“Enjoying the beautiful scenery of Linyi while savoring local delicacies on a small boat feels wonderful. It’s a double satisfaction for both the eyes and the palate,” said Wang Tao, a visitor from Jining, while tasting Linyi fried chicken and admiring the scenic views along the riverbank at the North Island of Yihe Lake Heart Island in Linyi City.
The Yihe River Boat Banquet is a unique dining project developed by the Shuiyun Langya Cultural Tourism Development Company in Lanshan District, Linyi City. Located on the North Island of Yihe Lake Heart Island, it features six dining boats and one yacht dining boat, each with a private table, creating a riverside banquet hall that offers stunning views of the Yihe River, where food and scenery coexist harmoniously.
“The lives of Linyi residents are closely connected to the Yihe River. Recently, the cultural and tourism market in Linyi has been thriving, leading to the emergence of boat banquets, especially in Lanshan District, which is a hub for pleasure boats,” explained Wang Meiying, General Manager of Linyi Shuiyun Langya Cultural Tourism Development Co., Ltd.
Deeply rooted in the rich cultural heritage of Shandong cuisine, the Yihe River Boat Banquet carefully selects high-quality ingredients for each dish, following traditional cooking techniques while incorporating modern culinary concepts. It aims to strike the perfect balance between tradition and innovation. Here, visitors can enjoy authentic Shandong flavors and experience the richness and delicacy that originates in Shandong. The interplay of light and shadow, along with the twinkling lights, adds a vibrant and enchanting atmosphere to the Yihe River Boat Banquet.
Linyi’s cultural tourism initiative has launched the “Spend Your Weekend in Yimeng” brand, promoting a series of weekend micro-vacation products including “Night Tours+”, “Performances+”, “Scenery+”, “Gastronomy+”, and “Accommodation+”. Lanshan District leverages its unique cultural and tourism resources, making concerted efforts to enhance the combination of “tourism outreach” and “cultural prominence,” fully utilizing the synergistic effects of cultural tourism integration.
To stimulate new momentum for tourism development, Lanshan District continuously enhances the “Shuiyun Langya” project, forming four distinctive segments: “Lan Mountain at Night”, “Bright Yihe River”, “Wei-Jin Elegance”, and “Li Qinghua Creek”. These areas promote water-side interactions and complement each other. They have been recognized as a national 3A scenic area, a provincial-level tourism and leisure district, and a provincial-level nighttime cultural and tourism consumption gathering area. The district is making solid strides in promoting commercial tourism, creating eight model markets combining commerce and tourism according to 3A scenic area standards, and developing four premium routes for “Shopping in Linyi Market and Visiting China’s Major Fairs.” This strategy has resulted in a 40% increase in visitor traffic to the commercial market, Wang Xizhi’s former residence, and the Silver Sparrow Mountain Han Tomb Bamboo Slip Museum. Additionally, the district is systematically developing rural tourism, accelerating projects like the ten-thousand-acre lotus pond, and hosting events such as the Halfway Lotus Festival and the Fangcheng Youth Life Festival, along with establishing four “Yimeng Nostalgia” guesthouses and nine camping sites.
