标签： 419上海

Text | QuestMobile

QuestMobile data shows that as of June 2024, the monthly active users of mobile Internet reached 1.235 billion, up 1.8% year-on-year, which is different from the previous market growth supported by users in fourth-and fifth-tier cities. In the first half of this year, new users mainly came from first-tier cities, which also increased the proportion of first-tier users to 9.3% (up 1% year-on-year), indicating that the trend of people gathering in first-tier cities in the first half of this year was obvious.

The change of people has brought about changes in the use of different fields. Online entertainment, life consumption, education and job hunting, travel, shopping finance and automobile consumption have become "six bright areas". In June, 2024, the number of monthly users in the life service industry reached 865 million, and the average monthly usage time reached 222.8 minutes, up by 4.5% and 4.8% respectively, indicating that the recovery trend of urban life consumption was obvious, especially for local life and film performances, and the monthly life scale increased by 11.1% and 22.7% respectively.

In the field of online entertainment, the monthly users of short videos have reached 989 million; In the field of education and job hunting, the monthly users of educational tools reached 133 million, an increase of 14.5% year-on-year; The total number of users in the field of travel has reached 1.067 billion, and the monthly users of travel tools, flight services, hotel services, train services and car services have increased by 35%, 29.9%, 25.8%, 24.8% and 16.2% respectively. In the fields of shopping finance and automobile consumption, the monthly living scale of the mobile shopping industry reached 1.08 billion, up by 3.5% year-on-year. The rise of banking apps and automobile companies apps is changing the traditional usage mode of these two fields … …

In addition to the above six major areas, in the past year, the AIGC APP industry stood out among all secondary Internet industries, and the industry scale ushered in explosive growth. QuestMobile data shows that in June 2024, the monthly active users of AIGC apps reached 61.7 million, a year-on-year increase of 653.3% (a net increase of 53.5 million). At the same time, in the past year, the number of new users of AIGC was mainly from users in new first-,second-and third-tier cities. Young people under the age of 40 are the core "early adopters", accounting for more than 80%. The instability of early adopters also led to a year-on-year decrease of 23.5% (_) in the average usage time of AIGC industry & hellip; Sticky, sticky, sticky, the important thing is said three times, and it is king to use it!

The other is cloud service and big model service for B-side. Besides traditional AI PaaS and AI IaaS, AIGC apps have been subdivided based on scenes, covering various B-side application fields such as commercial copywriting, office work, digital human/intelligent customer service, commercial audio-visual images, etc. For example, the "shooting" of video scripts, the "Meitu Design Studio" generated by advertising materials, and the "Magic Sound Workshop" dubbed by AI.

At the same time, embedded AI, intelligent shopping guide in the field of e-commerce, intelligent assistant in tools, etc. have been laid out in the head APP of the whole network, which strengthens the convenience of existing users in using the APP, develops more humanized functions, and increases the stickiness of using the APP. For example, Taobao asks for access to the "Tongyi Thousand Questions Model", which has the functions of senior shopping guide, life assistant, gourmet, travel planning, soul writer, etc., and provides users with functions such as product selection, recommendation and itinerary suggestion.

Obviously, this further intensifies the competition intensity of the whole AI application … … How to play specifically? Read the report … …

1. The policy system has been continuously improved, and the infrastructure has been continuously built. The scale of China’s digital economy is booming, and the Internet market traffic has grown steadily. 1.1 In the first half of 2024, the state issued a number of policies around the fields of data elements, digital economy, digital society and smart city construction, which promoted the high-quality development of the digital economy and achieved remarkable results.

Statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics show that from January to May, the operating income of information transmission, software and information technology service enterprises above designated size increased by 11.2%; In the first half of the year, the online retail sales of physical goods increased by 8.8% year-on-year, accounting for 25.3% of the total retail sales of social consumer goods.

1.2 The revenue of emerging digital economy businesses such as cloud computing, big data and Internet of Things has been rising year after year, accounting for over 20% of telecom business revenue in 2023.

1.3 The pace of infrastructure construction in the digital economy has been accelerated, and the network infrastructure and computing infrastructure have been continuously expanded and accelerated, providing strong support for the development of the digital economy.

1.4 Internet market traffic maintained a steady upward trend, with an annual growth rate of around 2.0%.

1.5 At this stage, the increase of Internet users mainly comes from people in first-tier cities, and users gather in high-tier cities.

1.6 The degree of touching the net of the whole network has fluctuated, the monthly average usage time has increased, while the average usage times have slightly decreased, and the user’s concentration on APP usage has increased.

1.7 The number of apps used per capita in the whole network is basically the same, and the proportion of users who use 21-40 apps per month has increased.

QuestMobile data shows that it may be influenced by the continuous increase of a large number of AIGC APP in the past year. The proportion of users who use 21-40 apps per month is higher than that of the same period of last year. In June 2024, 31.1% of users used 21-30 apps, and 21.4% used 31-40 apps.

2. cmnet New Match Point 2.1 The AIGC industry has grown rapidly and has become an indispensable part of the growth of the Internet market.

1 Ⅰ. QuestMobile data shows that 93 Internet secondary industries have experienced a certain degree of traffic decline, with 46.5% of the secondary industries experiencing positive growth, of which 3 have a growth rate higher than 100%, and the high-speed growth industries have become fresh blood injections for the market.

Ii. in the past year, AIGC APP industry stood out among all the secondary industries of the internet, and the scale of the industry ushered in explosive growth.

According to QuestMobile data, in June 2024, the monthly active users of AIGC APP industry reached 61.7 million, a year-on-year increase of 653.3%.

Iii. The growth of AIGC APP industry mainly comes from men, young people under 40 years old, users in new first-tier cities, second-tier cities and third-tier cities.

Ⅳ. Although the scale of AIGC APP industry has surged, there may be some "early adopters" who are not deeply used, resulting in a certain reduction in the average usage time of the industry compared with last year.

2.2 On top of traditional B-end areas such as enterprise services and e-commerce, emerging services such as cloud services and large-scale model services are attracting increasing attention.

I. The B-end business of Internet head enterprises takes basic cloud computing as the underlying infrastructure, and relies on two AI platforms, AI PaaS and AI IaaS, as well as AI universal products, focusing on core scenarios of different industries and delivering various solutions to B-end customers.

Ii. [B-side traffic] AI big model service mainly includes big model development platform, AI light application development platform and agent creation and distribution platform, which are progressive step by step to jointly expand the B-side traffic boundary of the Internet.

Iii Ⅲ. AIGC APP covers all kinds of B-side scenes, involving commercial copywriting, office work, digital people/intelligent customer service, commercial audio-visual images, etc.

3. AIGC APP grabs users with scenes: the monthly active users of AIGC APP industry have broken 60 million, and it has gradually impacted other industries.

3.1 2024 became the first year of development of AI-related applications, and the scale of AIGC APP industry grew rapidly, with the scale exceeding 60 million in June.

3.2 From the existing application scenarios, it can be roughly divided into two major tracks: AI tools and AI social/entertainment; There are both scene-focused apps and comprehensive apps covering multiple scenes.

