The air is filled with the cumin smell of college students. Li Zhouyi, a native of Zibo who works in Jinan, told China Newsweek that he always believed that the barbecue in Zibo would be popular one day, but he never thought it would be so popular.

Recently, with the "three-piece set" of barbecue soul of "oven+cookies+dipping sauce" suddenly becoming popular on social media, especially on weekends, related topics such as "college students going to Zibo in groups" and "taking the high-speed train to Zibo" appeared on various platforms, which triggered extensive discussions and hot discussions.

Li Zhouyi said that last week, he took the high-speed train from Jinan to Zibo. Most of the trains are college students. "Tickets have been sold out. They would rather buy a station ticket, or get on the bus to make up the ticket, and go to have a barbecue. "

Of course, it is convenient to get from Jinan to Zibo, and the high-speed trains are frequent. It takes only 22 minutes to sit from Jinan East to Zibo North.

There is also a joke circulating on the Internet: "Some Shandong college students go to Tai 'an to climb Mount Tai, some go to Jinan to see Baotu Spring, some go to Qingdao to dance disco, and more than half go to Zibo to have a barbecue. "

According to local media reports in Zibo, recently, Zibo Railway Station received about 50,000 tourists a day, which was the highest in the past three years, most of whom were tourists who came to taste the barbecue in Zibo. Many experienced Shandong college students have mastered the strategy of going to Zibo to taste delicious food. They can drive back and forth by car only by spending about 200 yuan to appreciate the charm of local cuisine.

China people's obsession with barbecue can be said to have existed since ancient times. Kashgar in Xinjiang, Jinzhou in Liaoning, Zhaotong in Yunnan, Qiqihar in Heilongjiang, Xichang in Sichuan and Yanji in Jilin are all famous for barbecues, but why Zibo alone?

"Fire Out of Circle" Zibo Barbecue

Zibo has a very long history. In the history of China, Zibo was once the capital of Qi, the "Seven Heroes of the Warring States" and the birthplace of Qi culture. Zibo is also one of the earliest industrial cities in China. It was once one of the most important industrial centers in Shandong province and even the whole country, with rich industrial culture.

It is difficult to verify the origin of Zibo barbecue, but it is said that Zibo barbecue originated from a small vendor named "Zhou Ji" in Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty. On the road outside the South Gate of Zibo, he pioneered the method of roasting mutton kebabs with tofu skin and charcoal fire, which won the local people's love and reputation. Later, this barbecue method gradually spread and became a unique food culture in Zibo.

Zibo barbecue. Figure/figure worm creativity

The barbecue explosion in Zibo didn't happen overnight, but it was gradually detonated after many times of network communication. Zibo's initial barbecue craze may have benefited from the effect of "planting grass" on social media.

The video "How to Eat Zibo Barbecue Correctly" released by a blogger named "Mr_ Mu" in Tik Tok won 19. 10000 likes and was forwarded 224,000 times, attracting a lot of fans' attention and pursuit. The "College Students' Group Coming to Zibo for Barbecue" on the hot search list in the same city ignited the enthusiasm of netizens, and the search volume exceeded 5 million.

Then, some local barbecue shops in Zibo began to promote their barbecues on social media, including the "top-class" Shepherd Village barbecue, which attracted the attention of countless netizens. These barbecue shops use the power of social media to display their own special barbecues, which has aroused more and more people's interest and curiosity.

Li Zhouyi shared a recent barbecue experience: "We deliberately chose a restaurant that is not' hot' and basically only has local guests. We stood in line for an hour and waited for another half hour before serving a plate of peanuts. It took an hour and a half to see the beef skewers. The busy boss in the store has no time to string them together. "

He said that before the barbecue in Zibo, at most a few restaurants lined up, and now every family is lining up. However, he still hopes that this state can continue. "I hope that everyone will mention Zibo barbecue in the future, just like Qingdao seafood and Jinan bazi meat, and it will become a local signboard."

Sun Xiaorong, an expert member of the China Tourism Reform and Development Advisory Committee, said in an interview with China Newsweek that food is the most popular "local culture", and the barbecue culture in Zibo is unique, which skillfully combines Shandong pie-rolling, cooking tea around the stove and skewering, with a strong sense of ceremony and scene.

Different from other places, Zibo BBQ is one of the few independent small-scale BBQ cities that keep pure charcoal and cigarettes. In Zibo barbecue, each table comes with a small stove as standard. After the waiter brings the seven-and-eight-cooked kebabs to the table, customers need to reprocess them themselves: on a small stove, soak the roasted kebabs in oil, scoop up the meat with a packet of cookies, and sprinkle the crispy Shandong tender onions with their own prepared hot sauce, which has different flavors. Therefore, there is a joke in Zibo called "There must be a kebab master in a threesome".