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A selection of calabashes was showcased at the 17th Water City of the North · Pearl of Two Rivers (Liaocheng) Calabash Culture and Art Festival.
Where the majesty of the Yellow River converges with the vitality of the Grand Canal, Liaocheng - the "Water City of the North · Pearl of Two Rivers" - is reinventing its future through cultural heritage and creative energy.
From the humble calabash trade that once flourished along the canal during the Ming and Qing dynasties to today's thriving specialty industry valued at over 2.6 billion yuan, Liaocheng's calabash culture has transcended its folkloric roots. It now thrives as a nationally recognized IP and a fully integrated economic ecosystem. With cultural lineage as its soul and industrial development as its foundation, Liaocheng's calabash is painting a vivid portrait of culture-driven, high-quality growth. This transformation embeds auspicious calabash motifs into urban identity, transforms ancient craftsmanship into economic momentum, and elevates cultural capital as the driving force behind urban advancement.
From "calabash blind boxes" and "calabash-themed specialty coffee," to home decor blending tea and incense culture, and trendy accessories created in partnership with popular animation IPs, more than 1,000 cultural products have turned traditional crafts into "new China chic." The numbers tell the story: In Dongchangfu District, over 2,000 e-commerce merchants specialize in calabash products. In Luzhuang Village, Tangyi Town, "every household grows calabashes, every family sells calabashes online." The village sells an average of 7 million crafted calabashes annually through digital platforms, exporting to Japan, South Korea, Europe, and the U.S. Meanwhile, "platform-based design" enables mass customization for global users.
A small calabash carries a millennium of cultural memory; a flourishing industry propels the future of this water city. High-quality urban development is rarely a "dramatic" reinvention - it is a symbiosis of "heritage, industry, and people." When culture endures through industry, when industry gains value through culture, and when people and the city grow together nourished by both, that city gains true and lasting vitality. In Liaocheng, the calabash has become the brush with which the city continues to write a new chapter of high-quality development at the confluence of the Yellow River and the Grand Canal.
Source: Information Office of Dongchangfu District People's Government, Liaocheng City