3.3 With the further development of AIGC APP industry, its penetration into the Internet head industry is obvious, and it gradually begins to have an impact on various industries.

3.4 The head apps of the whole network continue to be laid out in the AI field, and most of them have embedded AI functions, covering intelligent shopping guide, intelligent assistant, intelligent search, intelligent wizard and other functions.

3.5 The trend of AI in the Internet head industry has been significantly strengthened. The APPlication of the head industry relies on its own high-traffic foundation, users’ long-term usage habits, and the platform’s deep understanding of users to further strengthen the attributes of the app by using AI.

4. Industry competition around AI, when all scenarios are gradually AI-oriented, leave it to the market to think.

No matter what form of AI carrier, it has its own advantages, and choosing the right scene and creating a high-quality user experience is the key to success.

5. Online marketing has grown steadily. Brands aim at high-quality content, use hot events, and gain insight into current social emotions to achieve the best marketing effect. 5.1 Online marketing has grown steadily, and the marketing budget has tilted towards effect advertising.

I. The Internet advertising market continued to grow in the first half of 2024, with the steady growth of domestic economy and the acceleration of digital transformation as the main driving forces.

Ⅱ. Mobile marketing remained stable, while the content side promoted big-screen marketing to be active.

Iii. advertising in consumer industry has been tightened, advertising strategy has been more focused on the head industry, and marketing has changed to a more effective direction.

Ⅳ. Optimize the brand launching strategy and tilt the budget to the effect advertisement.

ⅴ. Short video and instant messaging media have gained market share due to their strong social interaction.

ⅵ. In addition to hard and wide exposure, the brand is also supplemented by soft and wide delivery, which subtly occupies the user’s mind.

Overall, it presents the pre-positioning characteristics of promoting soft and wide delivery, which is particularly prominent in the beauty care and household appliances industries.

ⅶ. Domestic brands are also not to be outdone in soft advertising, competing with international brands on the same stage.

In the beauty industry, domestic brands such as Kanshu and Polaiya rank among the top in the soft-wide launch, with the amount of investment exceeding 20 million, especially in household appliances. The top three brands in the launch cost are all domestic brands.

5.2 Hot drama marketing is in full swing, from the content field to the consumption field, the brand aims at high-quality content.

ⅰ. In the first half of 2024, long dramas exploded frequently, and the influence of head works continued.

Ii. The solo dramas on each platform compete in the same file, with multiple types and themes, which satisfies the audience’s content preferences and also drives the brand marketing enthusiasm.

ⅲ. The hit TV series has obvious advantages in attracting gold, among which the cooperation between fast-moving brands is the most active.

Ⅳ. The short drama industry is not only improving its industrial chain, but also maturing its business model, covering advertising cooperation and user payment mode, and expanding into the fields of live broadcast and delivery.

ⅴ. Short plays have become one of the most important forms of entertainment for users. The penetration rate of short play content users on short video platforms exceeds 60%, and nearly 30% of them are deep viewing users.

According to QuestMobile data, the short drama content of Tik Tok and Aauto Quicker platforms reached 474 million and 259 million users respectively, including 132,452,000 and 69,280,000 in-depth users.

ⅵ. For short dramas on short video platforms, the number of women and middle-spending groups has increased significantly, Tik Tok has attracted more people under the age of 24 and high-spending groups, and Aauto Quicker has expanded more social backbones.

ⅶ. The track of short plays is increasingly involuted, and the theme is rapidly renewed. Monitoring the market dynamics in time and responding to the audience’s needs quickly become an important consideration for short play creators and brand strategy formulation.

The popular content elements of short dramas on short video platforms are similar, and elements such as overbearing president, rebirth, affection and cute baby are mentioned in high frequency. Short dramas are also the visual expression of the previous network "cool text".

ⅷ. Diversified themes attract different audiences, and brands accurately screen users through customized short plays.

For example, Grain Rain’s short drama "The Great New Year’s Eve" with the theme of divorce and affection, the broadcast time coincides with the New Year’s reunion time, attracting more than 200 million users on the Tik Tok platform to watch, with a relatively wide audience. Polaiya’s short drama "Awake!" The Love Brain attracted more young women to watch.

ⅸ. Short plays bring obvious user increment for cooperative brands.

QuestMobile data shows that among the users reached in the two months after the launch of "New Year’s Eve", 22.269 million users paid attention to Grain Rain brand content in February 2024, up 529.9% from the previous month. Wake up! Among the users of Love Brain, 11.953 million users paid attention to the content of Polaiya in November 2023, up 31.3% from the previous month.

ⅹ. The e-commerce platform also aims at the short drama track, draining itself through short dramas, gaining insight into user preferences, and applying the latest themes to attract users’ attention.

QuestMobile data shows that half of the users who reached the JD.COM cooperation short play "Rebirth Me as an Agent in the AI World" used JD.COM APP later, which was 5.1 percentage points higher than that of the whole network using JD.COM APP, which reflected the short play’s drainage effect on the e-commerce platform to some extent.

?. Paid short plays can effectively attract and transform high-consumption users through plot setting; In addition, "book to drama" injected new traffic into the original IP platform.

5.3 endorsement marketing stimulates consumption potential, and brand popularity gains short-term high exposure.

I. In the first half of 2024, brands such as beauty and food continued to seize consumers’ minds through endorsement marketing.

Ⅱ. Top-stream spokespersons can effectively boost the brand popularity in a short period of time, and the high investment in endorsement fees will incite multiple marketing effects. At the same time, the fit between spokespersons and brand tonality is equally important.

5.4 brand marketing step on the current hot events and grasp the social emotional marketing.

I. Hot event-Graduation season marketing: The brand aims at the future young consumers, creates a sense of ceremony in graduation season with sincerity, directly hits the hearts of young people, and deepens the communication between the brand and young people.

Ii. Hot Events-Sports Marketing: In view of the hot events of the whole people, brands compete to display and attract consumers’ attention from different angles through differentiated marketing strategies.

For example, Yili jumped out of the competition of brand resources and cut into the brand positioning of "fan partner" in the European Cup from the perspective of crowd insight; Xicha designed the exclusive image of Paris Olympic Games — — "Running Axi" appeared in the streets of Paris.

ⅲ. Hot Events-Sports Marketing: Soft and wide brand marketing also borrows the popularity of large-scale sports events.

During the European Cup, the number of commercial content of the brand’s reference to the European Cup increased significantly, and before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games, the commercial content of related talents was on the rise.

Ⅳ. Grasping Social Emotion-Slow People’s Day: Insight into users’ demand for "slow life" and deepening the connection between brands and "slow people"

In June 2024, Xiaohongshu held the "Xiaohongshu IP Annual Experience Conference" in Dali, Yunnan, and built a "slow people tribe" on the spot, creating a series of activities such as slow people music festival, slow people camping, slow people not going to the market, slow people mind workshop, etc., so that more brands can pay attention to the real needs of users behind "slow life".

ⅴ. Grasping Social Emotions-Music Festival Marketing: More and more brands also aim at music festival scenes, and realize two-way travel with young people by creating their own or taking advantage of the IP of music festivals.

