During the upcoming May Day holiday, Ningbo will host a remarkable consumer festival featuring shopping, entertainment, tasting, and photo opportunities. From April 29 to May 2, 120 nationally recognized time-honored brands will gather at Tianyi Square, Ningbo's urban living room, creating an unmissable event showcasing domestic trendy products.
Guided by the Ministry of Commerce and organized by the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Commerce, the "Shopping in China, Enjoying Consumption" Time-Honored Brands Global Expansion and the 6th "Legends of the Grand Canal" National Trend Consumption Carnival will take place at Ningbo's Tianyi Square. The event's highlight lies in connecting the Grand Canal Cultural Belt with the Maritime Silk Road, bringing together established brands from eight provinces along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. This represents China's first large-scale brand promotion activity combining Grand Canal culture with global expansion of time-honored brands.
Through a "2+6+N" exhibition model, the event will create a multidimensional display structure featuring two premium exhibition zones, six thematic sections, and multiple special activities. This comprehensive setup will demonstrate the profound heritage and cultural significance of Chinese time-honored brands while highlighting their contemporary vitality through innovation, offering an immersive consumer carnival experience.
Following the canal's flow, the exhibition presents regional characteristics from north to south. The event gathers time-honored brands from eight provinces and municipalities including Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, and Zhejiang. The "Canal Premium Pavilion" creates an immersive "Canal Time Corridor" with eight independent thematic zones arranged according to the Grand Canal's geographical flow from north to south, serving as miniature urban living rooms showcasing cultural DNA of time-honored brands.
Beijing's time-honored brands carry the capital's historical weight and local culture. The exhibition area features Beijing Enamel Factory's brilliant cloisonné, Neiliansheng's layered cloth shoes telling stories of journey, and Red Star Erguotou's aroma evoking memories of alleyway life.
Tianjin's time-honored brands represent precious commercial and cultural heritage. Seagull watches record time with precision machinery, Yidecheng snuff maintains centuries-old fragrance, Lutai Chun wine offers mellow richness, and Sheng Xifu continues century-old hat craftsmanship, recalling Tianjin's historical commercial prosperity.
Hebei's brands carry the province's commercial heritage and folk memories. Hengshui Laobaigan's crisp liquor, Yishui inkstones' smooth texture, and Chengde Lulu's fragrant drinks collectively showcase northern craftsmanship nurtured by the canal.
Henan's time-honored brands serve as living carriers of Central Plains culture. Huaishantang preserves millennium-old health wisdom with Chinese yam, while Jinguxuan Jiaotai porcelain embodies Song Dynasty aesthetics with elegant glazes. Visitors can experience Henan's historical significance through these brands.
As a crucial birthplace of Chinese civilization, Shandong will present brands including Dong'e Ejiao, Chaoyixing, Ruifu Oils, Yuhuang Grains, and Furenlou, demonstrating Shandong business wisdom through local products.
Jiangsu's time-honored brands represent the pinnacle of Jiangnan lifestyle aesthetics. Xie Fuchun's century-old egg-shaped powder, Wang Yuanji iron woks preserving kitchen warmth, and Fanjia Pottery's purple clay teapots embodying scholarly elegance condense the region's aesthetic appeal and daily poetry.
Anhui's brands reflect cultural imprints and commercial treasures carved between the Yangtze and Huai rivers. Brands like Liu Hongsheng, Gujing Gongjiu, He Yunqi, and Tao Yongxiang showcase Hui merchants' scholarly business spirit through inksticks, She inkstones, fine teas, and premium liquors.
Zhejiang's time-honored brands represent living carriers of Wu-Yue commercial civilization. The province currently hosts 124 national time-honored brands and 560 provincial-level ones, ranking third and first nationally respectively. Zhejiang's time-honored brands include 91 provincial-or-higher level intangible cultural heritage projects, with 23 at national level and 4 UNESCO-listed. By 2025, provincial-level time-honored brands are projected to exceed 500 billion yuan in sales, with national brands surpassing 140 billion yuan. Seventeen time-honored enterprises have listed domestically or overseas, becoming important growth drivers for Zhejiang's economy.
Brands like Huqingyutang, Zhu Copper Art, Wangxingji, Laorentou, Baizefang, Xiaorehun, Wufangzhai, Daughter's Red, Jinfuchun, and Guhuanshi will present their most representative artisan products.
Leveraging its port heritage, Ningbo has flourished as an eastern starting point of the Maritime Silk Road and one of China's earliest treaty ports. Ningbo currently boasts 12 national time-honored brands, 49 provincial-level brands, and 150 municipal-level brands, with annual production value exceeding 150 billion yuan across food, medicine, smart manufacturing and other sectors, demonstrating strong brand vitality and international competitiveness.
The Ningbo Pavilion deeply integrates the city's characteristics of river-sea convergence and cultural-commercial balance, highlighting Ningbo brands' heritage and innovation in intangible cultural heritage, catering services, and traditional craftsmanship. International visitors particularly appreciate Ningbo's time-honored brands.
The pavilion gathers national brands like Dongfuyuan, Loumaoji, Liyang Distillery, and Shouquanzhai; provincial brands like Yuankang, Dongshengyang, and Yinfa Food; and municipal brands like Sanxue Food, Mengshen Home, and Kaicheng Crafts. Together they create a "Ningbo on the Tip of the Tongue" experience through Dongfuyuan's century-old Ningbo cuisine, Loumaoji's soy sauce and vinegar, Dongshengyang's orange cake and seaweed pastry, Yinfa Food's water-milled rice cakes, Sanxue Food's Ningbo tangyuan, and Liyang Distillery's eastern Zhejiang liquor. Yuankang continues the "Red Gang Tailor" clothing heritage, Mengshen Home demonstrates Ningbo manufacturing's quality as "hidden champions," and Kaicheng Crafts blends traditional skills with modern design, collectively writing Ningbo's millennium-long commercial legacy.
Six thematic exhibition areas each present distinctive characteristics. "National Trend Innovation" displays product upgrades and design innovations; "Artisan Skills" features live demonstrations of traditional techniques; "Taste of China" connects northern and southern flavors; "Millennial Wellness" promotes traditional medicine and herbal culture; "Beautiful China" gathers canal-region liquors for immersive tasting; and "Daily Life" covers essential consumer goods.
Leading brands from across China including Jinzi Ham, Dinglianfang Thousand-Layer Buns, Shaoxing Dongpu Yellow Wine, Hero Pens, Jinfuchun Gambiered Silk, Zhuxian Town Woodblock Prints, Yixing Fan Family Purple Clay, and Cangzhou Jinsi Embroidery will participate. These brands distinctly combine traditional techniques with modern design and international market integration.
As a Zhejiang benchmark, Jinzi Ham maintains traditional Jinhua ham techniques while developing low-salt products for modern diets and establishing smart "future factories." Century-old brand Dinglianfang preserves ancestral recipes using premium ingredients while building modern production systems. Ningbo's intangible cultural heritage brand Jiangjialongmen Thousand-Layer Pastry innovates with trendy packaging and ice cream products. National brand Hero Pens implements "Hero+" strategy through cross-border collaborations, appearing at Frankfurt International Fair and Paris Fashion Week. Brands like Jinfuchun Gambiered Silk and Zhuxian Town Woodblock Prints break traditional constraints through digital development and crossover designs, transforming historical heritage into contemporary trendy products.
The event will feature diverse experiences including Han costume parades, traditional music performances, and flower vendor reenactments, creating immersive historical experiences. From April 29 to May 2, the national trend consumption feast awaits at Tianyi Square!