It's Mockingly Called 'Guizhou Pig Foot Town,' Billions in Investment, Yet Full Streets of Braised Pig Trotter Restaurants

While Zhenyan Ancient Town is the most famous among the four renowned ancient towns in Guizhou, Yaogan Ancient Town is often overlooked despite being the first 5A scenic area in Guiyang. This highlights Zhenyan's high status in Guizhou's tourism industry.

Unlike ancient towns with centuries-old foundations, Yaogan Ancient Town is relatively young, built during the Ming Dynasty. However, considering the current level of preservation, the passage of time is less significant; it's the history of tourism development that matters. The buildings visible to the naked eye, even from the late Qing Dynasty, are considered rare.

Yaogan Ancient Town's existing buildings and city walls are all renovated and rebuilt. The original rustic atmosphere has faded due to commercial tourism development. However, the renovated buildings are based on historical evidence, but they are newer.

Some say Yaogan Ancient Town was justifiable as an ancient town a decade or two ago. Back then, the streets alongside the ancient stone paths were not filled with standardized snacks, dilapidated old houses, and elderly people carrying their children, which created a simple and authentic life atmosphere. It was like an elderly woman in simple clothes welcoming a dust-covered traveler—all of this disappeared after vigorous tourism development.

People's desire for novelty and the justification they find after renovation are problematic. Objectively, the renovation has pulled Yaogan Ancient Town back from the brink of disappearance, and commercial tourism development has injected new life into it, providing more employment opportunities and income for local residents, which deserves encouragement.

However, achieving success with a good reputation is extremely difficult. Yaogan Ancient Town seems somewhat ‘restless.’ In 2013, Yaogan Ancient Town received the title of ‘China’s Most Charming Town,’ and this year, this town with a history of over six hundred years seemed to have been chosen by fate to undergo vigorous development.

Billions of dollars invested expanded the original 1 square kilometer town by six times, accommodating multiple surrounding villages, transforming it into the present-day Yaogan Ancient Town. Two years later, to secure the 5A scenic area designation, another 700 million yuan was invested to improve infrastructure, enrich tourism content, and enhance the visitor experience.

Soon after, Yaogan Ancient Town became a 5A scenic area, attracting many tourists. During holidays, though there were no exaggerated scenes of crowds, Yaogan Ancient Town became one of the hottest attractions in Guiyang.

‘Full street of braised pig trotters’

However, tourists soon discovered that Yaogan Ancient Town's signature cuisine was pig trotters. Walking along the commercial street, restaurants specializing in braised pig trotters one after another. Each restaurant’s signboard was hung with ‘Special Braised Pig Trotters.’ Unfamiliar visitors even thought they had entered a pig trotters wholesale market.

Like other ancient towns in Southwest China, the most crowded shops on the commercial street were silver shops and jewelry stores. The remaining were standardized snacks. The so-called characteristic commercial street lost its characteristics and became a place that tourists complained about the most.

This ‘walkway’ of skewed cultural street is not just Yaogan Ancient Town, but also commonly found across China.

We often struggle to balance commercialization. We lack patience in operating cultural products. What sells well today is copied across the country. What works well tomorrow is quickly turned into a ‘trend,’ and eventually, the unique flavors of a place are lost in the commercialization. Moreover, there is a lack of cultural aesthetic packaging, despite being called a ‘literary and romantic ancient town,’ it often gives people a ‘mercantile’ impression.

In fact, tourists come to spend money and enjoy themselves. If the price is acceptable, it’s a good experience. But if you spend money and don't get a good experience, if the environment is not good, don't blame the tourists for giving it a bad review. Therefore, although Yaogan Ancient Town’s ticket price is only 10 yuan, and its scenic area is not small, it is still some distance from the truly recognized 5A scenic area, mainly referring to management and the atmosphere it creates for visitors.

Of course, it is still worth recommending, suggesting visiting during the off-season when there are fewer people, and it feels better!Photography: Xiquinho Silva, Global Travel Photographer | Source: Go