分类归档 hanzheng

China Broadcasting Network Beijing February 26 news (reporter Cao Qian, intern Gao Jiashuang)At noon on February 25, Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Wahaha") issued an obituary, claiming the death of Zong Qinghou, the founder and chairperson of Wahaha Group.

While mourning a generation of "Zong" teachers, all walks of life naturally turn their attention to Wahaha, which Zong Qinghou "brought up". In the 37 years since its establishment, Wahaha has gone through one industry cycle after another, growing from a school-run enterprise distribution department to a leading brand in China’s beverage industry, which can be called an "evergreen tree" among Chinese private enterprises. In 2023, the last full fiscal year before Zong Qinghou’s death, Wahaha’s main business revenue and profit still achieved double growth.

Unlike other big consumer beverage giants that actively embrace capital markets, Wahaha has not been listed under the "four nos" strategy that Zong Qinghou insists on. Nongfu Spring, which compares with Wahaha, has achieved a jump in market value of 700 billion Hong Kong dollars in its second year of listing.

The sudden death of Zong Qinghou has added uncertainty to Wahaha’s future. The three major challenges lie ahead: the new performance increase point is not clear, the head has not really handed over, and the family transformation has not been completed. In this context, as the successor of overseas study, how will Zong Fuli write the "post-Zong Qinghou era"? Will it be re-examined and considered for listing?

Many experts pointed out to CGR Capital that it depends on the attitude of the new leader towards the capital markets. After listing, it is indeed a positive bonus for the company’s development, but it is not a "necessary option" for Wahaha.

Experts believe that listing can bring development funds to enterprises, a standardized corporate governance structure, and provide convenient channels for wealth appreciation and realization of relevant personnel such as actual controllers and executives, which can better attract high-end talents to join. But it does not mean that Wahaha will definitely achieve better performance and development after going public.

Where should the successor go?

Due to the death of Zong Qinghou, Wahaha, which was founded in 1987, has triggered many new conjectures. How will Zong Fuli, who has been officially in the forefront for more than two years, write a new era without Zong Qinghou?

For the 37-year-old Wahaha, the highlight of its "life" appeared in 2013. According to public information, Wahaha’s annual revenue reached 78.30 billion yuan in this year, which is the most brilliant year since its establishment. Zong Qinghou also won the title of the richest man in Forbes Chinese mainland three times in a row (2010, 2012, 2013).

But since 2014, Wahaha’s performance has continued to enter a downward channel. Public information shows that from 2014 to 2017, Wahaha’s revenue was 72.80 billion yuan, 67.70 billion yuan, 52.90 billion yuan and 45.60 billion yuan respectively.

In this regard, Zhu Danpeng, a Chinese food industry analyst, said in an interview with the media that the aging of Wahaha’s brand and products is a fatal injury to the beverage market. For many years, Wahaha’s product line has been mainly imitated and followed, with insufficient innovation, and there have been not many explosions to speak of.

Although Zong Qinghou’s daughter Zong Fuli became the vice chairman and general manager of the group in 2021, Zong Qinghou is still the chairman of the group. But Wahaha seems to have never really come out of the "Zong Qinghou era".

The industry has summarized the three major challenges that have plagued Wahaha, including the lack of clarity on new performance growth points, the fact that the handover between the old and new leaders has not yet been completed, and the transformation of the family business is still in progress.

After Zong Qinghou took a back seat, the scene of the baton handover did not really come. There are rumors that Zong Qinghou is "hands-on" in the company, and Zong Fuli, who returned from overseas study, has a big disagreement with her father on this point.

Now that Zong Qinghou has withdrawn from the historical stage of Wahaha, how should these three challenges be broken?

A number of experts pointed out to Central Broadcasting Capital that to solve the fundamental problem, first, we need to start from the internal management and strategic level, and second, we need to create new products in new categories according to the current market changes, so as to find a second growth curve for Wahaha.

"The most important thing is to get the support of the company’s core management. In the eyes of these veteran core management, Zong Qinghou is the soul of Wahaha. How to win the support and recognition of the core management in the fastest time is Zong Fuli’s current more difficult challenge." Zhan Junhao, a well-known strategic positioning expert and founder of Fujian Huace Brand Positioning Consulting, believes that at the internal management level, Zong Fuli should reach a consensus with the company’s senior management as soon as possible and complete the relay.

At the external strategic level, Qu Fang, an investment consultant at Wanlian Securities, believes that the future development direction of Wahaha is still to improve channels and promote new products.

"Wahaha’s advantage in the distributor channel is second to none among domestic beverage companies, but its TOC performance has been just passable." Qu Fang pointed out that at a time when emerging drinks continue to be launched and consumers gradually shift from traditional leading companies to personalized emerging brands, Wahaha needs to strengthen the launch of its new products that are more suitable for market demand.

Cao Zhe, chief investment officer of Aiwen Zhilue, also pointed out that Wahaha has accumulated a number of knock-out products that are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, but consumers have a new mentality in beverages. Therefore, Wahaha should launch new products in a timely manner, meet new changes, and keep up with the trend of the times while adhering to its basic market.

"Wahaha has strong strength. As long as we adjust our business thinking and introduce the right talents, there are still many opportunities to achieve better results. Just like a sleeping lion, as long as it wakes up, it will surprise the market."

"Not listed" wins or loses?

Looking at the entire consumption track, Wahaha is one of the few unlisted beverage giants in China. Unlike many listed and financed beverage companies, Wahaha has not chosen to enter the capital markets for many years. The "four nos" strategy was Zong Qinghou’s consistent insistence in the early days, that is, no debt, no bonds, no loans and no listing.

In China’s capital markets, there are many listed companies in the beverage industry, including Nongfu Spring, Master Kong, Dongpeng Beverage, Yangyuan Beverage and other giants. And many new brands and innovative categories are also actively embracing capital markets. New tea brands Nayuki and HEYTEA will be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange around 2021. Now, Mixue Bingcheng, Tea Baidao, Shanghai Auntie and many other companies are also queuing up to apply for listing.

Among the above brands, Nongfu Spring has always been regarded by the industry as the most representative benchmarking enterprise of Wahaha.

The founder of Nongfu Spring, Zhong Shanyuan, and Zong Qinghou are both from Zhejiang. The "contest" between the two Zhejiang businesspeople gradually diverged with the landing of Nongfu Spring on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the blessing of capital markets.

Over the years, Zong Qinghou has publicly stated many times: "Wahaha is not short of money, and there is no need to go public. Going public requires responsibility to shareholders. If the stock finally falls, causing ordinary people to lose a lot of money, I don’t think it is appropriate."

On the same track, Nongfu Spring took a diametrically opposite path and became a newcomer to the industry with the help of capital markets.

