On the morning of May 1, the Rural Waterfront Coffee & Music Festival kicked off along Anfu River in Anfu Community, Tanzhou Town (坦洲镇安阜社区), Zhongshan City. The three-day event adopted a model featuring a main venue + citywide linkage across hundreds of villages, offering residents and visitors a May Day cultural tourism feast that brings together coffee, music, intangible cultural heritage, and picturesque rural scenery.
At the opening ceremony, dragon boat teams set off to the beat of drums, while lion dance teams and dragon and lion dance teams added to the festive atmosphere. The gentle melodies of saltwater folk songs drifted from Tanka boats on the water. Along the 1.4-kilometer corridor of Anfu River, more than 60 coffee and food stalls lined the waterfront, attracting crowds eager to taste Tanzhou's signature guava coffee, grilled eel, crayfish, and other local specialties. Several music performance spots were set up along the route, with local bands taking turns on stage. The waterway has become a new stage and living room for the city.
Since 2021, Zhongshan has carried out pollution control and remediation on major heavily polluted waterways, including Anfu River. Thanks to these efforts, the city's waterways now flow with clear water, attracting a growing number of residents and tourists to enjoy coffee and scenic views by the water, while boosting local tourism. During this year's Spring Festival, Zhongshan's riverside and lakeside gathering spaces drew over 1.5 million visits and generated about 1 billion yuan in consumer spending.
Author | Hong Ting (intern), Liu Lingzhi
Revised by Huang Qini
