Northwest China's Tianshui spicy hot pot goes viral on social media

Tianshui malatang, a version of a spicy hot pot in northwest China's Gansu Province, has recently gone viral on Chinese media, attracting many tourists from all over the country to taste the dish.

Malatang, which means "numbingly spicy soup," is a one-pot noodle soup brimming with hot pot flavor. The numbing sensation of spiciness forms the "soul flavor" of the dish. This "soul" comes from local specialty ingredients – Maiji peppercorns and Gangu chili peppers.

Data from TongCheng Travel, one of the major online travel agencies in China, show that, as of Thursday, searches for travel to Tianshui surged by 186 percent over the previous week and have maintained a rapid upward trend.

Meanwhile, another online travel site, Trip.com, revealed on Tuesday that bookings for hotels and attractions were all up 40 percent year-over-year during the past month in the city.

According to the China News Agency, a restaurant owner in Tianshui said he has been serving more than 400 customers a day, as people from other cities and provinces drive to the city to try the malatang.

"There has been a long queue outside my restaurant even on weekdays," the shop owner was quoted as saying. One customer posted on Chinese social media giant Sina Weibo that she had queued for six hours to get the dish.

Many malatang shops in Tianshui have even extended their business hours to cater to the increasing number of customers arriving from all over the country.

To facilitate tourists' growing tasting of this delicious food, the city government recently unveiled a "malatang carnival" with eight activities to help visitors learn about the city and its cuisine.

During the period, the local authorities provide special bus lines and prepare agricultural specialties, boutique cultural tourism routes and exquisite cultural and creative products to allow tourists to experience the charm of local culture while savoring the dish.

The weeklong festival, which started on Saturday, is expected to attract dozens of local businesses and hundreds and thousands of tourists from all over the country to join in the spicy hot pot "carnival."