Since the listing of Nongfu Spring on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2020, the market value of Nongfu Spring has reached 700 billion Hong Kong dollars on January 5, 2021. The founder Zhong Liangxuan’s net worth has thus charged 93 billion US dollars, not only squeezing out Ma Yun and Pony Ma to sit on the throne of the newly richest man in Asia, but also surpassing Warren Buffett to become the sixth richest man in the world. Since then, with the fluctuations of capital markets, Zhong Liangxuan has been the richest man in China several times and has also become the focus of capital markets.

"Zhong Xuanyuan, who started a business in the same city as Zong Qinghou, founded Nongfu Spring after Wahaha whether it started or became famous. But at present, Nongfu Spring is far above Wahaha in terms of scale and profit," Cao Zhe told CCTV Capital Eye.

Public data show that the total profit of Wahaha in 2021 is 6.219 billion yuan, and the after-tax profit of Nongfu Spring in the same year is 7.162 billion yuan.

In recent years, although Zong Qinghou is still on the rich list, he has fallen far short of Zhong Shansui.

In November 2022, Zong Qinghou ranked 45th on the 2022 Forbes Chinese mainland rich list with a wealth of 6.95 billion US dollars. On the Hurun Rich List in 2023, Zong Qinghou ranked 31st with a wealth of 95 billion yuan. During the same period, Zhong Yinyi became the richest man in China for the third time with a wealth of 450 billion yuan.

But did Wahaha really "lose" to Nongfu Spring? There seems to be no absolute conclusion.

According to the financial report, from 2021 to the first half of 2023, the total revenue of Nongfu Spring was 29.696 billion yuan, 33.239 billion yuan and 20.462 billion yuan respectively, far less than Wahaha’s 50 billion "record". According to the data of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and Wahaha Group’s 2023 annual summary and commendation conference, Wahaha has maintained a total revenue of more than 50 billion yuan for three consecutive years.

In the "Top 500 Chinese Private Enterprises in 2023" list released by the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, Wahaha and Nongfu Spring, which entered the list in the beverage industry, ranked 227th and 374 respectively, Wahaha is 147 places ahead of Nongfu Spring.

This inevitably raises the question, if Wahaha is willing to enter the capital markets, will it develop better than it does now?

Looking at the future listing is still not a "mandatory option"

In fact, on the issue of listing, Zong Qinghou, who has adhered to the "four nos" strategy for many years, has not been "shaken".

According to public reports, in 2017, at the 30th anniversary celebration of Wahaha’s founding, Zong Qinghou changed his tone about the listing. He said: "After the listing, it can speed up the development of the enterprise, and it will be considered at an appropriate time."

Since then, Wahaha has repeatedly expressed its position to the outside world that it may consider going public in the future.

In March 2018, Zong Qinghou publicly expressed his desire to develop another enterprise, and he may also achieve greater development by listing proceeds raised in the future.

In February 2019, after Zong Fuli became the head of the brand public relations department of Wahaha Group, she also responded to the media for Wahaha’s IPO time table, saying that Wahaha’s listing is a very normal move, because the entire enterprise can achieve upstream and downstream integration through listing.

Along with the change of tone, Wahaha also has many suspected listing signals. The first news that Wahaha is going public is related to an announcement.

In April 2017, Hong Kong-listed China Candy announced that major shareholders such as Jiaqing entered into a letter of intent with potential buyers, who intended to make a possible voluntary offer to acquire at least 50% of the company’s voting rights. The ultimate actual owner of the potential buyer was Zong Fuli, the daughter of Zong Qing Hou.

For a time, speculation about Wahaha’s backdoor listing was everywhere.

On April 12 of that year, the relevant person in charge of Wahaha Group denied the speculation and said that the acquisition was Zong Fuli’s personal behavior and had nothing to do with the company. On the evening of July 13 of the same year, China Candy announced that the offer had not been made. Zong Fuli also released a statement on her personal Weibo saying that the company will continue to uphold its own development strategy in the future and continue to explore related fields in a positive and healthy commercial value orientation.

In April 2018, Wahaha’s repurchase of employee shares once again triggered rumors of a listing.

According to media reports at that time, some Wahaha old employees revealed that the company launched employee equity repurchase after the Spring Festival that year, but a new equity allocation plan has not yet been formed. On April 14 of the same year, Wahaha responded that the repurchase of employee shares was not for listing, but to "allocate shares more scientifically". Since then, Wahaha has no substantive listing action.

So in the future, is Wahaha still necessary to sprint to the capital markets?

Many experts pointed out to CGR Capital that it depends on the attitude of the new leader towards the capital markets. After listing, it is indeed a positive bonus for the company’s development, but it is not a "necessary option" for Wahaha.

Cao Zhe believes that listing can bring development funds to enterprises, standardize the corporate governance structure, and provide convenient channels for the wealth appreciation and monetization of relevant personnel such as actual controllers and executives, which can better attract high-end talents to join. The disadvantage is that the operation and management of enterprises after listing are subject to public supervision and to a certain extent are restricted by other aspects, and the behavior of actual controllers is subject to many restrictions.

Zhan Junhao also said that listing can provide more funds and resources for the company. For example, Nongfu Spring and Coca-Cola are representatives of expanding business, improving branding impression and increasing market share through listing financing. But there is no guarantee that Wahaha will achieve better performance and development after listing.

"Wahaha’s current main dilemma is the aging of the brand. Among the new consumer groups, Wahaha is the drink of the older generation. If this cognitive dilemma cannot be broken through, even if it is successfully listed, it will not bring substantive development to the company." Zhan Junhao said that for Wahaha, going public is not the only way to develop. The key is to find a differentiated brand positioning, formulate and implement the right strategy, and keep pace with the times to adapt to today’s changes in consumer demand.

In fact, the current shareholding structure of Wahaha does not comply with the listing regulations.

Public information shows that Wahaha since the implementation of the employee stock ownership plan in 1999, the number of shareholders has exceeded 15,000. According to the relevant provisions of the IPO, when the company to be listed applies for listing, the employee stock ownership plan needs to be penetrated by shareholders, and the final number of shareholders after penetration shall not exceed 200.

Professional analysis, the number of 15,000 shareholders optimized to less than 200 people, the difficulty can be imagined.

Qu Fang believes that even if Wahaha has not been listed, it is reasonable.

"Wahaha is not going public because it has abundant cash flow and does not want to dilute its equity through listing. Judging from its current operating conditions and IPO policy, it is neither necessary for listing nor in line with existing listing policies."

Qu Fang explained that, on the one hand, Wahaha has sufficient cash flow and limited listing promotion effect; on the other hand, the beverage industry belongs to the class A share IPO red line, even if the listing is also likely to choose Hong Kong stocks, but the current valuation of Hong Kong stocks is low, the market will not give a higher valuation.(Central Guangzhou Capital Eye)

Less than two months after listing, the ideal MEGA has reduced its price!

Early this morning, LI released brand-new prices for 2024 models of Ideal L7, Ideal L8, Ideal L9 and Ideal MEGA, and lowered the prices of four models. In an instant, # ideal price reduction # rushed to the top of hot search, and netizens talked about it.

