A group of about 40 media journalists from the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region and the Greater Bay Area (GBA) explored Yangzhou, East China's Jiangsu province, on April 23.

The media group was treated at Yechun, a local time-honored restaurant brand established in 1877. The restaurant mainly serves zaocha, or early morning tea, which is a cultural staple in Yangzhou and a symbol of the city's leisurely pace of life, much like Cantonese zaocha in Guangdong province.

Collaborating with pastry masters from Shunde, Yechun updated its breakfast menu with classic Cantonese culinary additions such as shrimp dumplings and steamed vermicelli rolls, while also launching innovative combos by pairing morning tea with coffee or ice cream.

In an effort to introduce Yangzhou zaocha to the bustling hubs of the GBA, Yechun opened a branch in Shenzhen in March 2024 and intends to expand its presence to Macao and Hong Kong over the next year or two.

The China Grand Canal Museum, home to over 10,000 cultural relics, serves as a comprehensive repository of Beijing-Hangzhou Canal history. Through VR and 5G technologies, journalists experienced immersive recreations of waterway civilizations dating back to the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC).

"In 2024, tens of thousands of tourists from the Greater Bay Area visited our museum. We have forged deep collaborations with Guangdong Museum and Qingyuan Museum, and in the future, we intend to enhance cooperation on advanced design philosophies of cultural and creative products," said Liu Shifa, head of the Social Service Department of the China Grand Canal Museum.

Journalists also learned the rural revitalization story of Yanhu village in Hanjiang district's Fangxiang town for merging its fishing industry with rural tourism.

Yanhu village has established 15 fishing-themed restaurants and eight homestays, and its fishery culture museum, a beacon of educational enrichment, hosts over 600 study tours annually. In 2024, the village welcomed more than 300,000 tourists, yielding 30 million yuan ($4.11 million) in revenue.