As the Spring Festival draws near, the consumer market is becoming increasingly vibrant. "Exploring Digital Yangpu" has emerged as an innovative consumption theme in Yangpu, with "youthfulness, digitalization, and immersion" consistently taking center stage.

How does Yangpu elevate its "ACGN density" to new heights? An all-day immersive ACGN roaming route has taken shape. Yangpu is leveraging traditional China chic as a penetrating point to explore the integration of subcultures with mainstream culture. How does the "new" flavor of the Spring Festival offer a high quality-price ratio? How does the digital transformation of enterprises in Yangpu rejuvenate the "authentic old flavors" to make them last longer?  Meanwhile, creative New Year's goods at your fingertips add a unique touch of fun to the Spring Festival dinner table…

How do the new practices of the people's city bring novelty to "Digital Yangpu"?

How does Yangpu elevate its "ACGN density" to new heights?

Yangpu is home to over 8,000 digital economy enterprises, up nearly 20% year on year. These enterprises contribute more than 40% of the district's tax revenues, making the digital economy a new economic driver for Yangpu. This transformation has not only profoundly changed the people's lifestyle, but also propelled the rapid development of the cultural and creative industries, giving rise to a variety of new cultural and creative business models.

An all-day immersive ACGN roaming route has taken shape

At the end of last year, Bailian ZX Fun Center & Shanghai ACGN Festival was inaugurated at Wujiaochang Plaza, elevating Yangpu's "ACGN density" to new heights.

In the upcoming year, how will Yangpu harness its geographical, talent and resources advantages to inject momentum into the ACGN industry? How will Yangpu leverage the youthful energy of ACGN to empower the urban construction of Yangpu to the greatest extent?

Recently, a symposium for ACGN industry practitioners took place in Yangpu, bringing together multiple government departments, including the Yangpu Commission of Commerce, the Yangpu Culture and Tourism Administration, the CYL Yangpu District Committee, and the Yangpu Investment Promotion Office, to engage in an in-depth discussion.

In the eyes of many anime and game fans, Shanghai has now become the "capital of ACGN". Yangpu is embracing this emerging industry. By aligning with the diverse needs of Shanghai's ACGN industry, the district aims to enhance the visibility, influence, and contribution of its regional industry. This multi-pronged approach is designed to drive comprehensive industry upgrades and stimulate consumption growth. Yangpu is set to delve deeper into achieving a harmonious balance between emerging and traditional industries. The focus will be on issues of industrial development such as setting production standards, boosting independent innovation, broadening the industrial chain, tracking market trends, and ensuring industry security. This exploration aims to uncover new avenues for policy support.

"This not only illuminates the path for our investment in the ACGN industry in Yangpu but also boosts our confidence in the district's ACGN industry prospects. Our optimism towards Yangpu remains steadfast," said a practitioner.

ACGN industry leaders like Bilibili and Papergames, along with over 30 other businesses from across the industry chain, have chosen to establish a presence here. Yangpu has successfully created a full-day immersive ACGN roaming route by connecting specialized stores with catering and entertainment stores, and by integrating interactive elements such as consumption discounts, cosplay stamp collections, and location check-ins.

This year, from New Year's Day to the Spring Festival, Yangpu will launch a series of events including the Bailian ZX China Chic IP Carnival, Bilibili New Year's Eve Toasting Night, ACGN Citywalk, and ACGN Industry Forum. These events are aimed at further fostering a vibrant atmosphere of China chic.

Leveraging traditional China chic as a penetrating point to explore the integration of subcultures with mainstream culture

Yangpu is home to over 10 universities, and the concentration of young people provides a stable foundation of audiences and content creators for the ACGN industry.

In 2024, Yangpu launched the "Premium Plan" for global quality internet content creators, aiming to build a hub for the micro-drama industry in Shanghai. This initiative focuses on creating a new highland for content creation inspired by China chic.

Recently, the Yangpu Federation of Internet Content Creation Industry Unions was established. It introduced eight service initiatives, including rights protection, knowledge support, coverage enhancement, cultural and sports exchanges, health care, mental well-being, skill improvement, and collaborative development. The federation also released 10 positive publicity cases created by content creators, such as a Suona performance of the theme song from the game Black Myth: Wukong.

Moving forward, Yangpu will leverage traditional China chic as a penetrating point to explore the integration of subcultures with mainstream culture. It plans to improve policy measures, enhance support systems, and step up efforts to cultivate and bring in ACGN enterprises related to content creation, platform operation, and derivative product development.

The newly inaugurated Wujiaochang Hall C • Valley WAN ACGN Street has become a hub for over 10 unique ACGN brands and features irregular IP pop-up events. The street also boasts a variety of engaging spaces, including the Goods Market, the Otaku Dance Club, the Chi Forest Live House, and the ACGN Makeup Room, providing consumers with an unparalleled 24-hour immersive ACGN experience. Just a short 10-minute walk from the Wujiaochang business district, Daxue Road is a melting pot of diverse restaurants, bars, and cafes. This area is also home to several treasure "goods shops" (ACGN merchandise stores) which are a paradise for ACGN enthusiasts. In addition to these shops, even the bookstores tucked away in the alleys have an anime-inspired aesthetic. The upgrading of business districts and the accelerated integration of commerce, tourism, culture, sports, and exhibitions are further driving the high-quality development of the ACGN industry in Yangpu.

