The wonderful Journey of a Cultural businessman for 30 years: opening a Cafe-Building Industry-opening a Company in Dubai

The year 2003 was the beginning of the international market. The two decided to enter Dubai and copy the new lighting model in Europe into the Chinese market is a good model. Pigs fly when the wind blows, and in less than a year they have established themselves in Dubai.

Tao Lian was chatting with two friends in a restaurant in Luzu Temple in Chongqing.

"Tao Lian happened to be a year older than us. Every night when he came home from school, he would stand on the rooftop on the sixth floor and play the violin. The girls of our school would be infatuated with him. He was thin then and really handsome," one of the ladies in a beige windbreaker said with a smile. "Yeah, he even wrote an inscription for another classmate in our class at that time. He really has the temperament of a master, hahaha!" Another man in a dark gray sweater responded.

The reporter looked at Tao Lian sitting in the middle of the table: a black suit, printed shirt base, waxed delicate hairstyle. If he hadn't said it, he wouldn't have been able to tell that he was from the 1950s. He really had the temperament of a cultured person.

They were discussing a city impression event to be held next month. Both of them were excited to hear Tao Lian's idea.

They are busy and never stop on their way to work.

A casual cultural businessman

In the summer of 1984, Tao Lian was making coffee for guests in a cafe along the Fuling River in Chongqing. "Two more bottles of cold beer!" A guest walked in and said. Tao Lian immediately took out two bottles of wine from his self-made freezer and gave them to the guests. He was sweating profusely.

By midnight, Tao Lian and his partners had sold out of coffee. After tidying up the scattered tables and chairs and finishing the remaining cake, Tao Lian dragged his exhausted body back home.

This was his first venture, working in Fuling Daily during the day and running a cafe with his friends at night. At that time, the cinema was the only way for young people to relax, and they could only go to the movies when they were bored. When Tao Lian's cafe opened, people would come here after work and swimming. They would order two cups of coffee and a bottle of beer. They would sit there all afternoon. Sometimes even at night, the limelight would far outshine the cinema.

After less than two months of operation, Tao Lian returned to his original position, but he did not continue. Just as opening a cafe was his whim, this time deciding to resign and go to Guangdong to fight was also an accidental flash, but he did not hesitate.

In the 1990s, with the spring breeze of reform and opening-up blowing all over China, people's hearts, such as tender shoots emerging from old branches, are active. Many workers in the system are eager for the interaction of money and career. Business has become a path that everyone hopes to return to. Guangzhou, as one of the first coastal cities to open up, is undoubtedly the best choice.

In 1996, Tao Lian resigned and went south to Guangzhou. With tens of thousands of savings, he plunged into lighting manufacturing industry. He's never been exposed to lighting, but he's got a natural nerve. With a lot of daily learning and unique aesthetic. Tao Lian produced a large number of "strange" lights.

At that time, people were generally accustomed to regular lighting, and this personality and retro lighting could not be accepted. And some artists and fashionistas who are at the forefront of fashion especially like to run here. A few years later, the lights that were neglected at that time suddenly caught fire.

One day, Tao Lian received a phone call from Russia. The other party was also a lighting company and wanted to partner with him to do it. The two hit it off.

In 2003, the international market was just beginning. The two decided to enter Dubai and copy the new lighting model in Europe into the Chinese market is a good model. Pigs fly when the wind blows, and within a year they have established themselves in Dubai.

After several years of development, the company has grown into a comprehensive real estate development, international business trade investment management business entity.

Old Chongqing in Memory

The business was getting better and better, but Tao Lian's heart was getting more and more lonely. With the rapid development of science and technology, anyone around the world can be contacted through WeChat and telephone, but people are getting farther and farther away.

Most of the daily life of modern people is from one small cell to another small cell to go to work, and then off work, without any communication with each other.

This made Tao Lian miss his childhood life very much. At that time, information was not developed. People could talk about heaven and earth in the streets, eat hundreds of meals and drink hundreds of teas. In some remote places, people who want to buy what they need can only go to the market at a fixed time each month.

In the market, you can not only eat ice-sugar gourd, cut cake, boiled corn, roasted sweet potato, hawthorn cake, glutinous rice, ice cream, barbecue cake and other delicious, but also can buy a variety of things that you can not buy at ordinary times. People gather here every month to shop, drink tea, chat... It was so lively.

This warm, familiar feeling made him miss it very much, so the successful businessman who had traveled through 180 countries resolutely chose to return to his hometown in his 40s.

Eighteen ladders, stick army, noodles, hot pot, mountain flood... Good, Chongqing is still the same as in memory. Tao Lian walked alone on the street, feeling a sense of familiarity that he had not felt for a long time in his hometown.

