Surprise hit drives tourism boom in nation’s northernmost city
On the morning of Oct 23, Chinese singer-songwriter Liu Shuang arrived in Heze, Shandong province, with his band to perform at an outdoor music festival.
One hour before they checked their equipment and tested the sound, they were told that the event had been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Liu and the band were soon on their way back to Beijing, where they are based.
On the train journey to the Chinese capital, Liu received a message on Sina Weibo, saying that his song Mohe Ballroom had gone viral on the Douyin video-sharing platform.
However, he didn’t take the message seriously until the next day, when he learned that footage of the song had been viewed more than 10 million times on Douyin.
Liu, 29,…