April the 20th marks the 20th anniversary of China’s first connection with the global Internet. In 20 years, Beijing’s Zhongguancun district has transformed itself from a market selling electronic parts to a breeding ground for high-tech companies. Zhongguancun is known as China’s silicon valley.
20 years ago, when today’s IT tycoon Feng Jun first arrived at Zhongguancun, he was a poor college graduate.
That year, China got itself connected with the global internet.
With just 200 yuan in his pocket, Feng Jun bought a second-hand tricycle, which he used to tow around keyboards he’d try to sell to big multinational companies.
But if it was only with that hard work, he might have never achieved his 16 billion yuan-worth Aigo brand today.
5 years after China got internet access, the IT business suddenly exploded. The Internet literally reshaped Zhongguancun from a low-end electronic goods market to a breeding ground for high-tech companies.
That year was also the time Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent, China’s top three IT companies, came into shape.
Even today, Zhongguancun’s charm is still apparent.
20 years ago, Zhongguancun was all farmland dotted with shabby little houses. Today it’s becoming the Chinese version of the Silicon Valley. Every year, over 3,000 companies are being established in this high-tech area, and hundreds of thousands more youngsters, like Feng Jun, flood here, hoping to start their own businesses.
A small district embedded with dreams and entrepreneurship.Made reality by the Internet.