Affected by this news, LI opened 5.83% lower at the beginning of trading today, and its share price once broke through HK$ 100.

Among them, the Ultra and Max versions of L7 and L8 series are reduced by 20,000, and the Pro versions of L7 and L8 series are reduced by 18,000. The price of L9 is reduced by 20,000; The new price of the ideal MEGA is 529,800 yuan, which is 30,000 yuan lower than before. The new price can be enjoyed by users who have newly ordered and those who have ordered but not delivered.

At the same time, LI also announced that it will provide cash back to the owners of 2024 models of Ideal L7, Ideal L8, Ideal L9 and Ideal MEGA.

Ideally, this price cut is regarded by the industry as a rescue measure for LI to cope with the decline in sales. The first thing is the ideal MEGA. Ideal MEGA was officially listed on March 1st, with an official guide price of 559,800 yuan. Li Xiang, CEO of LI, once threatened that MEGA would become the number one in sales of all passenger cars with more than 500,000 regardless of energy form and body form, but the market response after listing was not as good as expected. According to the public data of relevant platforms, the monthly sales volume of the ideal MEGA in the first month after listing is about 3,000 vehicles, ranking only the eighth in the monthly sales list of all MPVs.

Besides the poor performance of the ideal MEGA, the orders of L7, L8 and L9 also failed to meet expectations. Due to the discount of 2024 new cars and the price involution of competitive models, L7, L8 and L9 were robbed by competitors. According to official data of LI, LI delivered 28,984 vehicles in March. If the sales volume of the ideal MEGA in March is 3,000, the sales volume of the ideal three L-series new cars is about 25,000, which is nearly 20% lower than that in January this year, and it is far from the performance of exceeding 50,000 at the end of 2023.

Although LI’s sales data increased in March, there was a big gap with LI’s previous expectations. LI officials had expected that the monthly sales of 50,000 vehicles would be restored last year through the listing of the ideal MEGA and the delivery of 2024 L-series models, but only 58% of the target sales were actually achieved in March.

After the performance of Ideal MEGA failed, Li wanted to issue a letter to all employees on March 21st, reflecting on the rhythm and sales volume of Ideal MEGA, and making targeted adjustments to product management, distributors, charging network layout and sales volume expectations. In the internal letter, Li wants to admit that he has misjudged the grasp of the market rhythm, and points out: "We mistakenly regard the stage from 0 to 1 (commercial verification period) of MEGA as the stage from 1 to 10 (high-speed development period) to operate." To this end, Li wants to reduce excessive attention to sales, return to healthy growth, and focus on improving user value and operating efficiency.

On April 3rd, LI issued a staff announcement, announcing the upgrading of matrix organization, which involved the organizational structure adjustment of several departments. This is also a substantial measure taken by LI after Li Xiang, founder and CEO of LI, issued an internal reflection letter on March 21st to admit his mistake.

The price of all models in Tesla China market was reduced by 14,000 yuan.

Yesterday, Tesla China official website showed that the price of all models of Tesla Model 3 /Y/S/X was reduced by 14,000 yuan. After the price reduction, the starting price of Model 3 was adjusted to 231,900 yuan, and the starting price of Model Y was adjusted to 249,900 yuan. At the same time, Tesla also canceled the five-year zero interest financial policy for Model 3 models just launched on April 3. At present, only Model Y can enjoy this financial discount.

Some netizens said: "I woke up and lost money … …”

It is worth noting that on April 1st, under the background of domestic major automobile brands’ price reduction, Tesla China announced a price increase. The price of Tesla Model Y was increased by 5,000 yuan, and the starting price was adjusted to 263,900 yuan.

In addition, Tesla also announced its commitment on April 3rd: all Model S/X models ordered before April 3rd (inclusive) and delivered from April 30th (inclusive) to June 30th (inclusive) can enjoy the rights and interests of the commitment on value preservation according to the contract (a commitment agreement on value preservation is required), that is, if the preconditions agreed in the commitment agreement are met after three years, the owner can apply for Tesla on the basis of 45% of the vehicle fare.

In response to this price reduction, some netizens found that, as far as Model 3 and Model Y models are concerned, this price reduction is equivalent to the preferential strength in March: Tesla launched the "Spring Courtesy-Limited Time Car Welfare" activity on March 1, and purchased and delivered Model 3 or Model Y rear-wheel drive version from March 1 to March 31, and you can enjoy 8,000 yuan insurance subsidy plus 6,000 yuan car paint discount, which is just 14,000 yuan.

In addition to reducing the price in China, Tesla also reduced the price in the United States. Official website of Tesla USA showed yesterday that the price of Model Y was reduced by $2,000 in the US market, of which the price of Tesla Model Y was lowered to $42,990, and the price of Model Y long-life version was lowered to $47,990.

In addition, not long ago, elon musk, CEO of Tesla, said in an internal email to employees that the company would lay off more than 10% of its global employees. He said that this will keep the company lean, innovative and enter the next growth cycle.

Yesterday, Tesla cut prices, and today, LI immediately followed suit. Industry insiders predict that with the opening of the Beijing Auto Show just around the corner, the price war in the auto market will continue this year.　

Young scientific and technological talents are a new force in the development of scientific and technological innovation in our country. At the Internet Technology Seminar and Tencent Talent Plan Release jointly held by Tencent and Southern University of Science and Technology on September 24, Tencent released a new special project for talents – Qingyun Plan. Qingyun Plan focuses on future development and proposes "Qingyun Straight Up, Technology Shapes the Future", aiming to attract and recruit a group of top technical students worldwide.

Xi Dan, senior vice president and chief talent officer of Tencent, introduced that for the selected candidates, Tencent will provide industry competitive salary returns and customized training programs, support candidates to deeply participate in cutting-edge technology topics and core businesses, and cultivate Internet technology talents through Tencent’s platform.

Xi Dan, Senior Vice President and Chief Talent Officer of Tencent

10 + technical fields and 70 + technical topics await challenges

As the first company in the Internet industry to position the recruitment of fresh graduates as a core talent channel, Tencent continues to explore and introduce potential scientific and technological talents on campus, and spares no effort to promote youth development. In the "World’s Best Companies" list first released by Time Magazine in 2023, Tencent ranked first among Chinese companies, reflecting the recognition of Tencent’s business development and employee satisfaction by external authorities.

According to the official recruitment website of "Qingyun Plan", Qingyun Plan recruits doctoral students who graduate from September 2021 to August 2024, and undergraduate and graduate students who graduate from September 2023 to August 2024. Graduates with outstanding performance in any field such as academics, practice, and competitions can apply.

For the criteria of the candidates of the Qingyun plan, Xi Dan proposed that they need to have three basic qualities: Qingyun ambition, innovation, and kindness. He hoped that the candidates of the Qingyun plan would have a heartfelt love for scientific research and exploration, a keen sense of smell for cutting-edge technology, excellent professional skills, and the confidence to move forward; at the same time, adhere to the mission vision of "science and technology for goodness" and build a concentric circle of "goodness" together.

