The U.S. Embassy in China has just announced a social media contest named “American Foodie Tour.” The five-week competition aims to promote U.S. tourism and American cuisine to the Chinese people.
From April 17 to May 19, Chinese netizens are called to upload their choice photos featuring American regional cuisine for a chance to win travel prizes, including round-trip airfare to the U.S., Disneyland and Universal Studios vacation packages, rental car vouchers and other prizes. Photos can be uploaded on Weibo with the hashtag #XingMeiguoPinMeishi.
A different U.S. region will be focused per week. Regions include the American West, Midwest, Northeast, Southwest and Southeast. The best original photo from the featured region will be selected by a panel of judges.
Participants must post their entries on their Weibo accounts by 1 p.m. on Fridays (April 21, 28 and May 5, 12 or 19). Only one entry per week is allowed for each contestant.
Original photo entries must be submitted in Chinese or English and must contain the following information: the official hashtag of the contest (#XingMeiguoPinMeishi), name of the American dish, region of the U.S. where the dish comes from and Weibo handle/name.
Weekly winners will also have the chance to win the grand prize--a round-trip Disneyland vacation package which includes a four-night stay at the Disneyland Hotel and passes to the park.
Food and travel-related events will be held at the Cultural Centers at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and the U.S. consulates in Shenyang, Guangzhou and Shanghai. The events aim to give Chinese audiences more information on American food culture.
On Wednesdays and Fridays, participants can also win food-related prizes by answering trivia questions related to travel, tourism and American cuisine. The trivia question, focusing on the featured region for the week, and the corresponding prize will be posted at the same time on the Embassy’s social media accounts on WeChat, Sina Weibo and Tencent Weibo.
Answers to the trivia questions must be sent to BeijingContest@state.gov by midnight. All applicable answers will be included in a random drawing to be made by the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. The lucky winner will be sent a notification email on the following working day.
Other contest details can be read at https://china.usembassy-china.org.cn/FoodieTourContest.
The U.S. Embassy hopes to promote U.S. tourism to the Chinese people through its social media contest.