Chapter 34 "Going out" is an old tradition

In 2005, when mentioning Lin Minzhi, a real estate agent from Wenzhou who is well-known in the local Chinese community in New York, not to mention the local Chinese, even the local Americans gave him a thumbs up for his courage and generosity. Not only because she owns the Green View Hotel, founded the Huamei Real Estate Company, and served as the chairman and general manager of New York's No. 1 Department Store, but more importantly, because of her fearless spirit of daring to venture into the world, people even refer to his deeds. Spread it as a legend. The reason is simple. Most Chinese women, after getting married and having children, put all their minds on the small family.But after Lin Minzhi had two daughters, her mind was no longer in her small family. Instead, she borrowed some money to buy a plane ticket and flew to the United States to find opportunities.

She started out as a part-time worker in a car garment factory and a restaurant, and soon owned a restaurant of her own.Not long after, this bold woman opened two department store gift shops in downtown Brooklyn and Times Square in Manhattan.Later, she got her real estate license and formally entered the American real estate industry.When she heard that a dilapidated restaurant in Hetou Town, an unknown town, was about to be sold, she sold it without hesitation and refurbished it. It became a quiet and famous resort hotel in Hetou. Green View Hotel.Later, this woman won the "First 50 Outstanding Chinese Entrepreneurs in the United States".

Living in a foreign country, unfamiliar with the place and language, how did Lin Minzhi become a legend? Maybe you will say that it is because they are quick-thinking, smart, and have a long-term vision. They are investment geniuses.Then let's look at the following two "legends". An old lady in Pingyang, Wenzhou, heard that she bought rabbit fur from outside and made a lot of money when she came back.The old lady in Pingyang couldn't sit still any longer, and wanted to follow others' example of reselling rabbit fur to make money.But she doesn't have the physical strength of a young man, and she can't speak Mandarin, let alone read and write. How can she go out and earn this money?But she did.

She asked someone to write two notes for herself, one said "I am from Pingyang, Wenzhou, please help me buy a bus ticket." The other said "I want to buy rabbit fur, how much is it?" One catty?" With just these two notes, this old lady from Pingyang traveled to most of the rabbit fur markets in China and became a household that made a fortune by buying rabbit fur. At that time, "10,000-yuan household" was still a very rare status for people in most parts of China. Coincidentally, there is also an old lady in Wenzhou who is also physically weak, can't speak Mandarin, and can't read. She traveled all over China's large and small cities with two hands. , Expired and void", and on the palm of the other hand was written "Buy my product, I will give you a 20% rebate".Relying on these dozens of words in the palm of her hand, this old lady successfully sold the small commodities produced by her family workshop all over the country!

Seeing these three women who are not afraid to venture into the world, do you think Wenzhou women are "tough"?In fact, not only Wenzhou women, Wenzhou men are even more fearless, traveling all over the world all year round, looking for good investment projects. "Going out" is an old tradition. Whether men, women, old people or children in Wenzhou, they regard the outside as a place full of gold. It is a shame to stay at home and do nothing.Because in the eyes of Wenzhou people, "going out" is not only a way to make money, but also an attitude towards life. Wenzhou is located in the southeast of Zhejiang Province, surrounded by water on three sides and backed by mountains.There are many people and few lands, and resources are scarce. Waterways are the only way to communicate with the outside world.Before the reform and opening up, people here could only live a life of isolation and poverty. If you want to improve your life, there is only "a dead end".In Wenzhou dialect, "dead end" means "waterway".Although the words are humorous, it also reflects the helplessness of Wenzhou people to a certain extent.

Facing the harsh natural environment, Wenzhou people have to walk out of the "dead end" in order to find a glimmer of life and a better space for survival and development.Therefore, since ancient times, Wenzhou people have almost always regarded "going out of Wenzhou" as a necessary attitude towards life.It can be said that in the dictionary of Wenzhou people, "leaving one's hometown" is not a derogatory word, but a symbol of an active life and a better life.This is obviously different from the traditional Chinese conservative concept of loving the country and guarding the soil.

