“摇叮阔”解锁湖南潮味！湖南文旅歌曲推广活动“湘当有味”

The overseas promotion campaign "Three Xiangs and Four Rivers - Meet in Hunan" in 2025 has added another brilliant chapter.

"Hey! Have you been to Hunan?"

"Yao ding kuo, yao yao ding kuo!"

A catchy and addictive pop song created by Lay Zhang Yixing, the image ambassador of Hunan tourism and culture, along with a set of highly playful photo-taking installations, have caught the attention of passers-by on the streets of Seoul.

This is the "Three Rivers and Four Waters · Meet Hunan" Hunan Cultural Tourism Brand Promotion Event held in Seoul, South Korea. The event set up a "Hunan Yaodingke" flash mob booth on the streets of Seoul, featuring elements from the lyrics and MV of the Hunan cultural tourism theme song "Hunan Yaodingke". The booth displayed Hunan's characteristic foods made into popular plush toys such as stinky tofu, fried sausages, and sugar-coated rice balls, allowing Korean tourists to learn more about Hunan while experiencing the "preparation" of these "foods". A student from Hongik University in Seoul said, "Although I didn't get to taste the real fried sausages, this chubby 'sausage doll' makes me really want to visit the night market in Changsha, Hunan! There must be so many delicious foods there~"

In addition to the pop-up booths, the promotion event also held a "Hunan Rocking Dinko" street dance flash mob and a "Rock Paper Scissors for Dolls" game on the streets of Seoul. Tourists joined in the game of "rock, paper, scissors" to the rhythm of dynamic music. Wherever the event went, it attracted many tourists to stop and participate in the interaction. This Hunan tourism promotion event, which combines "games, food and trendy toys", attracted over 1,000 participants on the first day. The visitors all said, "Hunan's tourism marketing has reached a new dimension!"

According to relevant data from the Department of Culture and Tourism of Hunan Province, over 809,000 South Korean tourists visited Hunan last year, a year-on-year increase of 161%, accounting for 33% of the total number of inbound foreign tourists. Behind this upsurge is Hunan's precise promotion of its culture and tourism in South Korea - from the friendly and accommodating attitude of Zhangjiajie to the in-depth exploration of tourists' demands in Changsha, and then to this innovative promotion attempt that combines Hunan cuisine with trendy IPs. Hunan is opening up the South Korean market with a "youthful and scene-based" strategy.

The theme song of Hunan tourism and culture, "Hunan Yaodingke", has also sparked a craze in the Wanlou Scenic Area in Xiangtan, Hunan Province! Entering the "Yaodingke Xiangcai Restaurant" in the Wanlou Scenic Area, it's like stepping into a giant "food claw machine" - crayfish are waving their bouncy claws, and sugar-coated glutinous rice balls are fluffy and cute like cotton candy, full of cuteness. Tourists from home and abroad can freely combine ingredients to experience the fun of "cooking", and can also sit in a giant "rice bowl" for a photo, taking high-liked pictures for their WeChat Moments.

"Hunan Yaodingkuo" has become a new cultural tourism card of Hunan Province through its catchy melody and dialect lyrics. Meanwhile, the ground promotion activities at Wanlou Scenic Area have further materialized the IP, using the "cute aesthetics" favored by Generation Z and interactive games to allow domestic and foreign tourists to experience the vibrant charm of Hunan's cuisine and culture while having fun.

Since 2024, the inbound tourism in Hunan has developed at an astonishing pace. Last year, it received 3.224 million inbound tourists, a year-on-year increase of 187.7%; the total expenditure of inbound tourists reached 161,671.9 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 456.5%. Focusing on the major inbound tourist source markets, Hunan's cultural and tourism sector has proactively "gone out" and "invited in", successively conducting cultural and tourism promotion activities in South Korea, Mexico, Japan, Kenya and other places, and continuously promoting the image of Hunan's cultural and tourism globally, introducing Hunan's distinctive resources and high-quality routes. This year, in order to further enhance the attractiveness of inbound tourism, Hunan has launched a series of overseas promotion activities, which will further expand the overseas influence and appeal of Hunan's cultural and tourism brand "Three Rivers and Four Waters, Meet in Hunan".