One day, a 90-year-old man came to Tao Lian to chat about old Chongqing. Tao Lian asked the old man,"Old man, do you still remember stories from decades ago?" "I remember these familiar streets, but I can't remember many things." the old man replied.

"Old man, who is the woman you remember best?" "What do you mean?" Tao Lian asked.

"Wang Modern" blurted out the old man. This surprised Tao Lian.

In Chongqing in the 1940s,"modern" was used to describe a woman's beauty. According to people who study literature and history, Guo Moruo and Ba Jin at that time often sat at the gate of Luzu Temple, waiting for "Wang Modern" to pass by. The old man could not remember the past, but he remembered "Wang Modern". This shows that "Wang Modern" is already a cultural phenomenon, she is a kind of spiritual totem of the whole nation under the social conditions at that time.

In that era, the culture of "Wang Modern" such a person, so that Tao Lian really realized the value of culture. The reason why he came back after traveling to more than a hundred countries was also because he had long been soaked in the Jianghu of this city. No matter how hard he tried, he could not wash it off. This kind of Jianghu was the Jianghu of culture.

In addition to his heart, Tao Lian began to do a bazaar embodying Chongqing's old culture and art. The site was chosen at the Luzu Temple where Wang Moden often appeared before.

Chongqing opened its port in 1911 and opened its trading port to foreigners. Imports of foreign goods increased by 12%, and a large number of people flocked to Chongqing. More and more houses began to be built, while Chongqing was mountainous and hard. Due to lack of experience, many houses began to collapse. The common people built this Lu Zu Temple in order to pray for peace.

Chongqing people know Lu Zu Temple, but have never seen Lu Zu Temple. Now Tao Lian bought this land and built a global market.

Culture + Industry = Global Market?

Walking into the global market, you will see a big stone pot with sweet potato, next to which there are bamboo hats and dustpans. On the left side of the stone pot was a long, retro table. On the long mahogany table was a row of lights from the Republic of China. If one did not look carefully, one would not be able to see that it was a checkout counter. Listen to Tao Lian said, these lights are he 98 years in Guangzhou, still look good, can not help but let people admire.

Further inside, a broken ship full of fishing nets attracted me, mottled above, full of Chongqing dock culture imprint. Behind the broken ship was a delicately decorated bar full of old and varied drinks. On the shutter at the door, there were four big words: "Republic of China Wine". The rolling screen background printed with the flag of the Republic of China makes people feel that they have crossed to the 1980s in an instant.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg... After strolling around for almost an hour, I finally walked through the two-story market: Audrey. Hepburn, Chiang Kai-shek, Zhou Xuan, teapot, tripod, gramophone, cloth lantern, retro sofa... Every small decoration is very exquisite, and the subtle details reveal the atmosphere of the 1980s. No wonder so many filmmakers choose to shoot here.

Careful calculation, here unexpectedly includes Chongqing tavern, Chongqing salon, Luzu noodle house, Chongqing small courtyard, Republic of China teahouse, Ba Guo Ding pot and hey burn eight branches. Visitors can not only drink here, but also eat noodles, tea, barbecue, chat and so on. Like a global market, people forget to leave.

Food is also all-inclusive and comprehensive. The most prominent is the pot beef. Ding removed the foot into a tripod pot, the old Ba area (including today's Chongqing area, eastern Sichuan, southern Shaanxi, western Hubei, northern Guizhou) are in use tripod pot, it is also the originator of hot pot.

Boiling beef in a tripod pot is not only tender and chewy, but also full of aroma. Cooking for a long time will make beef softer. The writer in Half City once said that pot beef is the Haagen-Dazs of beef. Many gourmet bigwigs in the capital came to taste and learn from it.

However, Tao Lian said that these dishes were all developed by a layman like him. Back then, in order to cook the best food, he had also found some big shots in the catering industry. However, the cooking patterns of the big shots had already been set, and the taste was the same as those of the top restaurants. They could not make any special features.

Therefore, Tao Lian personally cooked and traveled all over the country to find ingredients. Hard work pays off, finally developed a series of original dishes, won the consumer's love. Although it was still open for trial, the queue was up until 9 p.m. every day.

Many businessmen hoped to learn the "culture + industry" model of the global market, but Tao Lian refused. He hopes to open it to the world when the store is mature and open it into a chain model. Every time I open a city, I will combine the local cultural characteristics to make a "market", and it will become a global market around the world.

Today, Luzu Temple has a history of more than one hundred years, which is undoubtedly the place that best reflects Chongqing culture. Last month, Tao Lian applied to the government to transform Luzu Temple Street into an ancient street that best reflects urban culture, such as Chengdu's Kuanzixiangzi.

When reporters went to interview, many stores began to transform. I believe that in the near future, we will be able to see Tao Lian's idea of "Cheng Kuanzi Yu Lu Zu" realized...

Source: Business Network