ⅵ. Frontier technology marketing-AI marketing: AIGC has gradually changed from a hot topic to the crowning touch of advertising creativity; At the same time, short plays have also begun to explore the era of efficient creation of "AI co-creation"

1. Online entertainment scenes

1.1 The demand for online entertainment is strong, and most scenes keep growing. Short videos, mobile games and online videos are the digital entertainment fields where users are mainly concentrated.

1.2 The scale of users in the short video industry keeps growing in time, which highlights its lasting market attraction and development potential.

1.3 The traffic in the short video industry is highly concentrated, and the monthly active users in Tik Tok and Aauto Quicker account for over 90% of the traffic in the industry.

1.4 The short video head platform has 300 million overlapping users, which puts forward higher requirements for content innovation, user experience optimization and differentiation, thus stabilizing the existing user groups and attracting new users.

1.5 AI creative function upgrade iteration accelerated, attracting users to actively participate.

QuestMobile data shows that Tik Tok’s Clipping APP and Aauto Quicker’s Fast Shadow APP have been launched one after another to enhance users’ appeal, with the average monthly usage time reaching 50.2 minutes and 45.2 minutes, up by 7.1% and 15.3% respectively.

1.6 Tencent Video topped the online video industry with 400 million monthly active users; The flow of short plays has begun to take shape, and MAU, a free short play of red fruit, has exceeded 75 million.

1.7 The influence of content has deepened, and high-quality dramas, variety shows and other content have driven the platform traffic to increase significantly.

1.8 The application pattern of online music head is relatively stable, and the growth rate of soda music and tomato listening music version is bright.

1.9 online music APP strengthens deep cooperation with automobile brands, creates a new ecology of in-vehicle entertainment, enhances user experience and expands market boundaries.

QuestMobile data shows that the coincidence rates of LI and Cool Dog Music, Xiaomi Car and QQ Music, AITO and Netease Cloud Music APP reach 18.1%, 37.7% and 28.4% respectively, which reflects the high demand of car users for music and lays a traffic foundation for car music ecology.

1.10 Online reading head platform maintained a growth trend, but it is worth noting that the length of users dropped significantly, content consumption tended to be fragmented, and competition intensified.

1.11 Users aged 36 and above and users in third-and fourth-tier cities constitute a highly sticky user group of online reading platform.

1.12 kinds of MMORPG and strategy games, with rich social interaction and in-depth strategy play, have effectively improved and maintained player activity with the help of timely operation activities.

1.13 The number of active users of "Collapse: Star Dome Railway" APP is stable at more than 12 million, and the user stickiness is steadily increasing. Users aged 25-35 are its core user groups, accounting for over 70% of the active users.

1.14 The newly launched Dungeons and Warriors: The Origin has more than 20 million active users in June, and the average daily use time is as long as 160 minutes. As a mobile version of the classic end tour, the game has successfully attracted a wide range of players of different ages.

1.15 Leisure, decompression, competitive battles and other types of WeChat games have gained tens of millions of traffic.

2, life consumption scene 2.1 life service industry

I. People’s demand and stickiness for life services have remained steadily deepening, with the local life and film performance industries growing more prominently year on year.

Ii. Life service applications still maintain the characteristics of multi-channel traffic layout, driving the overall traffic growth of applications.

Iii. meituan accelerated the development of instant retail business and expanded the lineup of cooperative brands, and people’s emergency needs also increased rapidly during the early morning to morning rush hours.

Ⅳ. As a comprehensive service platform for local life, the overlap between public comment and content platform is increasing, and its overlapping users are obviously different due to the characteristics of content platform.

ⅴ. While the channels of food service platform are diversified, the traffic distribution is gradually balanced, and WeChat applet is still the main channel.

ⅵ. With the fluctuation of the market in the past two years, the online traffic of major chain restaurants and new tea brands also showed different changes.

ⅶ. The express logistics industry maintained steady growth, and the year-on-year traffic of both the platform side and the distribution side increased to varying degrees.

ⅷ. The popularity of the film performance market has also led to a substantial increase in platform traffic, especially during holidays and the opening time of tickets for important star concerts, which will show obvious traffic peaks.

2.2 Health and Beauty Industry

ⅰ. Health and beauty industry is one of the industries with outstanding growth this summer. As its main sub-industry, the sports and fitness industry has also increased substantially year-on-year, and the traffic has once again exceeded 70 million after two years.

Ii. 2024 is a big year for sports, and many international events are held in June-August, which greatly drives everyone’s sports enthusiasm and makes the popular events on the platform more diversified.

ⅲ. Most of the head apps in the sports and fitness industry show a trend of traffic growth, among which hot sweat dance, flashing campus, running laps and other deep-rooted market segments, traffic growth is more prominent.

Ⅳ. Artificial intelligence has developed rapidly in the field of sports and fitness. In addition to providing users with personalized and customized fitness programs through big data models, AI has also been fully applied in specific scenarios to enhance the user experience.

3. Education job hunting scene

3.1 The application of educational tools is increasingly favored by students and educators because of its efficient and convenient auxiliary functions, and has become a new driving force to promote the growth of educational science and technology.

3.2 The traffic performance of digital applications in such scenes as teacher courseware optimization, parents’ homework verification and class management is bright.

3.3 Job-hunting recruitment APP industry traffic increased, highlighting the trend of active market and digital recruitment.

3.4 The demand in the job market has been released, and the traffic of head job-hunting apps has increased significantly.

3.5 The number of overlapping users of job-seeking recruitment apps has increased, highlighting the diversified job-seeking strategies of job seekers.

4. Travel scenes

4.1 The release of users’ demand for going out in the past year has promoted the continuous growth of the tourism travel APP industry, which has reached 1.067 billion at present, with huge market growth potential.

4.2 In the sub-sectors of tourism travel, travel tools, flight services and hotel services ranked in the top three in terms of year-on-year growth.

4.3 Typical tourism platforms obtain traffic through multi-channel layout, achieving year-on-year traffic growth, among which the traffic growth of Disney Resort and Changlong tourism applications is prominent, accounting for 715.7% and 158.6% respectively.

4.4 Geographically, the traffic of online travel industry is distributed in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and other first-tier and new first-tier cities, coastal areas and northwest regions.

4.5 The popularity of TV series has attracted users to punch in at the shooting location, and all localities have shaped cities into emerging popular tourist destinations through innovative marketing strategies, effectively activating the sinking market economy.

4.6 During the summer vacation, the "cultural craze" continued to heat up, which promoted the official WeChat applets in universities, museums, parks and theme parks to achieve traffic growth, that is, the point-and-use function mode can respond to users’ temporary needs more quickly.

4.7 The advertising rhythm of travel service APP is relatively synchronous, and the advertising creativity is mainly based on hotel/homestay discounts.

4.8 Q2 entered the important launch node of the theme park, and was exposed by Tik Tok+WeChat, and continued into the summer marketing season.

4.9 During holidays, the typical platform launched a series of "discounted trips" to promote the active platform; In addition, under the hot market of "wilderness tour" in the west of Xinjiang, Tibet and Qinghai, the traffic of car rental platforms has increased.