Liu Wei, Outstanding Scientist of Tencent

In order to stimulate the potential of young talents, Tencent will set up more than 70 technical topics in more than 10 technical fields such as AI, big data, security, multimedia, database, hardware/infrastructure, game engine, etc., including unlocking AI technologies such as big models, cutting-edge technologies such as robots/quantum, co-building industry-class domestic database/big data platforms, and building AI infrastructure, etc., to support Qingyun plan candidates to deeply participate in the company’s core business. "Qingyun plan encourages young talents to break through the limitations of the field, explore freely at the forefront of science and technology, and’unveil and be in command ‘in key areas. As Mr. Pony Ma, chairperson and CEO of Tencent, said, let science become fashion, and let innovation become the pursuit of young people." Xi Dan said in his speech.

The chief scientist acts as a "mentor" and comprehensively customizes the training plan

In order to help young talents quickly adapt to their positions, the "Qingyun Plan" sets up exclusive job mentors, development mentors, and project consultants, and invites chief scientist Zhang Zhengyou, as well as outstanding scientists such as Yu Dong, Wu Shi, Liu Shan, Liu Wei, Zhang Shengyu, Yu Yang, Dong Zhiqiang, Zheng Yefeng, Shan Ying, and Ye Handong to serve as mentors. By means of daily real-time business mentoring, regular growth mentoring, and cross-border scientific research project exchanges, candidates can better develop, and then take over the "baton" in the hands of mentors. In the industry exploration, problem breakthroughs, and technological changes, they will lead the way and play the leading role.

According to the data, the "mentor group" of Qingyun Project includes the heads of Tencent AI Lab, Tencent Robotics X Lab, Tencent Security Cohen Lab, Multimedia Lab, Tencent Quantum Lab, and Tencent Hybrid Model, covering cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence, security, automatic speech recognition and processing, multimedia and signal processing. In the 2022 "Top 2% Global Scientists List" released by Stanford University in the United States, Zhang Zhengyou, Yu Dong, Wu Shi, Zheng Yefeng and other scientists and experts were simultaneously selected for the "Lifetime Scientific Impact Ranking" and "Annual Scientific Impact Ranking".

Fang Hongwei, Vice President and Provost of Southern University of Science and Technology

Fang Hongwei, vice-president of Southern University of Science and Technology, said that the Qingyun plan is a special project launched by Tencent to focus on the future development of the industry, with the goal of selecting and cultivating young people with innovative spirit and practical ability, and for outstanding students who are interested in joining the forefront of science and technology. "I believe that with the careful training of various universities, the strong support of Tencent, and the careful guidance of experts and entrepreneurs, these students will be able to become leading talents in the future technology industry and make important contributions to the realization of national high-level scientific and technological self-reliance."

In recent years, SUSTech has focused on the Internet, big data, artificial intelligence and other related disciplines of information technology, actively promoted the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, and worked hard with well-known domestic companies such as Tencent to promote the integration of production, education and research, and serve social and economic development.

Tencent Qingyun plan conference site

As a digital technology company, Tencent anchors the forefront of technology, deepens innovative applications, and prepares for the next generation of Internet technology innovation. As of June this year, Tencent’s patent applications in major countries and regions around the world exceeded 66,000, and the number of patent authorizations exceeded 33,000, ranking second among global Internet companies. In 2022, Tencent’s R & D expenditure exceeded 61.40 billion yuan, ranking first in the 2023 China Private Enterprise Top 500 released by the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce. Three out of every four Tencent employees are engaged in R & D positions.

Xi believes that building a young and enterprising team is the cornerstone of Tencent’s continuous business development and a key element to maintain its core competitiveness. "We hope to provide a broader development platform through the Qingyun plan to help young talents grow rapidly. For the company, we will jointly promote technological innovation in the Internet, big data and artificial intelligence, and continue to maintain vitality. At the national level, we also hope to help the country cultivate and reserve talents, improve scientific and technological innovation capabilities, and tackle technical problems in key areas."

As soon as they go to work in the early morning, the sound of "ding ding ding bang" can be heard in the factory of Yiqing Food Group in Daxing District, Beijing. Workers are unloading baskets of empty glass bottles from trucks and moving them into the warehouse. Each glass bottle has a white polar bear printed on it, with three Chinese characters at the bear’s feet: Arctic Ocean.　　

?

Arctic Ocean is a time-honored brand of Beijing’s native orange soda.For Beijingers, Arctic soda is like White Rabbit toffee for Shanghainese and Wufangzhai zongzi for Jiaxing people. It is a brand that can evoke deep nostalgia.It was born in 1950 and flourished in the Beijing beverage market for a while, but it disappeared after the 1990s.　

Like many old brands, Arctic Ocean has experienced a long period of loneliness under the wave of China’s economic transformation and state-owned enterprise reform. During this time, the market is surging with Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Sprite, Mirinda… In 2011, when the Arctic Ocean, which had disappeared for 15 years, reappeared, some people said that "all Beijingers should celebrate this."

As soon as the Arctic Ocean soda went on sale, it was welcomed by consumers in Beijing.

Synonym for soda

?

Every older Beijinger has a story about the Arctic Ocean. Back then, in the summer, there was a large block of ice in front of the common corner grocery store, and the Arctic Ocean soda was lying on the ice. The boss sat on the side, turning the glass bottle from time to time to make the soda chill more evenly.　

A few children who had been playing wildly outside for half a night ran over and bought a few bottles of soda. They raised their necks and drank it "Gudong Gudong", while not forgetting to stroke the soda one by one from left to right with their oblique eyes. After a row of soda was turned over, the bottle in their hands just finished drinking, the children deliberately burped and laughed at each other. After returning the empty bottle to the store, they continued to sprinkle girls outside.　　

?

A dime – in his fifties, Li Qi still remembers the price of the Arctic Ocean in his youth.Today, he is the general manager of Beijing Yiqing Food Group, in charge of two brands of Arctic Ocean soda and Yili bread. Li Qi is a native of Beijing, with a burly figure and a loud voice. When he goes to work, he always likes to walk around the workshop, see the empty glass bottles shipped back one by one, cleaned and disinfected, refilled with soda, and shipped to various places "Ding Ding Bang".　　

?

What a friendly voice, it once rang in the large and small hutongs of Beijing, causing countless children to lose their homework and make a lot of effort. In the 1970s, in the most glorious years of the Arctic Ocean, it became almost synonymous with soda.Wang Xuliang, an electrician who has worked in the Arctic Ocean for nearly 40 years, said that at that time, the people who picked up the goods were waiting in the workshop, and the tricycles carrying soda were lined up from the factory to the street.　

Li Qi was less than 20 years old at the time, and had just been assigned to another time-honored food factory in Beijing, Yili Bread. Yili was founded in Yuyuan Road, Shanghai in 1906, and moved to Beijing in response to the call of the "prosperous capital" in the early days of the founding of New China. Like Arctic soda, Yili Bread also enjoyed the glory of giving up one’s name in the Beijing market at the time.

