Visitors taste chocolate at the Afición Chocolate Town, in Miaojia Village of Jiashan County, Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province on November 3 (CHEN XINYAN)  

The towns and villages of Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province are far more stylish than you might imagine, with many creative industries taking root and flourishing there. The driving forces behind these industries are young people.  

Afición Chocolate Town, located in Miaojia Village, Jiashan County of Jiaxing opened in 2014 as the country’s first chocolate-themed industrial tourism project. With an annual production capacity of 20,000 tons of chocolate, it is a paradise for cocoa lovers.  

“It’s not just about production—visitors can join chocolate-making workshops, and enjoy leisure tourism,” Mo Xuefeng, founder of the chocolate town, told Beijing Review.  

The chocolate town’s business model also nurtures the local economy. Currently, over 1 million tourists visit this town every year, with 160,000 visiting during this year’s National Day holiday alone in early October. “When tourists come to the town, it also gives a boost to nearby homestays and local businesses,” Mo said, adding that over 60 percent of his employees are local villagers.  

Mo studied at Boston University in the United States during his early years. While studying, he became very interested in chocolate culture, which inspired him to establish a chocolate-themed tourism town. He visited all the chocolate factories and theme parks in the U.S., as well as major chocolate museums in Europe, and cacao plantations in Mexico.   

After graduating in 2011, he returned to Jiashan—his hometown—and began his entrepreneurial journey with the support of his family.  

“The local infrastructure is continuously being improved, which has also attracted more tourists to the area,” Mo said. 

Zhai Yanxin, the curator of Qian Liji cultural and creative park introduces the brand on November 3 (PENG YAO) 

In addition to returnee entrepreneurs like Mo, there are also young people coming from other regions. Zhai Yanxin is the executive director of a brand management company in Shanghai, and recognized the potential of the old granaries in Wangjiangjing Town in Xiuzhou District of Jiaxing.   

Based on a conservation-driven concept, he transformed 10 former granaries and old factory sites into a canal-themed cultural and creative park that encompasses art exhibitions, technology interactions and boutique accommodations. The park opened this October, attracting tens of thousands of visitors.  

“International brands such as Lamborghini and Bentley, along with operators of eco-friendly derivative products and extended reality experiences, have signed on as the first batch of brands to occupy the space. In the future, we will also maintain and enhance the vitality of the entire commercial complex through continuous store updates,” Zhai told Beijing Review, adding that the goal of the cultural and creative park remains to create an urban landmark that can attract a diverse flow of people.  

Copyedited by G.P. Wilson  

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