Chinese chocolate village reaps sweet success

Zhejiang-based theme park has all things related to the treat, chance to make some yourself

HANGZHOU－Mo Xuefeng was obsessed with chocolate as a child. Later in life, he turned his passion for the delicacy into something sweet－a chocolate village theme park in his hometown.

Mo was born in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province. His father runs a successful packaging company, and he was expected to join his father's business when he grew up. But the younger Mo secretly dreamed of doing something else.

"I've loved eating chocolate since I was a little boy. But I knew that my parents and their friends did not have much chocolate to eat when they were young, and it had never been a big deal in their lives," he said.

Mo now runs Aficion Chocolate Village, a confectionary-themed tourism resort in the township of Dayun, Jiaxing.

The facility features all things chocolate－from a chocolate factory and tasting booths to venues popular for wedding photos. As it is only about 100 kilometers from cities like Shanghai and Hangzhou, the village draws huge crowds from surrounding areas.

During the May Day holiday alone the village attracted more than 50,000 visitors, according to official figures.

The village's success comes amid China's booming tourism industry.

According to a report from the China Tourism Academy, 4.1 billion domestic tourist trips are expected to be made in China this year, up 42 percent from 2020, and domestic tourism revenue is expected to surge 48 percent to reach 3.3 trillion yuan ($513 billion).

After graduating from university in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, in 2019, Mo went on to earn an advanced degree in finance from Boston University in the United States.

"I remember teachers would bring chocolate to class," he said.

During this time, he managed to visit many chocolate factories and museums across the world, from Mexico and Belgium to Pennsylvania in the United States. The idea of building a chocolate village started taking shape in his head.

"I wanted to create a chocolate village that not only makes chocolate but also welcomes visitors for village tours to appreciate the chocolate culture," he said.

Mo said that chocolate is healthy and that he wanted to promote it in China where "the chocolate culture was yet to be explored" and "many chocolate names were relatively unknown compared to foreign brands".

"I saw an opportunity," he said.

In 2011, Mo graduated from Boston University and faced a dilemma. He could either choose to stay in the US to launch a career or go back to his hometown to work at his father's business. While these seemed like his only options, he eventually decided to come back to China to launch a business of his own.

Things were not that easy at the beginning.