?

Vanishing Brand

?

But times have changed. The Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee in 1978 put forward the strategic decision of "reform at home and opening up to the outside world." Deng Xiaoping said: "The current world is an open world."　　

?

At that time, Li Qi, who had just entered the factory, was completely unaware of the changes in the outside world. Like his co-workers, he was proud to be an employee of a state-run factory. In the bakery in Yili at more than 40 degrees Celsius, he used his hands wearing two layers of heat-insulating gloves to remove the bread molds from the oven, and then knocked the baked bread one by one from the mold upside down. After finishing this string of work, the heat-insulating gloves were hot, and his hands trembled lightly. He adjusted the gloves back and forth, and continued to remove a batch of bread from the oven. When the day’s work was over, a bottle of Arctic soda was the best comfort.　

Coca-Cola entered China in the same year that Mr. Li entered Yili. At first, the Chinese didn’t seem to like the taste of traditional Chinese medicine. But soon, everyone began to see the tricks of foreign soda. Every weekend, in major shopping malls in Beijing, Coca-Cola employees hold colorful balloons marked with the Coca-Cola logo and sell to customers, buying a bottle of Coke for 50 cents and giving away a balloon or a pair of packaged chopsticks.

The promotion caused a lot of shock. Some newspapers immediately issued articles criticizing the practice, saying that the practice "invades China and introduces the capitalist way of doing business."Soon, the order came from above: Coca-Cola can only be sold to foreigners in China, and "one bottle is not allowed to be sold to Chinese people."　　

?

Li Qi, who was still a bakery worker at the Yili Bakery at the time, realized that change was really coming, and the ban was probably unbearable. Sure enough, within a year, the ban was lifted and Coca-Cola was allowed to resume domestic sales. Two years after Coca-Cola entered China, Pepsi followed. In the following years, foreign companies flocked in. In the Beijing market, the dominance of the Arctic Ocean is in jeopardy.　　

?

In 1994, Chinese companies set off a wave of joint ventures. The government brokered a joint venture between Arctic Ocean and Pepsi Cola. Across the country, there are six other famous beverage factories: Shenyang Bawangsi, Tianjin Shanhaiguan, Qingdao Laoshan, Wuhan Bridge, Chongqing Tianfu Cola, and Guangzhou Asia Soda. They wanted to expand their operations with foreign capital, but they gradually drowned in the wave of foreign soda and gave up the Chinese soda market.The industry later called it the "flooded seven armies" incident.　

Soon after the partnership between Arctic Ocean and Pepsi, the brand was "frozen". After more than a decade, it was difficult to find Arctic Ocean soda in the market. Six other domestic beverage brands were also abandoned by Coca-Cola and Pepsi one after another. Only years later did the domestic business community understand that this was a strategy for international companies to eliminate local competitors.

?

Return of righteousness

?

The Yili Bakery, where Li Qi was working at the time, encountered a similar dilemma: First, it established a joint venture with the international giant Nabisco to establish "Yili-Nabisco". After a few years, the word "Yili" in the company’s name disappeared, and a few years later, Yili Bread also stopped production. In 1992, The Beijing Evening News published a letter from a reader with the headline "Where Did Yili Bread Go?"After reading Li Qi mixed happiness, sadness is the national brands disappear one by one, happy is that people still miss them.　　

?

There was also a piece of news at that time, which in a way that made people laugh and cry, pinned the thoughts of Beijingers for time-honored brands. In 1995, the industrial and commercial bureaus of Chaoyang, Haidian, Fengtai, Chongwen and other districts in Beijing received reports one after another, saying that the Arctic Ocean soda sold in the market was mixed with fish and eyeballs. After searching for thousands of bottles of counterfeit Arctic Ocean, the industrial and commercial law enforcement officers followed the lead and found a regular beverage factory located on the outskirts of Beijing, and found a large number of Arctic Ocean soda and empty bottles in the workshop and warehouse. In the ingredients room, the law enforcement officers saw two bottles of soda with color labels and the words "Pepsi-Arctic Beverage Co., Ltd." on the lid. One was real and one was fake. The law enforcement officers asked the beverage factory manager, what happened? The factory manager mumbled out a few words: This bottle of real Arctic Ocean is a counterfeit specimen. He admitted that the fake Arctic Ocean was customized according to the requirements of the wholesaler.Despite the start of spring and the cooler weather, the beverage factory sells hundreds of cases of counterfeit Arctic Ocean every day.　　

?

At this time, the genuine Arctic soda factory has been shut down. In the old factory building at Shazikou outside Yongding Gate, the dust is full of machines, and in boredom, there are occasional chats of workers. Wang Xuliang, an electrician, said: "More than 2,000 workers have been laid off, and only a few of us are left. We stay behind to watch the factory building, and by the way, we repair the staff dormitory." In a few years, even the old factory building has been demolished, and the office buildings that have risen on the original site have nothing to do with the Arctic Ocean. The Arctic Ocean has disappeared, leaving only counterfeits to flaunt and newspapers to conjure souls.　　

?

After reading the newspaper news, Li Qi made up his mind to get the time-honored brand back. In May 1995, with the start-up capital of 500,000 yuan given by the factory, he started a "third industry" business in an old factory building of 300 square meters outside the South Second Ring Road. Still making bread, more than a dozen people are responsible for their own profits and losses. Li Qi named the product "Righteous King".

?

Yili came back from the dead. In 2001, Li Qi’s bakery merged with another factory and was renamed "Yili Bread Factory". In the following decade, Yili’s classic products, fruit bread and vitamin bread, occupied hundreds of shopping malls and supermarkets in Beijing. In 2012, the self-operated chain "Centennial Yili" appeared on the streets of Beijing.　

The next comeback is the turn of the Arctic Ocean.

?

Looking for "Original"

?

In 2011, Coca-Cola’s 15-year license to operate the Arctic Ocean brand expired, which meant that the Arctic Ocean was lifted and could be returned to the market. A few years later, when Chongqing Tianfu Cola, which was destroyed by the "Seventh Army of the Drowned" at the same time, returned, a local newspaper described the scene:"The base color of the spray painting is gray like a Holocaust memorial, with some mottled black on it, and the four red characters of’Tianfu Cola ‘are printed on it. This is a rare comeback ceremony with a strong tragic atmosphere."According to reports, the background music of the event that day was "My Chinese Heart". Domestic beverage brands have been lost for nearly 20 years, and international brand beverages are overwhelming. The comeback of time-honored brands looks tragic and lonely.　　

?

Li Qi, who had been making bread for half his life, was ordered to take over the Arctic Ocean under such circumstances.　

When the Arctic Ocean returns, the first thing to do is to restore the original taste. The heart of the drink lies in the formula. The most legendary in the industry is Coca-Cola, which has been kept secret for more than 100 years since its inception in Atlanta in 1886. It is said that its handwritten secret recipe is hidden in a bank safe.　　

