Agricultural specialties and handicrafts from Guide county in Qinghai province are getting popular in Nantong's Chongchuan district, especially after they recently featured in a fair there. [Photo/ntfabu.com]

During the recent Qingming holiday, also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day on April 3-5, many people visited the 2021 Guide county agricultural specialty fair held in Binjiang Park – in the Chongchuan district of Nantong city in East China's Jiangsu province.

Hearing there were some quality agricultural products on show in the park from Guide county, in Northwest China's Qinghai province, a Mr Liu and his family decided to check out the fair. He tried out a bit of cooked yak meat at a stall there, was impressed and placed an order.

"The mineral water for cooking the meat is also from Guide," explained Ma Guihu, the stall manager. On top of the yak meat, other premium green agricultural products such as Tibetan lamb, quinoa, honey and pears were on sale.

Nantong is no stranger when it comes to goodies from Qinghai province. With the support of the Nantong municipal government, the paired assistance office and the development and reform commission, a direct-sales store for Guide's agricultural specialty goods opened in Nandajie Street in downtown Nantong in December, 2019 and Ma Guihu is in charge of the store.

"This fair is mainly to kick-start the popularity of our products, so the prices are a little bit lower than in the direct-sales store," Ma added.

At its stand in the fair, a number of locals were also attracted by Guide's handicrafts including embroidered pillows and traditional headwear.