4.10 As outbound tourism continues to be hot, users’ enthusiasm for international travel continues to heat up, driving the outbound travel application traffic to increase significantly.

4.11 Ferry, train and aviation are important means of transportation for users to travel, and the general platform traffic has increased to varying degrees.

4.12 The upsurge of outbound travel and go on road trip and Wenzhou tourism has promoted the surge of hotel demand, and the hotel industry has continuously optimized the accommodation experience by using digital technology, thus further promoting the continuous growth of platform traffic.

5. Shopping financial scenario

5.1 In the second quarter, the traffic of the e-commerce industry maintained growth, and "content+live broadcast" became an indispensable part of the traditional e-commerce platform, and the usage time of users continued to increase.

5.2 The head platform "Taopin Beijing", the development of green economy and niche circle economy led to a year-on-year growth rate of idle fish APP traffic of over 30%, and the traffic of digital e-commerce platform also had a high growth rate.

5.3 During the 618 Shopping Festival this year, various e-commerce platforms canceled pre-sales one after another, which greatly promoted the pace of activities, and the traffic reached its peak on the day of May 20.

5.4 Content platforms such as Tik Tok, Aauto Quicker and Xiaohongshu made full use of their live broadcast advantages and launched a series of live broadcast activities to enhance user participation, and the overall usage time of users during the "618 Promotion" period was improved.

During the "5.5" promotion period, it was particularly obvious that cross-platform advertising jumped to the integrated e-commerce platform.

5.6 During the e-commerce promotion period, consumer brands concentrated their marketing and effectively exposed them with the help of the promotion bank.

During the period of 5.7 618, all kinds of brands also used soft and wide content to create momentum, and the launch was expanding.

5.8 In all segments of financial management, the growth rate of mobile banking APP traffic is the highest, and the stock trading platform and insurance service platform also have higher growth.

5.9 State-owned banks and head joint-stock banks have outstanding traffic advantages, and the number of users of Agricultural Bank of China, ICBC, China Construction Bank and China Merchants Bank has exceeded 100 million, and they still maintain a high growth rate; City commercial banks and rural commercial banks have flourished with the support of local governments.

5.10 Banks promote the integration of life scenes and financial services through credit card APP, set up local life consumption portals, and launch rich territorial preferential activities to attract users’ consumption.

5.11 In addition to completing the basic functions of trading, the integrated platform also provides rich information, social interaction and other services to attract more users.

5.12 The comprehensive platform has a wider audience, and the proportion of female users of brokerage-owned apps is relatively high, and the audience age group is concentrated between 36 and 45 years old.

5.13 Large-scale model layout has been carried out in all walks of life, and a number of banks and brokers have begun to build large-scale AI models in the vertical field of the financial industry.

6, automobile consumption scene

6.1 Users’ habit of using the automobile information platform has gradually stabilized, and the industry traffic has maintained steady growth.

6.2 Traditional car companies represented by BYD take today’s headlines, Tik Tok and vertical car information platforms as the main delivery channels; Popular new power brands such as AITO have strengthened their launch on social media platforms such as Weibo, Xiaohongshu and WeChat.

6.3 More automobile brands choose short videos, live broadcasts and other new media forms for marketing, and content dissemination is easier to create hot events and expand brand influence.

6.4 Under the background of intelligent networking, car companies actively build online channels with APP as the core, joint venture car companies have stock advantages, and domestic emerging independent brands have accelerated their pace of catching up.

6.5 Among the new energy car buyers, the proportion of young people under the age of 35 increased significantly, and the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in second-and third-tier cities continued to increase, gradually inciting the fourth-tier and below markets.

6.6 In the second quarter, a number of new cars went on the market, and the ideal L6 became a big hit. In June, the sales volume exceeded 20,000. All three new cars recently launched by BYD were on the list, of which Qin L DM sold 18,000.

6.7 As the fourth model of the Ideal L series, the Ideal L6 is more acceptable to young people, which complements other cars and improves the product layout. BYD Qin L launched five models to attract users of different ages.

6.8 The new M7 Ultra has been greatly upgraded from driver assistance system, active safety technology, chassis and other aspects, providing a safer, more comfortable and intelligent driving experience, and adding color matching to meet consumers’ personalized pursuit.

On May 31, 2024, the new M7 Ultra was officially launched, and four models were launched, among which the five-seat four-wheel drive intelligent driving version was favored by more users, with 4,501 new active vehicles in June.

6.9 In terms of refueling applications, the flow advantages of the first two platforms are obvious, and the user concentration is further improved; With the rapid penetration of new energy vehicles, the construction process of corresponding charging facilities has been accelerated, and the traffic of head-charging brands has maintained rapid growth.

After 6.10, the market accelerated the transformation of new energy, and the demand for electronic components of new energy vehicles increased a lot. Services such as upgrading and maintenance of vehicle systems began to spread rapidly, and the head car maintenance platform began to strengthen cooperation with new energy vehicle enterprises.

1. user scale of TOP50 track No.1app.

2. App scale growth list of 10 million levels

3. TOP list of WeChat applet users

4. Panoramic ecological traffic TOP players

5. China Internet OTT App user scale TOP5.

6. TOP commercial value App media

7. TOP list of Internet advertising media in beauty care industry

8. TOP list of Internet advertising media in food and beverage industry

9. TOP list of Internet advertising media in clothing and luggage industry

10. TOP list of Internet advertising media in automobile brand industry

11, the whole network drama broadcast TOP list

12. TOP list of variety shows in the whole network

13. TOP list of activity of new energy manufacturers

At first glance, the shape of Chongqing, in the mountains, with the river as the pool, built on the cliff, the mountain is the city, the city is the mountain. Among them, there is a ridge named "Daliangzi" (now around Xinhua Road), which runs east-west and passes through the city, dividing the mother city of Yuzhong into two parts: the lower half of the city in the south, which flourished because of the waterway pier, was the political and economic center of Chongqing in the Ming and Qing Dynasties; To the north is the upper half of the city, which is full of diaojiao buildings hanging from steep cliffs and winding streets.　

Time has changed, and the lower half of the city has suddenly turned from the original political and economic center to the crowded streets of ordinary people, hiding everything that was once brilliant and brilliant in the roundabout streets …　

Taking advantage of the National Day holiday, let’s start a cultural tour in the lower half of the city and visit Shancheng Lane, Eighteen Ladders and white elephant street in depth!

Exploring the lower half of the city: a cultural tour of old streets

Shancheng Lane →→→ Eighteen Ladders →→→ white elephant street

Shancheng lane

The history of Shancheng Lane can be traced back to the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In 1900, French missionaries lit lamps along Shancheng Lane to light the way home for passers-by. In the future, every household, with lights like stars, seems to be in the sky, so it has a good name "Tiandeng Lane" or "Tiandeng Street". In 1972, it was officially renamed Shancheng Lane.

"The street lights in the distance are clear, as if shining with countless stars. The stars in the sky appear, as if they were lighting countless street lamps. " In those years when Shancheng Lane was not called "Shancheng Lane", it was like a street with lanterns lit in a fairy tale, floating far away on the mountainside of Chongqing’s mother city, connecting the upper half of the city with the lower half.

