism revenue of 16.42 billion yuan, both reaching historical highs.

1.8 Xi'an: Ancient capital for thousands of years, Yongxingfang's "smashing bowl wine," and "Datang Never Sleeps City"

Xi'an's rise to fame stems partly from its rich historical heritage and cultural resources as a millennium-old capital. The unexpected popularity of Yongxingfang's "smashing bowl wine" boosted Xi'an's popularity and provided new ideas for tourism promotion. On the other hand, Xi'an proactively utilizes new media to promote its unique cuisine, culture, and historical resources, creating its unique city IP through cultural innovation and shaping its image as a capital city with a "national style and trend."

Xi'an, a city with a long history and abundant cultural resources, has always been a popular tourist destination. Xi'an's rise as a popular city originated from the viral popularity of a video of Yongxingfang's "smashing bowl wine" on Douyin. In 2018, a shop in Yongxingfang launched a "smashing bowl wine" activity. Tourists could smash the bowl on the ground after finishing a bowl of local rice wine. A netizen filmed it and posted it on Douyin. More and more netizens saw the video and came to Xi'an to experience "smashing bowl wine" and taste "Mao Bi Su." In 2019, a short video of a 90s Xi'an girl performing on a tumbler in Tang Dynasty attire garnered 1.7 billion views, and the "tumbler girl" once again sparked a wave of interest in Xi'an.

Since then, Xi'an has created one "盛唐文化" (Tang Dynasty culture) tourism IP after another: strolling along the "Ancient Poetry Path" in Datang Never Sleeps City, experiencing a poetic exchange with "Li Bai," experiencing VR "aerial views of the ancient city" from the city walls, and immersive experiences in the Tang-style market street "Chang'an Twelve Hours." In Xi'an, tourists in Hanfu (traditional Chinese clothing) can be seen everywhere taking photos. "Wearing Hanfu and touring Xi'an" has become a current trend.

During the 2023 Spring Festival, Xi'an saw record-high numbers of visitors and tourism revenue. Tongcheng Travel data shows that Xi'an ranked first nationally in the ranking of popular hotel destinations.

網 Why do popular cities become popular?

The term "popular city" originates from social networks, initially appearing as internet slang. It refers to cities that gain attention and popularity among netizens in both the real and online worlds due to their interesting, novel, or attractive qualities, making them well-known on the internet and giving the city brand a concrete image. Observers point out that the development of popular cities has entered the 4.0 era. In the 4.0 era, the rise of popular cities is closely related to the rapid development of short video platforms such as Douyin, Bilibili, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu. In the past, popular cities were mostly international metropolises like Shanghai and Hong Kong, and typical tourism cities with abundant tourism resources, such as Lijiang, Guilin, Xiamen, and Sanya. This contrasts with current popular cities, reflecting the changing demands of tourism consumption in the mobile internet era. Nowadays, people are more inclined to pursue emotional experiences, service experiences, and value for money.

The rise of popular cities is usually accompanied by a specific attraction or event. Although the ways in which city brands become popular vary, from these cases, we can see that behind the popularity of any "popular" city are some common elements. Observing and analyzing the eight popular cities in China in recent years, we have summarized three main reasons for the rise of popular cities: firstly, possessing profound urban heritage and unique cultural and natural resources; secondly, grasping the characteristics of each era's media to create unique city IPs and city labels; and thirdly, strong government support to build a public service-oriented government.

Profound urban heritage and unique cultural and natural resources are the fundamental reasons for the rise of popular cities. The popularity of any city is merely facilitated by the internet; the key lies in the city's own outstanding historical and cultural heritage and abundant natural resources. The spread of online media and the marketing behind it only accelerate the public's understanding and familiarity with these cities' history, culture, and scenery. In recent years, the rapid development of short videos and new media has propelled cities such as Changsha, Chengdu, Chongqing, and Xi'an to become popular on the internet. Careful observation reveals that these popular cities have unique charm and advantages in terms of history, culture, and natural scenery.

For example, Changsha is one of the first batch of national historical and cultural cities in China, known as the "city of Chu and Han" and the "hometown of Qu Yuan and Jia Yi." It has historical sites such as the Mawangdui Han Tomb, Yuelu Academy, and Tongguan Kiln. It was one of the sources of the late Qing Dynasty Reform Movement and the old democratic revolution and one of the origins of the new democratic revolution, known as the "cradle of revolution, red land, and city of heroes." This historical and cultural background adds rich red resources to the city's tourism. Chongqing is a historical and cultural city with a rich cultural heritage and is the birthplace of the Red Rock spirit, giving Chongqing a distinct cultural background and spiritual coordinates. In addition, Chongqing is located at the confluence of two rivers and has been a transportation hub since ancient times. Known as the "mountain city," its buildings are built along the mountains, creating a unique visual effect. Its unique geographical environment and recent modernization have given Chongqing's architecture a three-dimensional, multi-layered visual effect, hence its nicknames "8D magic city" and "cyberpunk capital." Harbin, a city that went viral in early 2024, is located in northeastern Heilongjiang Province. As the birthplace of ice and snow culture, it is known for its unique ice and snow scenery and Russian-style architecture. It has unique and superior natural endowments and abundant ice and snow resources, including the annual Harbin Ice and Snow World, Saint Sophia Cathedral, Sun Island Park, and Central Street, attracting tourists from all over the world.

