Xunpu flowery headwear, a signature of Xunpu village in Fengze district, Quanzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, has transformed the small fishing village into a thriving cultural tourism destination.

This August, multiple cultural and tourism events have been held in the village, attracting more visitors and boosting summer tourism consumption, according to Zhuang Qun, deputy Party branch secretary of the Xunpu community in Fengze district.

Data from the Quanzhou municipal bureau of culture, radio, television and tourism show that the village welcomed more than 4.26 million tourist visits between January and July this year, generating tourism revenue of over 860 million yuan (about $120.23 million).

Tourists wearing flowery headwear take selfies at Xunpu village of Quanzhou city, southeast China's Fujian Province, Jan. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)

Cai Hongqiang, deputy director of the bureau, noted that Xunpu's cultural tourism industry originally centered on flowery headwear and travel photography services. This year, however, the village has been actively integrating flowery headwear into a wider range of industries.

One of the pioneers is Huang Liyong, a Xunpu native who opened a flowery headwear shop near the village center in 2011. Her shop now employs about 15 people, including photographers, makeup artists, and flowery headwear designers. During the summer vacation, a peak travel season, it serves around 50–60 customers a day, with numbers sometimes surpassing 100.

She opened the flowery headwear shop with the goal of promoting both flowery headwear and Xunpu women's folk culture. She recalled that business was modest at first, with only a few clients each month. The turning point came in early 2023, when a domestic fashion magazine invited her to style actress Zhao Liying in traditional Xunpu flowery headwear. The short video went viral, garnering millions of likes and turning Xunpu into a magnet for tourists and travel photography studios.

To seize the momentum, Fengze district set up a joint command center involving 18 government departments dedicated to preserving and promoting the Xunpu Folk Culture Village.

In November 2023, the Xunpu flowery headwear folk culture association was established, with Huang Liyong serving as its first president. Founding members of the association primarily consisted of Xunpu flowery headwear operators and related businesses in photography, tourism, and cultural services.

The association aims to regulate market behavior, coordinate promotion of flowery headwear, collect relevant folk cultural materials, and promote traditional culture while encouraging innovation.

When flowery headwear exploded in popularity in 2023, Xunpu village saw an average of more than 10,000 daily tourist visits. Huang Liyong's studio alone received over 500 customers a day, while local housing rental prices skyrocketed from about 1,000 yuan per month to over 10,000 yuan. The number of flowery headwear shops surged from fewer than 10 to more than 200 in a short period.

For Huang Chen, a local resident and representative inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage of traditional attire of Xunpu women, the flowery headwear is more than decorative. He explained that in the past, flowery headwear was used by women for special occasions such as weddings, baby milestones, birthdays, or moving into new homes. The number of flowers gifted varied according to relationships and seniority. For today's tourists, he offers traditional fisherwomen's costumes for rental, helping them immerse themselves in the local culture.

With over 40 years of garment-making experience in the village, Huang Chen originally focused on fisherwoman clothing before moving into mainstream fashion after reform and opening-up. Since 2004, he has also worked with local authorities to preserve traditional attire of Xupu fisherwomen.

Huang Yanpeng, a member of the district's joint command center, said cultural training sessions are being offered to flowery headwear designers so they can not only style visitors but also share knowledge of the craft, the history and culture of Xunpu and even Quanzhou.

The influx of travel photography studios has fueled strong demand for artificial floral accessories. Wu Peichao, who runs a shop on the village's main street, supplies most of the flowery headwear stores and travel photography studios with artificial flowers and accessories.

Traditionally, flowery headwear was made with fresh seasonal flowers, which were costly, short-lived, and limited in color, but today, flowery headwear shops mostly use artificial flowers.

Wu recalled that within just one month after the 2023 Spring Festival, the number of local flowery headwear shops and travel photography studios exceeded 200. Demand for artificial flowers soared, and he had to employ more than 20 workers and run overtime shifts to keep up. His current inventory includes gold combs, hairpins, red strings, and wigs, with customers ranging from across China to Southeast Asia.

Xunpu village has expanded supporting industries to better drive local economic development, said Huang Yanpeng. For instance, the village now hosts 70 to 80 catering businesses, including bubble tea shops, Shaxian eateries, and seafood restaurants.

Chen Duchu is a Xunpu native and a young local entrepreneur who operates a tea shop in the village and runs several tea beverage brands featuring Fujian's cultural elements. He believes that business forms in the village should be diversified.

Beyond flowery headwear, Xunpu needs to offer visitors quality dining and travel experiences, as well as opportunities to learn about its history and culture and Fujian's marine culture. That will be the direction of his future business plans.