Shancheng Lane is built on the mountain, facing the Yangtze River, climbing the hill and climbing the ridge, with a stone ladder-like distribution, which has a typical mountain city style in Chongqing, reaching Pipa Mountain on the upper side and Nanjimen on the lower side.

All the way along Shancheng Lane, you can come across historical sites including Jintangmen Old City Wall, Diaojiao Building, Tixin Hall, the former site of Jinmasi Primary School, etc. Every brick, tile, tree and stone in Shancheng Lane embodies the essence of old street, old city and old lane culture. These buildings with a heavy history, like colorful kaleidoscopes, show the past prosperity of Shancheng Lane one by one.

Old streets can be strolled, old buildings can be read, and scenery, humanities and stories are all in this alley.

It is worth mentioning that during the National Day, the "Wild Theater" in Shancheng Lane was temporarily opened to the public.

When the natural music from South America is playing in the ruins of a century-old church in France, but you stand on the 600-year-old Ming Dynasty wall and listen quietly, this dream-like experience can’t help but fascinate people …

In addition, the "Lantern Festival" dam mat in Shancheng Lane is also in full swing. Interested citizens and tourists can learn about related activities and make an appointment by paying attention to the "Traditional Scenery Area of Shancheng Lane in Chongqing" WeChat WeChat official account.

Traffic travel

1. Bus lines

Take bus No.10, No.308, No.321, No.322, No.346, No.361 and No.429 and get off at Zhongxing Road Station.

　2. Rail transit lines

Take Rail Transit Line 1, exit from Jiaochangkou No.5, and walk for about 6 minutes to Shancheng Lane.

Hotel accommodation

Ten years of backpacking　

Backpack has been committed to building a boutique youth hostel for ten years.

Full coverage of WiFi, complete Kohler bathroom, 24-hour hot water, five-star bedding, coffee, craft beer, national geographic books and magazines, novel works of art in travel destinations all over the world, thematic photography exhibition, screening hall … Take the elevator to the fourth floor hall, and start a fantasy journey exclusively for you from here.

Shop juggling

Nong se Hua Chu　

It has a long history to use flowers as vegetables. Hundreds of years of tradition of "eating flowers" can always bloom some unique charm in the precipitation of years. This is perhaps the most direct way to feel the original taste of flowers.

There are many flowers in the coloring kitchen, such as jasmine, pomegranate, bittersweet flower, kapok, Lady Enforcers, Tangli flower … The cooking of flowers is not only beautiful and interesting, but also has excellent edible value and even medicinal value.

Lingerjie snacks　

When you come to Shancheng Lane, you can rest on the bench by the roadside when you are tired, or you can order a bowl of traditional snacks along the way.

Although there are only two varieties of bean curd and Gaiwancha on the menu of Linger’s snacks, they have diverse tastes. Order a good meal, go up the wooden ladder from the old square table in the lobby, and you can board a small attic with a wide view.

Bubu hotpot　

Trail hot pot, inherited from the domineering of Chongqing hot pot, imbued with the fireworks in the streets and lanes of mountain city.

After boiling, there is a mellow oily fragrance, which is spicy and lasting, and can make citizens and tourists feel the spicy and delicious flavor of authentic Chongqing hot pot.

Xiao zi Xiang Xiang da sweet glutinous dumplings　

There is nothing that can’t be solved with one bite of iced dumplings. If there is, take two bites.

Hand-made glutinous rice balls are put into the pot, picked up after they are cooked, and placed on a bowl full of sand ice. First, take a sip of brown sugar water, then take a sip of sand ice, and finally take a spoonful of ice dumplings, and immediately resurrect with blood. And the signature salted egg yolk sweet potato dumplings, YYDS!

I am happy and ancient.　

Walking into my joy is like walking into a magazine pictorial, where baroque style and retro showa style can be met. Friends who like vintage are absolutely not to be missed, and you can’t stop scouring once you enter!

Eighteen ladder

Humans live by water, so at the intersection of the two rivers, there is the mountain city of Chongqing. So is the Eighteen Ladders.

It is said that there used to be an old well in this area, which was just 18 steps away from the residents’ residence. People were very busy here, fetching water for drinking and washing clothes, so it was gradually called "Eighteen Ladders".

▲ Old Eighteen Ladders

Another view is that in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, people built a stone ladder path here for the convenience of traffic. Because of the steep slope at the upper and lower ends, the ladder was divided into 18 sections, and each section had a platform for passers-by to take a nap, hence the name "eighteen ladders".

A source of water, a source of mountain, this is the city of mountains and waters of Chongqing’s eighteen ladders.

Eighteen ladders are not just a place name. It used to be the path of life and the road of years that mountain people had to go through, and it was the deepest homesickness of Chongqing people. For hundreds of years, it has changed several times, and its prosperity has declined for several autumn.

Here, celebrities and dignitaries, diplomatic envoys, peddlers and pawns, and daily fireworks slowly extend, and countless people temporarily stay here.

Countless Chongqing people and foreigners have wandered around here. They walked down or straight up the ladder, then found the alley and turned back. So they walked casually, touching the most original Chongqing and the oldest mother city, and doing nothing else.

Overlooking the Eighteen Ladders, the looming Diaojiao Building by the river is strewn at random. When you walk into the Eighteen Ladders, you can see all the most common and popular Chongqing fireworks.

It is the fate of the Eighteen Ladders to change from shabby to rebuilt to new life. Eighteen ladders will not disappear in the long river of history like a bubble, but will continue the original street pattern and texture to be reborn.

On September 30th, the 18th Ladder Traditional Scenery Area officially opened.

Looking up is a city, looking down at Festival Walk. As a link between the upper and lower cities, the Eighteen Ladders are the deepest memory and homesickness of Chongqing people.

After careful renovation, the Eighteen Ladders have preserved the "original ecology" in history and humanities, reproduced the "original landform" in business layout, and restored the "original scene" in architectural style, striving to fully present the evolution of mountain space and the changes of citizens’ lives, and strive to create urban renewal samples.

The Eighteen Ladders combed the "Eighteen Scenes" of Seven Streets and Six Alleys, and comprehensively displayed the important historical events, anecdotes of celebrities, urban legends and street features of the Eighteen Ladders, carefully treasured the memory of the city and preserved the old flavor of the mountain city.

On the opening day, many old residents and young people stepped into Tikan Long Lane and met with Eighteen Ladders again.

The updated Eighteen Ladders are full of ancient charm, with old streets, old buildings, time-honored brands and old crafts all the way. The singing on the stage is euphemistic, the trees under the Huangge trees are full of light and shadow, and the sliding poles pass by. The teahouse is noisy and the streets are still familiar with the smell of fireworks. After the reunification, there is always a reason to attract you to stop in generate, cool shops, performing arts shows and movie shooting punch points.

It is understood that during the National Day, Eighteen Ladders will launch national quintessence drama festival, national fashion show, music LIVE party, funny music workshop, meeting with big coffee, live animation night tour and other activities throughout the holiday, accompanying citizens and tourists to celebrate the holidays.

