Taishan: a beautiful encounter with the commercial city of Yiw

wondersland (41)in #yiwu • 6 years ago

On January 5^th, 2005, a train from Shanghai slowly sailed into the old railway station in Yiwu. That’s when Taishan, a British, first came to Yiwu. At that time, he had no idea that he would fall in love with this city, and get married here.

An encounter with a city unfamiliar

Before coming to Yiwu, Taishan lived and worked in Sydney, Australia for 4 years. “One day, I was having lunch with a friend. And he told me that he was going to teach English in Japan. I think it would be very interesting to go out and take a look.” Inspired by his friend, Taishan began to search for relevant resources on the Internet. Compared with Japan, Chinese history and culture attracts him more. So he made up his mind to “teach English in China”.

Soon, Taishan completed the courses and passed the examination successfully. An English training institution in China sent an offer to him. However, when Taishan, who was eager to develop in a big city, came to the headquarters of the training institution in Shanghai, he was told to teach in Yiwu. “I never heard of Yiwu. I have been looking for it for a long time on the map but couldn’t find it. Then I knew that it is close to Shanghai and Hangzhou.” Knowing nothing about Yiwu makes Taishan not so optimistic about the city. He even made the worst plan: if he could not adapt himself to his work and life in Yiwu, he would buy a flight ticket and leave. In this way, Taishan came to Yiwu.

First acquaintance with this city full of business opportunities

As a new comer, Taishan found that despite the fact that there were not so many foreigners in Yiwu at that time, Yiwu people was full of passion in learning English. “Unlike other cities, most of the students who study English are market operators or factory owners.” Taishan said that students were busy doing business or managing factories in the daytime and barely got free on weekends. So they could only learn English in the nighttime, which really touched Taishan very much.

The gentleman and humorous Taishan won the love of the students, and many of them became good friends. “They would teach me some business skills when free. I am very interested in it since I majored in marketing in college.” In this way, Taishan began to pay attention to Yiwu’s market of small commodities and its business atmosphere also fascinated him. “Yiwu market is really full of business opportunities. A product that you choose accidentally may bring you a lot of fortune. Every day you will meet all kinds of people, dealing with them and doing business with them. It’s really great to be so busy and fulfilled!” Taishan wanted to become part of it.

In 2008, Taishan set up his own foreign trade company in Yiwu, named Yiwu Huande Import and Export Co., Ltd., and began to export all kinds of commodities to Australia, the United States, Britain, Spain and other countries relying on the Yiwu market. With the development of the Yiwu market, Taishan's company is also growing. Its number of employees increased from 3 at the beginning to more than 20 today, and the storage area is constantly expanding.

Take root in the sweet and happy city

Not only is the business booming, but also the family life of Taishan is filled with happiness. When his wife is mentioned, he will say in proud that he is Yiwu people and he is a standard son-in-law of Yiwu locals.

Wu Qinyan, Taishan’s wife, was originally an operator in Yiwu International Trade City, and they got acquainted in English training. “At that time, he was an English teacher in the training institution and I was his student. What a wonderful acquaintance!” There is a big smile in her face when saying so. In Taishan’s view, his wife was his business mentor, and she not only taught him how to live in Yiwu, but also gave him great help in his business. Especially in the start-up period of the company, Wu Qinyan has undertaken a lot of work, actively communicating with suppliers to ensure that every order can be completed in high quality and won the approval of the customers.

In 2012, Taishan and his wife opened the Divino restaurant. This restaurant condenses their efforts and integrates the creativity from New York, Italy and London and so on. With its unique style and authentic cuisine, Divino has won a good reputation around Yiwu's foreign merchants.

Now, Taishan has been deeply in love with the city of Yiwu. “I prefer the bustling Yiwu to my hometown London. London is too quiet. It's so boring that I could only stay for a couple of days. I would rather come back to Yiwu.” Besides doing business, Taishan also actively organized social activities. He is a member of the Yiwu world merchant's house Action Committee and the CEO of Shangfan Sporting Club, which has formed a riding team, a badminton team, a football team and a rugby team. They arranged regular sports competitions and public welfare activities to provide opportunities for foreign merchants to communicate and enhance their friendship.

Expect for a city with unlimited potential

This year, Taishan is very busy after Spring Festival. “Business is better than usual this year, and the number of foreign orders is much more.” Feeling the power of the good economy, he was full of energy.

Taishan is also concerned about Yiwu’s economic development plan these years. “Now, each month, we will have one or two containers to be shipped to Europe by “Madrid-Yiwu Train”, which is faster than ocean shipping and cheaper than air shipping. It is a very good way.” Once the “Madrid-Yiwu Train” went into operation, Taishan has taken part in it and can’t stop as the benefits grow.

In recent years, import trade has flourished in Yiwu, and Taishan has seen business opportunities. He would discuss with his wife from time to time about the import trade. “Australian puzzle toys embed with the educational idea of parents and children playing together, which is precisely the lack of China at present. And he hopes to gradually change the educational concept of Chinese young parents by introducing such toys.” Taishan indicates that in addition to some popular Australian goods, he intends to introduce Australian puzzle toys and spreads them to all parts of the country with the advantage of Yiwu market.

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