Grasping the characteristics of the times and media, creating unique city IPs and city labels. In the era of traditional mass media, city publicity mainly relied on newspapers, magazines, radio, and television. For example, early tourist cities such as Lhasa, Guilin, Xiamen, and Lijiang, with their excellent natural landscapes and cultural relics, attracted tourists from all over the country through newspapers, magazines, and city promotional films. In the new media era, city publicity mainly relies on the mobile internet, spreading through platforms such as QQ, Weibo, and Tieba. A popular song, a hit movie, or a hit TV series can often become the best publicity for a city. For example, Zhao Lei's song "Chengdu" became popular throughout China, making the already fashionable and individualistic Chengdu even more popular. Many people longed to stroll through Kuanzhai Alley and walk the streets of Chengdu, making Chengdu a "net celebrity" in the hearts of people across the country; in 2017, "Cha Yan Yue Se," a popular milk tea brand, made Changsha an ideal place to check in, and queuing for an hour to buy a cup of Cha Yan Yue Se milk tea seemed to become a landmark activity for tourists visiting Changsha; in 2019, the hit TV series "All Is Well" brought renewed attention to Suzhou, the filming location, showcasing the city's beautiful scenery, ancient alleys with white walls and grey tiles.

Today, in the era of self-media short videos, platforms such as Douyin, Bilibili, and Xiaohongshu use short videos and live broadcasts to make city publicity more intuitive and three-dimensional, and the audience is also wider. For example, from a video of "摔碗酒" (smashing bowl wine) in Xi'an's Yongxingfang that went viral on Douyin in 2017, to the over 2.3 billion views of videos related to the "Da Tang Buye City tumbler" in 2019, the unique city IP effect brought a cumulative increase of over 50% in traffic conversion for Xi'an. Xi'an, through continuous cultural innovation, has created one internet celebrity IP after another. In early 2024, the early morning markets, outdoor vendors selling frozen pears, giant snowmen, and ice slides in Northeast China, as winter features of Harbin, the Ice City, were widely spread on the internet through short videos. Terms related to Harbin, such as "Southern small potatoes," "Erbin," "flying horse on ice," "ice surface hot air balloon," and "Oroqen people reindeer performance," flooded major hot search lists, attracting tourists from all over the country to experience Harbin's unique lifestyle and creating Harbin's unique cultural symbols and city IP.

Strong government support in building a public service-oriented government. From the emergence of these internet celebrity cities, it can be seen that the emergence of "internet celebrity cities" is inseparable from the hard work and strong support of the local government. In terms of policy support, the Chongqing Municipal People's Government's "Chongqing Cultural and Tourism Development "14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025)" clearly points out the need to "promote innovation in the system and mechanism of cultural and tourism integration," focusing on establishing and improving the mechanism for the integrated development of culture and tourism, accelerating the structural reform of the supply side of culture and tourism, boosting the cultural and tourism consumption market, and cultivating and expanding the main body of the cultural and tourism market; formulating and issuing support policies for original intellectual property rights, further consolidating the cultural and creative alliance, promoting cultural empowerment of tourism, and fully excavating various cultural resources such as cultural relics, literature and art, and intangible cultural heritage. Jiangmen, as the filming location for the TV series "The Knockout," produced a VR panorama and check-in point signs for the Changdi Historical and Cultural Street scenic spot to further promote the integration of culture and tourism. Tourists can simply scan the code to learn about the filming locations of "The Knockout" and their cultural and historical background, stroll through the century-old streets following the plot, and deeply experience the old times here.

In terms of building a service-oriented government, the topic of "Harbin pulling out all the stops to entertain Southern small potatoes" made netizens feel that the city is trying its best to serve tourists and satisfy them. Because the outdoor environment in Harbin is too cold in winter, the Harbin Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism set up warm rest stations on the streets for tourists to warm up and rest, providing them with hot brown sugar water. Locals spontaneously organized to provide free rides for tourists in their private cars. Worried that Southern friends might not be used to the local food, local restaurants began to slice and plate frozen pears and offer "sweet tofu pudding" that is more suitable for Southern tastes. From improving infrastructure to providing differentiated services with Southern characteristics, from the government to businesses to citizens, everyone worked together to create a warm and sincere image of Harbin. After the popularity of "Zibo barbecue," the Zibo government, facing the influx of tourists from all over the country, immediately formulated and introduced a series of convenient and people-friendly service measures, including repairing roads overnight, adding weekend round-trip "Zibo barbecue special trains," opening up scenic spots, and the government taking the lead in regulating accommodation prices, aiming to provide tourists with the best quality and most cost-effective service, winning a good reputation with sincerity and enthusiasm.