Traffic travel

1. Bus lines

① Get off at Sun Moonlight Square Station on Heping Road by bus, and walk 188 meters to reach the 18th ladder traditional scenic area. You can take bus lines 476 and 0491, etc.

② Get off the bus at Xiaomi City Station and walk 263 meters to reach the Eighteen Ladders traditional scenic area. You can take bus lines 322, 440, 651, 871, 881, sightseeing bus T480, sightseeing bus T002, etc.

③ Get off at Ciqi Street Bus Station, and walk 287 meters to reach the traditional scenery area of Eighteen Ladders. You can take bus lines No.10, No.124, No.152, No.429, No.308 and No.321, etc.

④ Get off the bus at Jie Fangbei Station and walk 679 meters to reach the Eighteen Ladders traditional scenic area. You can take bus lines 462, 465 and 601, sightseeing bus T001, sightseeing bus T480 and airport express K01.

2. Rail transit lines

Take Rail Transit Line 1 or Line 2, get off at Jiaochangkou Station, exit at Exit 4, and walk for about 139 meters to reach the 18th Ladder traditional scenic area.

3. Parking by car

It is suggested to park in Leijiapo Parking Building, Proud World, Jiaochangkou Sunmoon, Xinghe Building and other properties, and then walk into the Eighteen Ladders traditional style area.

Hotel accommodation

Chongqing Shi ba ti pu Shi hotel　

Secluded in the east of the Eighteen Ladders traditional scenic area, it has a unique style and a strong artistic atmosphere. With the Ba people’s martial arts cultural armor as the design element, the diaojiao building stands by the mountain, which is a good place for filming "out of the circle".

Shop juggling

Houxiang　

If you still remember the "upstream canteen" located in Houci Street in the 1980s, you must not miss the thick lane when you walk out of the Mountain City Memory Museum. It recreates the "upstream canteen", where you can taste Chongqing’s special cuisine, and you can also roam the tea house, art exhibition hall, cultural exchange area, etc., and feel the strong cultural atmosphere of the mountain city.

Yuchao store　

When talking and laughing in the trendy old school, you will turn into a dragon as soon as you enter the market. As a mass entertainment gathering place for the quintessence of Chinese performing arts and the fashion art of "National Tide", Yuchaofang will show you the innovative style of "National Tide Crossing Drama+National Tide Sanda Show", and see how Yuchaofang stirs the Chinese trend from another dimension.

Zhu Bingren Art Museum　

In the past 18 ladders, there were many "craftsmen" of various colors on both sides of the hundreds-meter-long ladder ridge, mending pots and bowls, sharpening scissors and chopping knives.

Zhu Bingren Copper, a national intangible brand, will take you into the shocking world of copper with the craftsman spirit inherited for thousands of years. I believe you will be amazed by the exquisite exhibition of copper carving techniques and copper artworks on the spot.

Hong kong police gift shop

In the film and television drama, the image of SIR A in Hong Kong is handsome and heroic. As the first store of Hong Kong police gifts in the mainland, police souvenirs authorized by the Hong Kong police can be bought here, which is definitely worth starting with.

Xiangxiang camellia oleifera　

Camellia oleifera stands, which used to be all over the streets and lanes, are hard to find now, and Eighteen Ladders once again dedicate the warm alley camellia oleifera to the people in the mountain city. Sprinkle crispy prickly heat on the soft rice paste, then pour two spoonfuls of spicy oil, and a bowl of spicy and crisp camellia oleifera will bring back childhood memories.

White elephant street

White elephant street is located between two water docks, Wanglongmen and Taipingmen, adjacent to Chuqimen Medicinal Materials Market, next to the financial district of Datong Street and Shaanxi Street, next to the government yamen, facing the Yangtze River and looking across the river from the south bank. The combination of favorable weather, favorable geographical position and harmonious people has once been the political, cultural and economic center of Chongqing.

In 1886, the earliest cable telegraph office in Chongqing was established here. After the opening of Chongqing in 1891, Britain, the United States and Japan all set up foreign firms here, forming a "financial street", and then customs broker and transport company were also established here. In the 1930s, shipping companies were concentrated in this street. Besides Minsheng Company in the model market and Sanbei Company in Sanjinyuan Lane of Shaanxi Street, Jiejiang Company, Qingguang Company, Swire Company, Nissin Company, Jardine Matheson Company, Pingping Company and China Merchants were all in white elephant street.

White elephant street witnessed many precious firsts in Chongqing: Chongqing Customs Bureau opened the customs for the first time; Chongqing’s first post office-Daqing Post Office; Chongqing newspaper, the first newspaper in Chongqing; Yaoting Lee Mansion, the place where the first electric light was lit in Chongqing; Chongqing’s first sorbet factory-Jade Bird Ice Factory …

▲ Cultural Relics Building

There are nine cultural relics buildings and the city walls from Taiping Gate to Renhe Gate, such as the Chinese Medicine Association, Bufengju, Jiangquantai, and the Customs Complex. Each one represents a microcosm of Chongqing’s development. Today, the restoration of cultural relics has been completed.

Jiang Quantai is recognized as one of the most beautiful buildings in white elephant street, with strong eclectic architectural features and strong Baroque style. During the Anti-Japanese War, it was once the most famous ballroom in Chongqing. After the restoration, Jiang Quantai will show its old style again.

Not far away, the main building of the Chinese Medicine Association is symmetrical and steady, which is not only the most representative combination of Chinese and Western architecture in the modern architectural history of Chongqing, but also one of the most prominent symbols in the history of white elephant street. During the Anti-Japanese War, transporting medicinal materials and ensuring supply for the battlefield in Chongqing was called a barometer of the situation during the Anti-Japanese War.

At the end of 18th century, due to the large number of immigrants coming to Chongqing, the wind of building guild halls prevailed in Chongqing, and Shanxi guild halls came into being. In 1930, because of a sudden fire, the prosperity of Shanxi guild hall disappeared.

Many years later, Chongqing Place Name Culture Exhibition Hall was built and opened on the former site of Shanxi Guild Hall. This is the first creative exhibition hall in China that deeply integrates historical buildings, street style restoration and scientific and technological experience. Precious historical photos, video materials, old objects of Bayu culture and dynamic antique maps of old Chongqing are on display here.

When tourists walk into white elephant street, the heavy sense of history comes to mind, and the retro streets seem to take you into another time and space, silently telling you the past …

On the evening of September 30th, white elephant street officially opened to the outside world. The live performances of the event continued, and citizens and tourists kept coming and going.

During the National Day holiday, wonderful activities such as White Elephant Art Exhibition, Neon Light Show, Song and Dance Drama Performance and Chaojie Market will continue to be staged.

It is reported that citizens and tourists can also find staff to pay attention to WeChat official account, a traditional scenic area in white elephant street, Chongqing, and get garden tickets to participate in interactive games and win exquisite peripheral gifts. The quantity is limited, so hurry up and participate!

Traffic travel

1. Bus lines

Take No.120, No.141, No.372, No.382, No.862 and No.871 and get off at Chuqimen Station.

2. Rail transit lines

Take Rail Transit Line 1 and Line 2 to Jiaochangkou Station, which takes about 12 minutes to navigate and walk.