?

In Beijing in 2010, Li Qi dug out the archives kept by the technical department from the warehouse. The recipe for the Arctic Ocean is handwritten on white paper and packed in a blue plastic folder.Notes on the folder: storage period, permanent; classification, secret.　　

?

The ingredients are water, carbon dioxide, orange juice concentrate, sugar, additives and orange oil. What makes the Arctic Ocean special is orange oil. It is cold-pressed and separated from the peel of oranges and is a natural flavour and colouring agent. It is the most precious part of oranges. A ton of oranges produces only 6kg of oil. The source of the orange determines the quality of the orange oil, which in turn determines the taste of the soda.　　

?

In the past, the Arctic Ocean used to purchase the "Dahongpao" red oranges produced in Wanzhou, Chongqing. More than a decade later, when Li Qi led his technicians to Wanzhou, the original orange production area has changed, and the processing plants they used to cooperate with have long since disappeared. They traveled all the way west, and finally settled in Nanchong, Sichuan. Nanchong is located in the shallow hilly area of the upper Jialing River, with water quality of Class II, and the "Dahongpao" produced is of good quality.　　

?

The raw materials were determined, but the research and development did not proceed smoothly.The soda prepared according to the "secret recipe" is not the original taste, and it is even "hard to drink".There are countless factors that affect the taste of food: raw materials, air, water, equipment, workers… After more than ten years, these factors have changed. Naturally, the taste of the debugged soda will also change.　　

?

The old formula has failed. In addition, the properties of soda are also difficult. Technicians found that orange oil is insoluble in water. The general method is to use emulsifiers, but small amounts cannot be dissolved. Large amounts affect the taste.

?

Rebuilding the Arctic Ocean is far more than just a picture of the gourd.

?

Rebuilding the Arctic Ocean

?

While he was tuning his soda recipe, Mr. Li was looking for soda production equipment. The original Arctic company was gone, the team was gone, and the production line was gone, leaving an old brand empty. At an industry fair at the Beijing International Exhibition Center, Li Qi was struggling to find equipment when an elder next to him said: "I’m from the old Arctic Ocean."　　

?

Li Qi looked at the old man in front of him. He was about 60 years old and tall. His name was Ma Qian. He entered the factory in 1972. At that time, the Arctic Ocean was still called the Beijing People’s Food Factory. Once in the factory, he was assigned to the soda workshop to deal with machines. In the 1980s, he went to Iraq to assist in the production of local beverages. He worked for Pepsi Cola there for two years and was exposed to advanced Italian and German machinery.　　

?

After returning to China, Ma Qian was promoted to director of the Arctic Ocean workshop. He couldn’t figure out how the joint venture between Arctic Ocean and Pepsi at that time."I’ve been in charge of the equipment in the workshop. At that time, when it was said that you were from Arctic Ocean, no matter where you went, people knew you. Arctic Ocean is very well run, and there is no need to partner with others. I don’t understand the approach after the joint venture. There is no hope for this brand."He quit his job and opened a factory in Tongzhou to produce beverage equipment.　

When he met Ma Qian, Li Qi had just taken over the Arctic Ocean, but he had already heard of this old workshop director and skilled technician. "I’ve heard of you, let’s talk." Li Qi said.　　

?

Knowing that Li Qi was going to recreate the Arctic Ocean, Ma Qian said: "I learned my skills in the Arctic Ocean now, and all the technical training was sent by the Arctic Ocean. What I know should be given back to the Arctic Ocean for free." This coincidence not only prompted Ma Qian to become a new shareholder in the new Arctic Ocean, but also a senior consultant in solving technical problems of equipment.　

?

Mr. Ma’s company supplied Arctic Ocean with pre-equipment such as ingredients and refrigeration. In addition, Arctic Ocean also imported a production line from Nanjing Light Industrial Machinery Group (hereinafter referred to as Nanqing). Nanqing has an unusual connection with Arctic Ocean: it once provided the first production line for the old Arctic Ocean to imitate Japan’s Mitsubishi, and the current chairperson was an apprentice of Arctic Ocean in the 1980s. So, like Ma Qian’s equipment, Nanqing’s production line has the genes of the old Arctic Ocean from the beginning. The equipment solves the problem that has plagued Li Qi before – that orange oil is insoluble in water. The new process uses a high-shear emulsifier to split the orange oil into tiny ions, which are then matched with a suitable amount of emulsifier.　　

?

The imitation journey took half a year. Li Qi had forgotten how many formulas he had tried, the only thing he remembered was the strict taste review after each development.Each time a recipe is developed, it is first tasted by three technicians, and then given to a team of dozens of people. This team is made up of people who have drunk the old Arctic Ocean and people who have worked in the old Arctic Ocean.When the last batch of experiments came out, Ma Qian supported his master, the first generation of Arctic employees, to the factory to determine the final taste. Master picked out a bottle and said, "This is it."　　

?

Then things went smoothly: Li Qi hired young designers with overseas study experience to redesign the polar bear logo in the Arctic Ocean. The new logo has a traditional shadow but is more flexible.　

Sales channels are not difficult to choose, but those mom-and-pop stores that are scattered all over the hutongs.These mom-and-pop shops, often only a few square meters in size, penetrate deep into Beijing’s capillaries but are ignored by big dealers.The Arctic Ocean soda that is deep in everyone’s memory was once displayed on the large ice cubes in front of these small shops.　　

?

On a sweltering August morning in Daxing, Li Qi watched as workers moved boxes of empty glass bottles back into the warehouse overnight. "How much did you sell last month?" he asked.　

"3.30 million boxes," Hu Zhiyong, the head of storage, replied.　　

?

On another 37-degree-Celsius sauna day, Li Qi wiped the sweat from his forehead and nodded at Hu Zhiyong.He forecasts that his goal of selling 800 million yuan this year is promising.　　

?

Twenty kilometers away, on the streets of downtown Beijing, thirsty passers-by opened a bottle of Arctic Ocean, "Gudong Gudong" was just a few bites, and a burst of orange fragrance lingered in the throat for a long time. "It’s still the smell!"　

Only Li Qi and his friends know that the Arctic Ocean is no longer "original".

　　CCTV News:On November 8th, the 2017 Tencent Global Partner Conference opened at the Chengdu Western Expo Center in Sichuan. Ren Yuxin, chief operating officer of Tencent, Jonathan Nolan, director and screenwriter of "Westworld", Edward Mossall, Nobel Prize winner, Hugh Hull, well-known professor of MIT Media Lab, Su Hua, founder and CEO of Kuaishou Technology, Zhou Yuan, founder and CEO of Zhihu Media, and Ma Dong, 350 domestic and foreign industry leaders, 500 mainstream media, more than 10,000 partners and industry elites, discussed content ecology and cutting-edge technology around the theme of "Openness and Creativity".

