Remote county puts positive spin on social media ridicule
People walk past a factory plant in Caoxian County, Shandong Province, on July 12, 2019.
China’s latest Internet fad: Ridicule Caoxian County — a tiny, relatively poor, little-known inland county in east China’s Shandong Province — and talk about it as if it is on par with the world’s most developed cities.
The county shot to fame on China’s social media with topics related to it discussed more than 500 million times, after a local live streamer bragged about his hometown in an exaggerated and contemptuous tone on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.
Dashuo, a Douyin influencer from Caoxian County.
The influencer on Douyin, identified as Dashuo, posted short videos in which he yelled in the local dialect: ”Caoxian County rocks!”
The slogan somehow became the latest Internet catchphrase, inviting torrents of mockery.
However, the local county government quickly seized the opportunity to promote its economic progress and attract talent, with the county’s chief appearing in live streamed sales events and conducting media interviews.
Liang Huimin, deputy Party chief and head of the local government, said Caoxian has a burgeoning e-commerce industry and is the biggest supplier of coffins to Japan, The Beijing News reported.
As much as 90 percent of the coffins in Japan are made in Caoxian, Liang said, adding that hundreds of thousands of local people are engaged in the wood-product industry.
Liang Huimin (right), county chief, promotes Hanfu in a live-streaming event.
Caoxian is also China’s largest manufacturing base for performance costumes, including Hanfu, the historical clothing of the Han people, which has become popular with young Chinese.
The county had around 1.4 million people with a 2020 GDP of 46.38 billion yuan (US$7.2 billion).