3. Parking by car

It is suggested to park the garage in Sunac white elephant street South District, and then walk into white elephant street.

Shop juggling

Chongqing Xiling study room art complex　

White elephant street introduced Chongqing Xiling Study Art Complex to build China Zhimei Humanities Study, which is also the first flagship store of Xiling Study in Southwest China.

Chongqing ˙ Xiling Study Room Art Complex was renovated on the basis of the former Xinghua Primary School, a cultural relic unit in Yuzhong District, with "stone painting and calligraphy, cultural activities, cultural and creative gifts, leisure study room, training and research" as its main business sectors.

The main building of Xiling study is divided into three floors. On the first floor, there is a leisure study integrating tea art, tasting incense and business talks, with the essence of spreading epigraphy culture, as well as calligraphy and painting, offering humanistic literacy training such as calligraphy, seal cutting, painting and art appreciation, and life aesthetics training such as tea, incense, flowers and piano; On the second floor, there is a multifunctional art hall, which has both a one-stop literati study and a classical dressing experience. At the same time, according to the four seasons, the four things of the Song people "drinking tea, burning incense, arranging flowers and hanging pictures" are used as the carrier to show the temperament of the Jiangnan literati study; The third floor is Xiling Art Museum, which mainly carries out art exhibitions, artistic creation, academic research, art collection and art services and other related art activities.

On October 6th, from 14: 30 to 15: 30, a parent-child calligraphy and seal cutting activity will be held here. Citizens and tourists can take their children to experience the immersive seal cutting and calligraphy in Xiqiao study, so that this National Day holiday can be spent happily in the calligraphy and calligraphy.

Yangji longfu　

Yangji Longfu was created by the descendants of Yang Mingfeng, a bureaucrat in the late Ming Dynasty. After several generations, today’s Yangji Longfu, rebuilt by Yong Yang, a fourth-generation successor, has become the popular queuing king of Chongqing Jianghu dishes with a brand-new positioning. The dishes pay attention to the inheritance and innovation of Chongqing flavor, and combine vision and taste-"taste all kinds of rivers and lakes and taste the charm of the Republic of China". As soon as you step into Yangji Longfu, a strong Chongqing national tide style comes to your face.

▲ Yangji signature fish

There are not only retro square tables, blue-and-white porcelain, bamboo lanterns, rickshaws, phonographs and other furnishings, but also various characters such as shopkeepers, waiters, young children and girls, which seem to be in a lively wine shop in the Republic of China; Yang Ji’s signature fish, Ba Yu Yi Jue, snacks of the Republic of China, century-old brine, Yang Ji’s roast stalls, Jianghu booze and other bright stalls displayed by category show different cooking methods. Let consumers feel the different characteristics of Bayu, and let people eat with peace of mind.

Qingshan SQUARE　

In the SQUARE shop in Qingshan, Chongqing, there are works by craftsmen from all over Japan.

These handicrafts have two characteristics. First, they are not decorations, but practical daily necessities. The claim of Japanese craftsmen is: "I am only responsible for making it, and it is the people who use it." , is used by people, will produce its value.

The second point is environmental protection. The materials used in handicrafts are mainly natural materials, which are born after careful consideration and effective use of a small amount of resources. After consumption, the materials are all natural and will not pollute the environment.

Picture and text: Zhang Kunkun, Mou Wenxiao, Chen Sabiao, Tian Xiangji, Chongqing white elephant street Traditional Scenic Area, Chongqing Eighteen Ladders Traditional Scenic Area, People’s Daily Online, Chongqing Publishing, Weiyuzhong, Chongqing Micro Life, Thirteen Seats, and Master Lian.

Original title: Explore the historical charm of the lower half of the city! Mountain City Lane, Eighteen Ladders and white elephant street Travel Raiders are coming!

[Disclaimer] Manuscripts that are not marked "Source: Upstream News-chongqing morning post" or "Upstream News LOGO, watermarked text, pictures, audio and video" on the upstream news client are all reposted. If the reposted manuscript involves copyright issues, pleaseContact upstream.

Original title: Hainan Weekly | Have you seen these various bananas?

Wen Hainan Daily reporter Yan Lanqing

The four seasons rotate, and the summer comes to the cold. Plants have an innate sensitivity to light and heat. Located in tropical Hainan, with its special geographical location and unique "light, temperature and water" resources, various plant species have been bred, and bananas are one of the typical representatives. In early spring, we walked through the green fields of banana forests and got a close look at the "bananas" in Hainan Island.

"Take charge of Hua Dan" banana

Banana cultivation has a long history in China. The ancient plantain and banana described the same kind of plantain, and it was not until the Qing Dynasty that they were gradually called bananas, that is, we are familiar with edible bananas with economic value.

In the cultural tradition of China, the banana seems to be in a relatively marginal position, but perhaps because of its combination of beauty and delicacy, no matter how the times change, the banana with millions of fans can easily "go out of the circle".

In Song Dynasty, bud banana is one of the fruits that can be appreciated in summer. In Song Dynasty, Fan Chengda recorded in Gui Hai Yu Heng Zhi: "Bud bananas are as small as chicken bananas, especially fragrant, tender and sweet, and bear fruit in early autumn." Zhou Qufei, a geographer in the Southern Song Dynasty, also wrote: "Bud banana is as small as chicken banana, especially fragrant, tender and sweet, and it is precious to southerners, not comparable to other bananas, and it is only real in early autumn." "Sweet, tender and sweet" is the common memory of "Bud Banana" by Fan Chengda and Zhou Qufei.

In Su Dongpo’s pen, bud banana is also a delicious bear. Su Dongpo once wrote a book to a local governor in Guangxi: "Those who have never known it are fortunate to have tasted it all, and they are ashamed to thank you in a hurry." Between the lines, we can not only feel the great writer’s joy after tasting the perfect banana, but also feel his cherish for the giver’s kindness. In Zhang Qu, an important official in the Qing Dynasty, his love for banana shoots was even more straightforward. According to "A Record of Guangdong’s News", "Banana shoots are beautiful. Milk banana is the second. Drumsticks and bananas are the worst! "

Which variety of bananas has the largest number in Hainan? The answer is banana with fragrant buds, also known as "Chinese banana", which is the most common banana cultivation variety. At present, the proportion of banana in our province is 80%, and the characteristic banana is 20% (characteristic banana is mainly powder banana, tribute banana and plantain, etc.).

The bergamot banana in the "Window of the World Tropical Fruit" in Huzai Village, Dalu Town, qionghai city. Photo courtesy of respondents

In Haikou, Chengmai, Lingao and Danzhou, banana varieties with fragrant buds mainly include Brazil banana, Baodao banana, Nantianhuang and so on, while characteristic bananas are mainly imperial banana and powder banana. From May to August every year, thanks to the unique heat and light conditions in these areas, the land is flat and fertile, and the water source is abundant, the yield of "banana" here is relatively high.

