Three years on, China's barbecue city sizzles with fresh flavor

At the Tangku Cultural and Creative Park, old industrial warehouses have been converted into a complex hosting more than 80 brands, spanning craft workshops, art exhibits, trendy sports, casual dining, stand-up comedy, and aesthetic lifestyle activities. It has become a natural gathering point for younger visitors.

In Boshan district, the Ceramics and Glass Grand View Garden offers a more tactile kind of souvenir shopping. Stalls selling glass flowers, mini vases, delicate ornaments, and tiny trinkets are popular among visitors. A golden glass persimmon, so lifelike you almost want to eat it, costs just seven yuan. Cartoon animals, such as little pandas, piglets, and caterpillars cost just a few yuan each.

Zhoucun Ancient Town, in the district bearing the same name, is running a Fortune Festival through May 10, organized around the Qi state's historic identity as a center of trade. The town holds over 50,000 square meters of preserved Ming and Qing Dynasty (1368-1911) architecture, a density of old buildings rare enough to warrant a visit on its own.