　　During the two-day conference, with 21 sub-forums gradually unfolding, dozens of Tencent product lines such as QQ, WeChat, App Treasure, Tencent Cloud, QQ Music, and LBS will announce the latest opening policies and ecological strategies, and discuss with industry leaders. In addition, in the 15,000 exhibition area of the conference, more than 130 high-quality projects from Tencent business lines and partners will be exhibited. Among them, AI and merchandise will showcase the development of the global technology and cultural industries.

　　At the main forum, Fan Yi, deputy mayor of Chengdu, addressed the conference first. Tencent chief operating officer Ren Yuxin said in his speech that this year, Tencent open API has entered the seventh year, Tencent will connect the wisdom, content ecology and technology cloud three measures to help partners.

Photo: Ren Yuxin’s opening speech

　　"In the past six years of opening up, the total number of partners has exceeded 13 million, 25 million jobs have been created, and the cumulative total score has exceeded 23 billion." Lin Songtao, vice president of Tencent, announced the results of Tencent’s six-year opening up and explained Tencent’s future opening roadmap. "Tencent’s opening up will be based on the continuous evolution of the two fulcrums of science and technology and humanities. In the future, it will focus on promoting new technology open APIs with AI as the core and large content open APIs with diverse content as the core."

　　Three billions to support content entrepreneurship, eight scenarios to explore the future of AI

　　"The internet and all walks of life have begun to deeply integrate, and online and offline are becoming one. All walks of life have developed from a simple’connection ‘in the past to an overall’cloud’ at present. Everyone hopes to achieve digital transformation and upgrade, and develop the digital economy," Ren Yuxin said.

　　Digital content has become the new commanding heights of Internet competition. As an important part of Tencent’s big content strategy, at this conference, Lin Songtao released the "big content" platform opening strategy with diverse content as the core, which will create a complete content ecosystem from content production, multi-channel construction, intelligent distribution, and commercialization.

　　The conference announced the official launch of Tencent content open API, which will combine WeChat, QQ, QQ space, browser, express, Tencent news, Tencent video, app treasure, NOW live broadcast, WeSing and other billion-level traffic platforms. With the intelligent distribution capabilities of Tencent AI, it will help content entrepreneurs achieve the goal of "one point access, the whole network is connected". At the same time, the newly launched "tens of billions" plan will 10 billion traffic, 10 billion funds and 10 billion industrial resources, and comprehensively support content entrepreneurs in the fields of traffic and monetization, investment incubation, and offline merchandise base.

　　"In the cultural and creative industries such as movies, games, music, and online literature, the income of content creators can account for about half of the industry’s income, but in the field of diverse content, it is less than 10%, which obviously has a lot of space and opportunities." Lin Songtao said that Tencent Content Open API will be committed to helping content entrepreneurs to mine value. The lack of copyright protection is an important reason for the damage to the rights and interests of creators. For this reason, Tencent Content Open API launched a "content alliance" to protect creative copyright. Tencent’s internal products such as QQ, WeChat, Express, and Tencent Video, as well as excellent information platforms such as Zhihu, Sina, and Visual China, also joined at the same time.

Picture: Tencent Vice President Lin Songtao announced Tencent’s opening achievements

　　In recent years, new technology clusters represented by AI are becoming a new driving force for the global economy. The 2017 Wuzhen Index shows that the global artificial intelligence financing scale has reached 22.40 billion US dollars. The Tencent "new technology" platform strategy focuses on AI and proposes an implementation path of "basic research – scene co-construction – AI openness".

　　Lin Songtao introduced that Tencent has achieved a number of technical achievements in the field of artificial intelligence. For example, 21 papers in AI Lab were selected for top academic conferences in one year; two technologies ranked first in the MegaFace challenge of the internationally renowned facial recognition database. In the application field, Tencent AI capabilities, represented by Jueyi, Shadow Search, Accurate Push, and Intelligent Customer Service, have been implemented in eight major scenarios such as social networking, content, games, medical care, retail, finance, security, and translation. Tencent has also begun to promote AI openness. On the one hand, it empowers medical and other industries to achieve AI + by combining with traditional industries; on the other hand, it fully supports emerging AI entrepreneurs with AI open APIs.

　　"Three empowering" for openness and innovation in the digital age

　　"From traffic opening to capacity opening to ecological opening, Tencent has built three systems of technology empower, ecological empower and industrial empower, forming a comprehensive open system." Lin Songtao summarizes Tencent’s open system from three areas.

　　In the field of technology, Tencent has built an empowering system based on basic technologies such as security, big data, LBS, and payment, and based on many applications such as QQ, WeChat, App Treasure, and Tencent Cloud as connectors. Among them, MAU breaks through the 200 million Tencent App Treasure to form a connection between APP developers and users in a full-scene distribution model; Tencent Cloud uses the "Smart +" model to help more than 1 million developers to form industry connections covering energy, industry, automotive, gaming, video, finance, government affairs, etc.; Tencent Social Advertising forms a marketing connection between partners and target users with a huge coverage of QQ, WeChat 1 billion users.

Figure: Tencent content open API launch

　　In order to provide entrepreneurs with full-factor support, Tencent has built an ecosystem empowering system covering the entire chain of startup incubation, Enterprise Services, investment incubation, and high-end communities. Among them, Qingteng University has trained 188 outstanding entrepreneurs, including 22 unicorns, with an average growth of 150% during the enrollment period; Tencent Maker Space has landed 31 entrepreneurial venues in 26 cities across the country, and landed overseas Maker Space and Tencent Merchandise Base in Hong Kong, focusing on merchandise workers and helping the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area; Tencent’s "Double Hundred Plan" has invested in more than 100 start-ups, with a total project valuation of over 60 billion and more than 20 track leaders; The entrepreneurship service platform also provides more than 3,700 entrepreneurship services for various enterprises.　

　　The digital economy continues to develop, and Tencent’s empowerment of traditional industries continues to strengthen. With "Internet +" as the core, basic public services such as smart finance, smart travel, smart smart manufacturing and smart cities have been built. In smart finance, financial Cloud as a Service has been connected to more than 5,000 financial units, including WeChat Pay and QQ wallet. The peak mobile payment can reach 208,000 times per second. In the field of smart travel, based on the concept of empowering cars and serving people, building a travel platform with location-based service and vehicle to everything, and connecting car manufacturers with Tencent’s connected car technology. Smart manufacturing will be based on Tencent’s big data, cloud computing and other technical capabilities to implement supply chain integration, production optimization, marketing and after-sales system construction in different fields. In smart cities, Tencent has created "Internet +" solutions in various fields such as commerce, medical care, government affairs, policing, and travel, so as to improve the efficiency of commercial services and government services, provide convenience for citizens’ lives, and enhance public safety.

Original, Ma Shanglong, Shanghai Xiaolong Lane

Women love tianjiao, men like to dominate. When Santana couldn’t afford it, men made their dream a Rolls-Royce – the Rolls-Royce of the moped drove to Shanghai. Baofu’s advertisement is "Rolls-Royce of the moped".

