Something’s up with the meat in Zhenjiang. It’s selling fast. In this economic climate. Equally strange is the fact that local government is getting the thumbs up. What the heck is going on in Zhenjiang? In a word, sausages.
On the morning of 2 December, the Zhou family’s butchery in the Baoyan Market in Dantu District of Zhenjiang City was bustling with customers from 06:00 to lunchtime. The six people at work are so busy that they cannot even lift their heads. Although the temperature has dropped to freezing in the past few days, they are all sweating profusely.
39 year old shop owner Zhou Haiwen told reporters that it’s not just this year they have been so busy; it’s been that way for the past 6 or 7 years.
So what’s the secret formula? Do they spice the sausages with something to make them addictive?
Far from it. Responsible is in fact the Baoyan Food Festival, a local government initiative given the go ahead in 2017. Now a well-known culinary attraction, the Festival’s promoting of Baoyan’s food products has also brought in popularity from all around.
At this time of year especially, people from the four surrounding counties have been flocking to Baoyan to stock up for New Year. Every household needs meat. Dozens of butchers in Baoyan are bustling, making it something of a border-town commercial hub.
Backing up a bit, Zhou Haiwen and his wife were at first busy every day, but as the Festival took hold they gradually became overwhelmed. This year, they have hired six people to help staff their butchery. With the recent drop in temperature, so has the popularity of preserved meats soared. It’s entirely possible for the Zhou family to sell 500 kilograms of sausages in a single day, although a daily average is more like 400.
It’s a far cry from the old days, when pre food festival, the Zhou family was very far from anything approaching affluent.
Zhou Haiwen Explained to the Yangtze Evening News that he and his wife started their business after coming to the area from their hometown of Linyi in Shandong Province. At first, their life in Baoyan was “al fresco”; they had their meals and slept outdoors.
During the toughest times, they even had a child. Business was sluggish and it was difficult to sustain the family’s livelihood.
But finally, the government has done something right. The Zhou family and the other good folk of Zhenjiang have jobs. Their stomachs are full. But only with sausages, it would seem.
