Go pig or go home: For $1,660 a night, guests can stay at this hotel in China to meet rare hogs

In a saturated market where competition is high, separating your product or service from competitors is crucial.

A theme park hotel in Jinhua, a city in China's eastern province of Zhejiang, is doing just that by allowing guests to have a close-up experience of some of the country's rarest pigs.

As reported by South China Morning Post, Chinese tourists are forking out 8,888 yuan (S$1,660) a night for a room with a view of the 'two-end back pigs'.

This breed is also known as the 'panda pig' because of its black head and rear with a white band around its middle.

A sealed window allows guests to look into, but not smell, the ground-floor piggery, which houses some of the country's most prized pigs.

A clip of the hotel was posted on Douyin, China's version of TikTok, and has gone viral with six million views at the time of writing.

What's with the fascination?

For one, the panda pig is rare.

According to a 2016 report by Chinese publication Qianjiang Evening News, the annual number of panda pigs in Jinhua, Zhejiang, sits between 75,000 and 80,000.

That's just about three to four per cent of the city's total pigs.

As for why it's one of China's most-valued pigs, the panda pig is the traditional source of the world-famous Jinhua dry-cured ham.

It is said that the breed has been prized in China for at least 1,200 years.

Spain has its jamon Iberico, while Italy is known for its prosciutto di Parma.

Jinhua dry-cured ham is China's equivalent.

Ready to go ham

The theme park hotel offers more than just a look into the piggery.

Guests who book the luxury pig-watching room have the option to bring a pig home or enjoy a year's worth of pork.

Sounds like a decent deal – after all, one such pig is worth 6,000 yuan.

The local government opened this theme park in 2021 to celebrate, promote and preserve the famous panda pig.

On top of the pig-watching room, guests can also visit a museum dedicated to the panda pig.

Despite these efforts, the panda pig has dropped down the pecking order as the source of the Jinhua dry-cured ham.

Some local breeders have opted for alternative pigs as they only need half the time to grow to nearly twice the size of the panda pig.

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amierul@asiaone.com

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