Lessons from the Rise of Internet Celebrity Cities

From the early popular tourist cities of Chengdu, Changsha, and Xi'an, to the recently popular niche cities of Zibo and Harbin, waves of cities have become popular with the help of the development opportunities of the internet. In 2023, under the popular topics of "college student special forces travel" and "Citywalk," the rise of the traffic economy has driven one internet celebrity city after another to become popular, from Zibo, which was popularized by the "rush to Zibo for barbecue" and "barbecue small cakes" craze, to Harbin, which became popular with "Southern small potatoes" and "frozen pear plating" and became the first top-tier city in 2024. More and more atypical cultural and tourism cities in second- and third-tier cities are attracting a large number of tourists from all over the country with their unique personality labels and down-to-earth local life scenes. Internet celebrity cities have used online popularity to convert online traffic into offline tourism enthusiasm. Although the popularity of these cities has some accidental components of "sudden traffic," there is a certain logic behind the accident that is worth exploring.

The popularity of every internet celebrity city reflects the importance of publicity and hype. Even good wine needs to be advertised. Only with sufficient preparation and seizing every opportunity can a city successfully become popular. In the initial era of traditional media, city publicity mainly relied on newspapers, magazines, promotional films, and radio; in the mobile internet stage, cities entered the public eye through QQ, Weibo, and forums; in the social media stage, with the rise of short video and live self-media platforms, one city after another has gained attention and become popular under the impetus of hot topics and traffic. Although the media and methods of dissemination are different in different eras, the essence behind them is publicity and marketing. Taking Hongyadong, a popular scenic spot in Chongqing, as an example, Hongyadong was fully completed and opened in 2006, but it lost money for five consecutive years and its business was not good. Until 2016, with the rapid rise of China's short video market, Hongyadong, which had been waiting for 10 years, finally ushered in its golden age with the help of short videos. In 2018, Hongyadong's unique architectural appearance and colorful night lights resembled the animation scene of the oil house in the Japanese animated film "Spirited Away," and it quickly became popular on short video platforms, becoming a popular scenic spot and attracting tourists from all over the country to check in.

In today's internet and self-media era, an event that sparks heated discussions and generates buzz is the starting point for a city to become a viral sensation and gain widespread recognition. Xi'an's "Invincible Lady" and "Datang Everbright City," Chongqing's Hongyadong night view and Liuzibaba "light rail through building," Zibo's "soul barbecue three-piece set," and Harbin's "Southern small potatoes" and "frozen pear display"—all have gained attention and traffic from a novel event. The marketing generated by this buzz has opened a channel to convert online traffic into offline activity. The rise of short video platforms like Douyin has brought opportunities for many smaller cities to be seen and become popular. The success of Zibo and Harbin in becoming viral sensations shows that tourism short videos, through co-creation and interaction, convey the city's vibrant atmosphere and human warmth, amplifying the city's charm while shaping its image. This inspires local tourism authorities: building a city's image requires an internet mindset. In today's fiercely competitive environment, to stand out from the crowd, a city needs not only its own high-quality resources and cultural heritage but also effective use of internet media for publicity and marketing, and leveraging the "viral effect" to increase visibility and attract tourists, thereby promoting urban development.

Governments should revert to a service-oriented approach, focusing on creating a favorable market environment and strengthening urban infrastructure. Both Zibo and Harbin's rise to viral fame originated from the fermentation of an online public opinion event. The catalyst for their popularity was the local government's response and measures to the unexpected event. For example, the Harbin government and the Ice and Snow World park's swift rectification measures and sincere apologies during the "refund" controversy not only resolved the public relations crisis but also completely reversed public opinion, winning praise and attracting more netizens to visit Harbin. Furthermore, the contrasting image of "honest weight" merchants shown in the video of a blogger debunking fake products in Zibo's barbecue scene brought both cities more attention and positive reviews. This provides a lesson for local governments: prioritizing meeting tourist needs and providing excellent service. A timely, sincere, and caring response to public opinion controversies and effective problem-solving measures are crucial for building and maintaining a city's image.

Identifying a city's strengths, exploring its regional cultural characteristics, implementing tailored strategies, focusing on product and service innovation, and creating personalized city labels and IPs are key. The biggest challenge for viral cities is sustainability. The transition from "viral" to "lasting popularity" requires maintaining sustained interest and attention. A city's short-term popularity may rely on a viral event or a popular attraction, but lasting popularity requires strengthening urban construction, optimizing the business environment, improving public services, and continuously innovating products and services. Taking Xi'an as an example, as a long-standing viral city, its popularity continues to grow even in a highly competitive environment. This is partly due to Xi'an's rich tourism resources and historical and cultural heritage, but also to its continuous innovation in tourism and the creation of distinctive city labels, deeply integrating cultural attractions with tourist experiences, creating unique city IPs such as "Datang Everbright City" and "Chang'an Twelve Hours themed street." Furthermore, good infrastructure, such as convenient transportation systems, comprehensive public services, a sound medical and health system, and price control mechanisms, are crucial for a city's long-term development and its ability to maintain attractiveness and lasting popularity.

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