20th March marked the start of a folk culture week in Inner Mongolia, north China, in Togtoh County, where the warming up of the Yellow River was celebrated with colourful cultural performances and fish foods that attracted hundreds of visitors.

The fair is also a component of the larger initiative by Inner Mongolia to increase rural tourism and the popularity of the cultural heritage, with the government underlining the necessity of advising local cuisine and folk culture as a part of the rural revitalisation strategy in China.

The greatest attraction of this folk culture week was the food, approximately 1,500 kilograms of Yellow River carp simmered with local chilli peppers and fennel in eight massive pots, the speciality of spring that was devoured by people who were eager to taste the spring.

Tourists claimed that the food is one of the biggest motivations for them to come back every year.

“I have come to participate in the annual folk culture week. I believe it is the good fish and good chilli peppers that make Togtoh fish so delicious, as well as the good visitor,” Ms Ma.

It was also a time of celebration that spoke of how the Yellow River is the Mother River of China and the birthplace of Chinese civilization. Starting in the Qinghai Province and flowing through nine provinces and autonomous regions, then draining into the Bohai Sea, the river has given life to generations, and it has been at the centre of the cultural identity and national development aspirations.