Although the advantages of favorable weather and geographical location are exhausted, the competition among the major varieties of banana is still fierce. Xie Jianghui, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences and chief scientist of the national banana industrial technology system, said that in recent years, with the unremitting efforts of researchers, the banana’ Zhongre No.1′ of the Xiangya banana family officially "debuted" on June 18, 2021. At present, in Datian, Dongfang City, Hainan Province, the highest yield per mu of "Banana’ Zhongre No.1’" can reach 4,100 kg, and its resistance to banana Fusarium wilt is significantly higher than that of Brazilian banana, so it has the characteristics of high resistance to banana Fusarium wilt. At present, China has bred a number of main varieties and disease-resistant varieties, and established a germplasm repository. At present, there are more than 600 banana germplasm resources in China, ranking third in the world.

"Qianzi Sandy" Melaleuca banana

Have you ever seen a plant that can produce 1000 bananas at a time? In the "Window of Tropical Fruits in the World" in Huzai Village, Dalu Town, qionghai city, there is a plant named Melaleuca, which is also called Elephant trunk banana or Thousand Fingers banana. It is native to Southeast Asia, with a plant height of 3-4 meters, from young plants to adult plants. This plant is no different from ordinary banana trees. When it blooms and bears fruit, its scene is spectacular.

Thousand-layer banana unveiled at the 2021 China (Hainan) International Tropical Agricultural Products Winter Fair. Photo by Wei Maojin

People can see many spike-shaped flowers when Melaleuca banana blooms, and it is particularly interesting that when Melaleuca banana blooms, the inflorescence axis will always extend downward, and the pollinated flowers will gradually develop and bear fruit, so usually the upper part of the fruit is mature, and the inflorescence axis is still growing downward, almost close to the ground.

The fruits of Melaleuca banana grow densely and have a large number. Generally, a fruit cluster can reach more than 70 layers, with more than 10 fruits on each layer, and the total number can exceed 1000. On the whole, the fruit clusters are thick on the top and thin on the bottom, 2 to 3 meters long, and naturally fall from the forks. In particular, the fruits are closely arranged layer by layer, forming a series of rough strip-shaped spots. From a distance, it looks like an elephant’s nose hanging on a tree, while the fruit looks like a ring pattern on its trunk, so it has another name of "elephant trunk banana". In Malaysia and other countries, this plant is also known as the "banana king".

Can you eat thousand layers of banana? Zhao Dezhen, sales manager of Hainan Shengda Modern Agricultural Development Co., Ltd., told Hainan Daily reporter that in fact, the fruit of Melaleuca is edible after it matures and turns yellow. However, because its fruit is smaller than ordinary bananas, it has little pulp, and some of it tastes sour, and its edible value is not high. It is mainly used for ornamental purposes, and occasionally it can be seen that mature fruits are enjoyed by birds or squirrels.

Little prince banana, a "young boy"

In the "window of tropical fruits in the world", there is also a plant called "Little Prince Banana". This is a kind of plantain with a maximum height of 60 to 80 cm, which is native to the United States. Because of its small size, it is very suitable for indoor plants and tropical bonsai in gardens or containers. The ripe banana has attractive fruit and can be eaten.

According to the literature, "banana" as a garden ornamental plant was not later than the early Western Han Dynasty. The word "Ba Ju" recorded in Zi Xu Fu by Sima Xiangru, a writer of the Western Han Dynasty, is "Bajiao", which is the earliest record of "Bajiao" in ancient literature. After the Tang Dynasty, plantain became the most common ornamental plant in the garden, and there were a lot of poems chanting the beauty of color, shape and posture of plantain in past dynasties. In particular, the banana leaves are exquisite and clear, and the leaves are light green and lovely. They are planted in front of the garden window to provide shade and cool, and are deeply loved by poets. Li Shangyin has a saying that "the banana opens a green fan", and Yang Wanli once praised it again and again in his poems: "The green banana shakes its fan" and "countless green fans around it make it cool when the wind doesn’t come". Summer is scorching, and the heat is unbearable. Even if there is no wind, the broad leaves of banana give people a burst of coolness.

The times are developing, and the story about "banana" entering the court is also evolving. At present, it is becoming a new development trend to develop banana cultural tourism routes with banana standard demonstration parks and ornamental landscape parks as carriers, and to build an industrial integration model of "planting+logistics+Internet", "planting+processing+sales" and "planting+tourism", which integrates banana planting, processing, trade, tourism and culture. Guo Qingjun, president of Chengmai Banana Association, introduced that a project of "Chengmai Characteristic Banana Smart Industrial Park" covering an area of 700,000 mu was completed on October 19, 2021, and this heavyweight industry is ready to come out.

"Eat to eat" edible bananas

In the "window of tropical fruits in the world", a kind of "banana" looks like a rhinoceros horn, with a long and slender shape and a big head. A banana weighs 2 to 3 kilograms. This kind of "banana" has a domineering name-rhinoceros horn banana, which is a staple food. Because of its high starch content, it is particularly anti-hungry, so it is also used as a staple food in many places in Africa.

Recently, machines roared in the Hainan Characteristic Tropical Fruit Industrial Park in dongshan town, Haikou City. Liang Chengdong, the head of Hainan Characteristic Tropical Fruit Industrial Park Base, told Hainan Daily that workers were cleaning up the staple bananas before they entered the park. In the future, the staple bananas will become one of the new exotic tropical fruit industries in the park. Liang Chengdong said that in the past, in the eyes of most people, bananas were a kind of fruit, but in some countries, bananas were still the staple food for three meals a day, and there were many cooking methods such as steaming, frying, roasting and boiling, which were not only delicious, but also nutritious.

Banana has changed from fruit to staple food, and the change of its function just reflects that people’s understanding of bananas is also advancing with the times. The record of "banana" in Huang Hua Ji Wen in the early Qing Dynasty is the beginning of people’s understanding and attention to banana edible. In fact, the excavation and utilization of ancient Lingnan plantain by people in past dynasties is very rich. Compendium of Materia Medica records that the medicinal value of banana is quite high, and its roots, leaves, fruits and banana juice have different medicinal values. As for the edible aspect of banana, Qunfangpu recorded its root’s "all-meat flavor". "Gui Hai Yu Heng Zhi" records that banana pulp can be used to feed children.

Moreover, in ancient times, banana cloth made of banana fiber was widely used in Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian, and was used as a tribute. But in modern times, with the development of cotton and linen fabrics and the impact of foreign fabrics, banana fabrics almost disappeared in the market.

It is worth mentioning that in history, the ancients used banana leaves to write or practice calligraphy. However, because banana leaves are not well preserved, they will become dry and brittle after being left for a long time. So far, no remains of words on banana leaves have been found. However, in ancient literature, it was found that banana leaves were used instead of paper to write. For example, Tao Gu wrote Qing Yi Lu in the Northern Song Dynasty: "Huai Su lives in the eastern suburb of Lingling Temple. Treat banana. With tens of thousands. Take leaves instead of paper and write. No. It is called’ Green Temple’ and’ Planting Paper’. After that, Daozhou secretariat made a posthumous pursuit of Green Tianming. " From this point of view, the functions of ancient Lingnan banana are not only medicinal, edible, textile, fertilizer, but also writing paper. (Yan Lanqing)