The world is always fair. Compared with those who love their hometown and guard their land and live a comfortable life, the Wenzhou people who "leave their homes" are also rewarded by God with the opportunity to "return to their hometowns".As of 2008, the 30th anniversary of reform and opening up, Wenzhou people, who are busy all over the world, have created remarkable achievements in which the private economy accounts for more than 95% of industrial output value and more than 70% of fiscal revenue. Wenzhou capital has already Become a prominent brand in the world, as famous as the Jewish people who are known as the most good at doing business in the world.The hometown of Wenzhou people has already been dubbed the title of nearly 30 national production bases such as China's shoe capital, China's electrical appliance capital, and China's auto and motorcycle parts capital. It has won 16 Chinese well-known trademarks, 32 Chinese famous brand products and Inspection-free products in 82 countries.With these achievements, it can be said that no other city in the country can compete with Wenzhou!

Although today's Wenzhou people are already wealthy, "going out" has become a tradition, and it has become the most normal way of life for them.Therefore, there are still more than 500,000 Wenzhou people in the world who are busy traveling around the world, and almost any city in the family has Wenzhou people.In short, as long as there are people, there are Wenzhou people who are busy. They are like air, filling the world and being active in the sea of ​​business. Air is everywhere, and Wenzhou people are everywhere. Air is indispensable. , all over the world is also an indispensable way of life for Wenzhou.

If "going out" is the strategy of Wenzhou people in order to find a way out, then they are not only satisfied with going out and having a better living environment outside, but also to completely improve the appearance of their hometown, to transform themselves The "base camp" of Wenzhou is better established, and it also makes the life of Wenzhou people better. Anyone who is familiar with the Wenzhou model knows that quite a few Wenzhou people made their fortunes by "imitating". In 1985, some Wenzhou people who invested overseas returned home and brought back Japanese lighters.The thoughtful Wenzhou people disassembled these lighters and carefully studied each part and each component.As a result, in less than three months, Wenzhou people made the first lighter belonging to Wenzhou people with their own hands.Then, Wenzhou people produced the first batch of lighters belonging to Wenzhou people in their hometown, and quickly put them on the market at a very low price, quickly crushing the world's three major lighter production bases - Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.Today, Wenzhou's lighters have accounted for 80% of the world market share, and it is a veritable "big guy" in the lighter market.

Not only lighters, but also glasses, low-voltage electrical appliances, leather shoes, plastic products, and many other industries. Wenzhou people not only use them for imitation, but also understand through market competition that only by maintaining innovation in imitation can the Wenzhou brand be preserved.As a result, Wenzhou people who used to be engaged in low-end industries, and Wenzhou people who accumulated the first pot of gold in their lives after their first ventures, began to engage in high-tech research and development, and Wenzhou products gradually became a brand in this way.

This spirit of "bringing in" does not only include the specific industrial economy.By extension, many qualities of the Wenzhou model are full of this "introduction" spirit.Wenzhou's high-tech, abundant capital, brand advantages, etc., all of which originated from outside Wenzhou.Because, more than 80% of Wenzhou's wealth, in the final analysis, all come from outside Wenzhou. As Lu Xun said: "If you don't take it, you can't become a new person; if you don't take it, literature and art can't become a new literature and art." From the perspective of Wenzhou people: Wenzhou people cannot live a "new" life without attracting wealth from other regions, and Wenzhou's economy cannot develop into a "Wenzhou model" without bringing in wealth.Therefore, going out into the world is not the goal, the goal is to move all the "good things" in the world back to Wenzhou, so that Wenzhou can get rid of the old Wenzhou that is poor and backward, and become a "new Wenzhou" that shocks the world. In addition, "going out" also gave birth to some Wenzhou people's unique "business skills", such as bold investment, easy monopoly of the market, easy formation of groups, and hardship in doing business, etc.These qualities of Wenzhou people are all forced out by the environment.As the influence of Wenzhou people in the world continues to deepen and expand, the Wenzhou model has attracted more and more attention from experts at home and abroad, and more people have participated in the research of Wenzhou phenomena.I have only one suggestion to you: The study of the Wenzhou model cannot be separated from the tradition of "going out" of Wenzhou people; without this foundation, all research is like seeking fish on the edge of a tree, or seeking carp while lying on ice.