** the most powerful thing is to reduce the 50cc light ride to 49cc, no longer belongs to the motorcycle series, and can ride without a driver’s license. The flood of mopeds and ** also began

Piaggio should be translated as "Piaggio", but "Baofu" seems to be more domineering. It is not particularly exaggerated to call it the Rolls-Royce of the scooter. When Baofu first entered the Shanghai market, it was only sold in overseas Chinese stores, not only for money, but also for overseas Chinese exchange coupons. Driving on the road, compared to the "one-pull" permanent scooter, Baofu was very angry. At that time, there was no concept of private car buying.

The Chinese are really good at taking advantage of loopholes. The moped is a concept that only China has. Bawu belongs to the moped in Italy, which is the "light ride" in the Chinese concept. Its power is 50cc, not 250cc or more of motorcycles. Although it is a moped, it still belongs to the category of motorcycles and has a government-stipulated light ride driver’s license. The most powerful thing about the Chinese is that they downgraded the 50cc moped to 49cc, which no longer belongs to the motorcycle series. You can ride without a motorcycle driver’s license. Later, the flood of mopeds in Shanghai started with 49cc, what Thomson, Firebird, Jialing… Later, the all-powerful traffic police brigade disappeared like this. Why? You know.

At that time, more than 10,000 yuan a Baofu, now it seems that it can be compared with the car around 200,000?

The real "materialization era" of the Chinese people began in the 1990s.

Before, especially until the 1980s, the Chinese mainland had been in the "age of dematerialization." A person who was named a model worker was rewarded with a certificate on the wall, at most an enamel cup and a notebook, and society was very poor in material goods – a typical dematerialized society.

After the 1980s, society used material things as a standard and weighing instrument to transform into spiritual life. Giving high rewards to advanced workers is a materialized reward, donations to help the poor and disaster relief, and materialized goodwill; a diamond ring "passed down forever" at a wedding is a materialized love. Material has shown an unprecedented role in any aspect of society – the age of materialization has arrived.

The whole people are doing business, the overnight wealth of stock subscription certificates, the sudden emergence of "Yang Million" and other social coordinates, and the desire of the Chinese to get rich can be said to be "suddenly like a spring breeze, thousands of trees and pear blossoms".

Diamonds last forever, one will last forever, provided that there is money, there must be enough money — the core value of the materialized era

In 1994, there was an advertisement for making a fortune that went with public opinion: "Hengyuanxiang, sheep make a fortune". It’s really funny in the new year. Shanghainese people prefer to read it as "making a foreign fortune". Making a foreign fortune is the ability of Shanghainese in the old days, making money from foreigners, and it is also a true record of going to Japan to study in Australia in those years to really make a foreign fortune.

1994 was not the Year of the Sheep in the lunar calendar. Apparently, Hengyuanxiang was excited about his "Sheep Fa Cai" advertising ideas, but he couldn’t wait for the next round of the Year of the Sheep to arrive in 2003. So in the year of brainstorming, he took it out and shared it with people, singing loudly: Hengyuanxiang, Sheep Fa Cai. I remember that the TV station also did advertisements one after another on each channel. It was much more cultured than the current Granny Zhang sea cucumber and decoration advertisements, like a child’s voice reciting the "Three Character Classic": Hengyuanxiang, Sheep Fa Cai. "Sheep Fa Cai" is an octave high with an exclamation mark.

The dream of making a fortune is the true Chinese dream of the Chinese people

But maybe Chinese people still like to "make a fortune in silence". A few days after the sheep made a fortune, the TV advertisement was changed: Hengyuanxiang, sheep, sheep! Still like a child’s voice reciting the "Three Character Classic", still "sheep, sheep" is an octave high with an exclamation mark.

The 1999 Hengyuanxiang calendar card I saw is still "Sheep Fa Cai". I believe that this is no longer Hengyuanxiang’s social advertisement, because the calendar card has long been out of the enthusiasm of Shanghai people every year, and may just be a small gift from Hengyuanxiang’s sales channels.

The unintended spin-off of "Beijingers in New York", Kong Fu’s wine, is homesick

Also in 1995. The 1990s was the most memorable and memorable decade in many Chinese people’s lives.

The materialized era brought material things, people would be materialized, and things would also be humanized. "The wine of the Confucius Mansion makes people homesick" is the most successful integration of materialization and humanization.

The separation of family ties among the Chinese people was the most prominent syndrome of the 1990s. A large number of foreign people who cut the queue made a fortune, but at the expense of family ties and even the breakdown of marriages and families; there is a more turbulent wave that has already hit, that is, the wave of migrant workers that has not yet calmed down.

"Homesickness" became the voice of the times for the first time, and that bottle of wine took advantage of the opportunity to imitate Dukang and relieve sorrow.

From the educated youth going to the mountains and going to the countryside in the 1960s, to the foreign queue jumping in the 1990s, to the emerging migrant workers, homesickness has become the theme of social and people’s livelihood in China for half a century

The endorsement of this advertisement is Wang Ji, and the background song of this advertisement is Sun Nan’s "I Pursue You for Thousands of Miles". Before that, in 1993, the TV drama "Beijingers in New York" was a big success, Wang Ji was the star, and "I Pursue You for Thousands of Miles" was the theme song – it can be said that the full value of Kong Fu’s wine is almost this advertisement, which is such a eight-word sentence: Kong Fu’s wine makes people homesick.

Family love, in the materialized era, has become a social public issue, and a bottle of wine is the first to be handed in in this public issue examination room.

This article is the third of "The Three View Curve of Shanghai Street Advertising in Forty Years"; one of the two is the first two official accounts "Jinsky blinked out the desire of Chinese women" and "The leader of the Celebrity Gate, the new wife, the girl in red, how to rival her wearing Tianjiao".

Thank you to many friends for leaving messages on my last official account, giving their impressive advertising slogans, and I also enjoyed it.

(The photos in this article are all selected from the Internet, and I would like to express my gratitude to the photographer and editor of the original photos.)

Ma Shanglong

Member of the Chinese Writers Association, director of the Shanghai Writers Association, deputy director of the professional creation committee of prose reportage; editor

Deputy Director of the Shanghai Municipal Committee Publishing and Media Committee

Chairperson of Mingfu Library, Huangpu District, Shanghai

Consultant of Shanghai Pingtan Troupe Art Committee

Ma Shanglong Director of Haipai Culture Studio

The works are mainly divided into three series, namely the essay series such as "Humor Should Laugh at Me" and "Students with Celebrities", the Shanghai series such as "Made in Shanghai", "Why Shanghai" and "Shanghai Women", and the essay series such as "Roll Sign Language" and "Some Meaning You Never Understand".

The new book published in 2019 is "Shanghai Road Numbers".

Several books published in recent years are available online, at publishers and in physical bookstores.

The original title: "Ma Shanglong | Materializing Chinese Hegemony, Wealth, and Homesickness in the Age"

Read the original text