Around the theme of gourds, we will deepen the integration of canal cuisine and gourds banquet, create gourds cultural elements banquet, and enrich the content of gourds culture festival. "On the 8th, Xue Zhaoli, Deputy Minister of the Propaganda Department of Liaocheng Municipal Committee, said at the press conference of the 16th China Jiangbei Shuicheng · Lianghe Mingzhu (Liaocheng) Gourds Culture and Art Festival that this year's gourds culture and art festival will add the research and development, promotion, tasting, and display content of canal gourds cultural banquet. As a mascot in traditional Chinese culture, gourds have gained high recognition in the market due to their unique form and the symbolism of "fu lu". Xue Zhaoli stated that the gourd industry is one of the most representative characteristic industries in Liaocheng City, with a planting area of over 30000 acres and a processing volume accounting for 75% of the national market share. The annual comprehensive benefits of the gourd industry reach 1.6 billion yuan. Dongchang gourd carving technique has a history of more than 500 years and has been listed as a "national intangible cultural heritage". Dongchangfu District is the largest distribution center in China for buying and selling gourds from all over the world, and has been awarded the title of "Hometown of Chinese Gourd Carving Culture and Art". Liu Jiqiang, member of the Standing Committee of Dongchangfu District Committee and Deputy District Chief of Liaocheng City, introduced that gourd artists adopt techniques such as strangling, tying, rolling, and shaping during the growth period of gourds, allowing gourds to grow into various shapes and create artistic tools such as tea sets, snuff bottles, and craft lamps, giving gourds more cultural connotations and increasing the added value of goods. In addition, gourd craftsmen also combined gourd craft with local Paper Cuttings, dough figurines and other crafts to create practical and ornamental creative works, realizing the kinetic energy transformation of gourd industry from traditional "gourd processing" to "cultural creativity". Liu Jiqiang stated that in recent years, Dongchangfu District has continuously promoted the protection, inheritance, and innovation of gourd carving, and polished the cultural card of gourds. The district has built a high standard Chinese gourd culture park, with gourd culture as the theme and rural living environment as the foundation, highlighting immersive experiences, injecting memories of Luxi, food tribes, Luxi homestays and other formats, and building the cultural park into a unique rural folk leisure tourism destination. In addition, the district has deeply explored the traditional culture of gourds and developed tourism routes such as "Fulu Dongchangfu Gourd Culture Tour" and "Dongchangfu Cultural Heritage Inheritance Tour", allowing tourists to visit gourd planting and processing parks, experience processing techniques, and promote the transformation of the economic growth mode of the gourd industry from "quantity based" to "quality based". Hu Ruiheng, member of the Party Group and Deputy District Chief of Dongchangfu District People's Government, stated that the district has established a professional gourd planting and operation cooperative to achieve unified operation of production, supply, and marketing, and to create the most representative and distinctive full industry chain. At present, there are more than 4500 gourd planting households and over 1500 processing and operating households in Dongchangfu District, planting more than 30 varieties of gourds, with a planting area of 13000 mu, and establishing planting bases in Xinjiang, Shaanxi, Shanxi and other places. Hu Ruiheng said that at present, Dongchangfu District is following the boom of rapid development of Internet and e-commerce, with more than 2000 Hulu e-commerce operators in the whole district, expanding customer sources and sales channels. Luzhuang Village, Tangyi Town, known as "the first village of Chinese gourd", adopts the operation mode of "Internet plus e-commerce". Every family grows gourds and engages in e-commerce. The village has opened more than 300 online stores on Taobao, Tiktok, Kwai and other platforms, with an average annual online sales of 7 million gourds. Its products are exported to Japan, South Korea, the United States, Southeast Asia and other countries and regions. Every year from September to October, a large number of out of town merchants reside in Dongchangfu District and purchase gourd products on-site at the base and market Hu Ruiheng stated that Dongchangfu District relies on abundant resources to innovate the planting, processing, and sales models of gourds, promote the transformation and upgrading of the traditional gourds industry, establish a strong integrated mechanism of production, supply, and marketing, and form a green circular full industry chain of "seed research and development - gourds planting - gourds cultural and creative processing - full ecological tourism", further strengthening the gourds industry economy and empowering rural industrial revitalization. It is reported that the 16th China Jiangbei Water City · Lianghe Pearl (Liaocheng) Hulu Culture and Art Festival will be held in Liaocheng from October 14th to October 16th. The theme of this year's Gourd Culture and Art Festival is "Tell You an Extraordinary Gourd". During the festival, a series of themed activities will be held, including the Chinese Gourd Boutique Exhibition, the Boutique Gourd Craft Competition, the Gourd Culture Innovation Design Competition, the Planting Expert Competition, the Gourd Industry High Quality Development Dialogue, and the Canal Gourd Culture Banquet Exhibition. (New Society)