In 2025, Yangpu will focus on fostering new consumption growth areas such as digital entertainment, ACGN culture, and art festivals & exhibitions. It aims to create a more relaxed and inclusive consumer market environment and continuously set new trends for fashionable consumption.

How does the "new" flavor of the Spring Festival offer a high quality-price ratio?

How does the digital transformation of enterprises in Yangpu rejuvenate the "authentic old flavors" to make them last longer?

In recent years, purchasing quality services from well-established food brands at more affordable prices has become a sought-after "quality-to-price ratio" among many young people. As the Spring Festival approaches, time-honored brands have also become a popular choice for many citizens to buy New Year's goods and dine out. Meanwhile, these well-known brands are continuously exploring and deepening their digital transformation in the catering industry, achieving renewed development.

"Xiandelai ribs rice cakes, Dongtaixiang pan-fried buns, Shendacheng wontons, Laoshengxing soup dumplings, and Dafugui vegetable rice with salted pork - delicious and affordable, and you can have a different meal every day of the week. These brands offer both dine-in and delivery options." On weekdays, Mr. Zhou, a local from Shanghai, often recommends these lunch options to his colleagues from other areas. In Shanghai, there are many young people like Mr. Zhou who treat these traditional eateries as their "weekday canteens".

At the recent "2025 Innovation Exchange Conference for Time-Honored Catering Brands", Meituan announced the launch of the "Support Plan for Chinese Time-Honored Brands", introducing a series of initiatives to help these brands achieve high-quality development.

Permanent free "takeout manager" service: Professional takeout operators will take over the management of merchants' online stores, offering free courses on brand marketing and store management to help more Chinese time-honored brands leverage online tools.

Customized online tags for Chinese time-honored brands: Meituan has created exclusive online tags for these brands. Consumers can search for "Chinese time-honored brands" on Meituan and Dianping to find certified stores and recognize "authentic old flavors". To date, over 3,900 stores have been tagged.

Free access to digital tools: providing "massive exposures" and "rebates for ten thousand stores" to support the incubation and operation of branded satellite stores with parent brands' qualifications; offering free access to AI-based site and product selection tools, the BETTER customer growth model, and other digital tools to help these brands capture market opportunities more accurately; opening new online retail channels with dedicated customer service and streamlined store-opening processes.

According to Xue Bing, General Manager of Meituan Waimai (Meituan Takeout), with the digital support from Meituan's platform, time-honored catering brands have continuously rejuvenated and experienced significant growth. The online search volume for these brands has kept rising, with the search volume for "time-honored cuisine" on Meituan's app increasing 18 times over the three years. Additionally, the group purchase volume of Chinese time-honored brands on Meituan has grown 4.5 times over the five years.

"An increasing number of young consumers have become loyal fans of these time-honored brands, with over 50% being under 35 years old." Xue noted that driven by digital transformation, these brands are continuously embracing new growth opportunities.

Creative New Year's goods at your fingertips add a unique touch of fun to the Spring Festival dinner table

Recently, the festive atmosphere at Dingdong Maicai's Guohe Outlet has become increasingly rich with the Spring Festival approaching. Staff members are continuously restocking a variety of New Year's goods to fully meet consumer needs.

Among the highlights is a lifelike lion-shaped "steamed bun" that has caught many consumers' attention. This bun is made under the guidance of an intangible cultural heritage (ICH) inheritor from Weifang, Shandong. It features a sweet red bean paste filling and a soft, fragrant texture, according to Outlet Manager Han Meng.

This year, Dingdong Maicai has introduced creative shapes and optimized ingredients for traditional Chinese New Year staples and snacks, making them more fashionable and appealing. For example, its own brand Liangxin Jiangren has launched several innovative types of eight-treasure rice pudding. The "Starry Sky Eight-Treasure Rice Pudding" has become particularly popular among children. Made with quality ingredients such as Heilongjiang glutinous rice, Yunnan purple rice, and northeastern Chinese millet, it forms a starry sky pattern when steamed, offering both visual appeal and delicious taste."

For the New Year's Eve dinner, every household needs a centerpiece dish to impress their guests. Dingdong Maicai has launched a variety of specialty dishes, such as steamed Boston lobster with garlic and vermicelli noodles, squirrel-shaped mandarin fish, Shanghai-style deep-fried pork knuckles, and Cantonese-style squabs. These dishes, made with quality ingredients, can easily replicate the flavors of restaurant meals through simple heating or cooking.

In addition, products with auspicious meanings, such as one-meter-long hawthorn candied haws, "prosperity" peach crisp gift sets, and New Year silver willow fortune buckets, have a unique touch of fun to the Spring Festival dinner table. These items not only enhance the festive atmosphere but also provide a sense of nostalgia and sharing.

A head of Dingdong Maicai noted that the consumption of New Year's goods on the platform has entered a peak period, with sales continuing to rise. "We expect that the overall sales around this Spring Festival will increase by about 20% year on year."