Qingdao Shazikou Mackerel Festival Kicks Off: A Bite of Tradition Boosts Rural Cultural Tourism

Every spring in Shazikou, Laoshan District, Qingdao, Shandong Province, a warm picture unfolds: fishermen return to the harbor loaded with fresh mackerel, sons-in-law carry mackerel gift boxes to visit their parents-in-law, and tourists pour into the fishing port, homestays and festival venues to experience the warmth and joy in the mackerel culture.

Recently, the 22nd Qingdao 2026 Shazikou Mackerel Festival, themed "Mackerel Etiquette · Inheriting Filial Piety", kicked off. Through marine fairs, cultural performances and interactive experiences, the festival allows tourists to taste fishermen’s banquets, stay in characteristic homestays and purchase local specialties, driving the development of rural cultural tourism.

"When mackerel jumps, father-in-law smiles" – a popular saying in Qingdao reflects a time-honored custom: buying spring mackerel is a way for sons-in-law to show filial piety to their parents-in-law. In 2021, "Laoshan Mackerel Etiquette" was included in the list of the 5th batch of provincial intangible cultural heritage representative projects in Shandong Province. China Culture News reports that Shazikou has effectively integrated intangible cultural heritage with cultural tourism, making the mackerel festival a well-known cultural brand in the coastal area.

Zhao Yang, Director of Shazikou Sub-district Office, Laoshan District, Qingdao, said that in recent years, Shazikou Sub-district has made videos of filial piety stories and spread them through official WeChat accounts and Party building platforms. During the mackerel festival every year, staff also send mackerel gifts inscribed with "Family Affection Mackerel · Inheriting Filial Piety" to social welfare service centers and centenarians in communities.

The local government has also transformed traditional etiquette into the new "Four Mackerel Etiquettes". "The ‘Four Mackerel Etiquettes’ refer to the Etiquette of Behavior, Etiquette of Hands, Etiquette of Food and Etiquette of Festival," said Hu Qiguang, Director of the Cultural Tourism Promotion Center (Promotion) of Shazikou Sub-district, Laoshan District. "For example, the Etiquette of Behavior organizes families to participate in family activities such as flower viewing during the Flower Festival and net pulling in Dongmaiyao Village, turning filial piety into companionship of ‘playing and having fun together’."

Since 2005, Shazikou has held the mackerel festival for 22 consecutive years, turning it into a "cultural IP" driving regional development. Mr. Shi from Hebei, who booked a coastal homestay in Shazikou a week in advance, said, "We were afraid of too many people during the May Day holiday, so we came to the mackerel festival as soon as it opened. I saw strategies online that the festival launched four themed routes, which are especially suitable for couples’ experiential travel."

Relying on the "Laoshan Mackerel Etiquette", Shazikou has planned the "Liuqing Bay Coastal Resort Belt" and "Nanjiushui Leisure Art Demonstration Belt", launching four scenario-based tourist routes: coastal vacation, wonderful study tour, vow of love and poetic pastoral. Dongmaiyao Village has also cooperated with Tsingtao Beer Cultural Tourism to launch the "Maiyao Three Treasures" seafood series, including fish maw and "Father-in-law Mackerel" souvenirs.

Data shows that driven by the mackerel festival in 2025, Shazikou attracted more than 1 million tourists throughout the year, driving the comprehensive income of catering, accommodation and tourism to exceed 100 million yuan. A single mackerel has not only carried forward the tradition of filial piety but also injected new vitality into Shazikou’s comprehensive rural revitalization and the construction of a coastal tourist town.