Few things carry the unique imprint of a land and awaken multisensory memories like cuisine. If you overlay Shanghai’s nationally recognized geographical indication (GI) products on a map, you’ll notice a striking contrast: while most regions boast GI-protected fruits, Chongming Island at the Yangtze River’s mouth serves up an entire banquet—rice, vegetables, meat, and liquor—all nurtured by its fertile soil.

Capitalizing on this distinction, Chongming has meticulously curated and launched its "Chongming GI Banquet" menu, featuring over 50 dishes across three dining scenarios. More than half of the ingredients are authentic GI-certified agricultural products. The proposal for the 15th Five-Year Plan, adopted at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, emphasizes expanding high-quality consumer goods and services. By aligning new demand with innovative supply, Chongming’s banquet isn’t just a culinary delight—it’s a pioneering experiment in leveraging intellectual property (IP) to deepen integration across agriculture, culture, tourism, and commerce, driving consumption and domestic demand.

**A Feast That Tells an Island’s Story** The banquet’s lineup reads like a love letter to Chongming: - *Cold Dishes*: Sauced sand-head fish, drunken Chongming crab, pickled golden melon shreds, scallion-infused taro. - *Hot Dishes*: Handmade egg dumplings, battered Chongming crab, braised white goat, eggplant with crab sauce and white lentils, greens with arrowhead and pork cracklings. - *Soup*: Casserole of taro and goat knuckle. - *Staples*: Chongming white rice. - *Desserts*: Chongming rice cakes. - *Drinks*: Sweet sorghum juice and aged Chongming rice wine.

Dubbed the "Chongming GI Banquet," this spread isn’t just a hearty local meal—it’s a direct conduit to the island’s ecological and cultural essence.

**The Backbone: A Robust GI Portfolio** Chongming’s ability to host such a banquet stems from its unparalleled GI assets. With 15 GI products—9 trademarks and 6 protected items—it accounts for half of Shanghai’s total. These range from ornamental offerings like Chongming boxwood and daffodils to edible staples: rice, white goat, golden melon, rice wine, and sweet sorghum.

Yet, Chongming isn’t resting on its agricultural laurels. While premium ingredients are a given, the island aims to stretch the value chain, transforming GIs from mere "labels" into repeat-consumption "experiences." As Shi Yi, Director of Chongming’s Market Supervision Bureau (IP Office), notes, the banquet embodies a unique brand matrix.

**IP as the Secret Ingredient** At first glance, a banquet and IP rights seem unrelated. But Chongming’s initiative reveals a masterstroke. Yu Chen, Deputy Director of Shanghai’s IP Bureau, highlights that GI preservation and innovation are pivotal to the city’s IP-driven economic growth. GIs transcend mere local specialties—their quality and reputation stem from unique geography, climate, and cultural heritage.

Take Chongming rice wine, a GI product since 2020. Its 750-year-old brewing techniques, blending natural resources with artisanal skill, were recently added to Shanghai’s intangible cultural heritage list. Similarly, the revival of Chongming white goat integrates modernity: Wanhe Agriculture’s high-tech breeding base uses 5G, IoT, and even "goat facial recognition" AI to scale up herds from a mere few dozen to thousands, earning national recognition.

**Unlocking Rural-Urban Synergy** The banquet’s true ambition lies in weaving agriculture, culture, and tourism into a seamless narrative. A tourist might visit for authentic hairy crab, stay an extra night for the GI feast, then explore the rice wine brewery or daffodil gardens—turning GIs into a "golden thread" linking primary, secondary, and tertiary industries.

Beyond the table, Chongming is crafting more GI-infused experiences: hotels plan carnivals and harvest festivals, while Wanhe Agriculture envisions "goat-view" lodges beside its high-tech barns. Even non-edible GIs like boxwood are joining in, with art festivals and heritage sites to boost rural revitalization.

**Next Steps: Scaling the GI Model** Shanghai pledges to foster more GI-driven ventures, supporting localized "GI + agriculture" and "GI + tourism" models to polish these "golden brands." Chongming’s banquet is just the first course in a larger feast of innovation.

*(Original title: Chongming’s "Terroir IP" Takes Center Stage: "Landmark Flavors" Spark New Consumption)*