Because of him, the Village of Meixi in Zhuhai stands three magnificent granite arches, and the song and dance drama with him as the protagonist has been performed on Broadway in the United States for 30 years; the 200th anniversary of the founding of the United States selects the 100 most influential expatriates, and he is ranked alongside Kissinger, a descendant of German Jews and former American national security adviser; and at the famous THE HUNGRY LION hotel in Hawaii, there is also a menu rich in "A Brief History of Millionaire Chen Fang's Entrepreneurship".
Chen Fang, the first millionaire among overseas Chinese, was born in 1825 in Meixi Village, Guangzhou, and his father, Chen Renchang, was engaged in business in Macau, so his family was well-off, and Chen Fang had a keen eye for business. Chen Fang also participated in the imperial examination in her early years, and after the death of her father, 14-year-old Chen Fang followed her uncle to Macao and other places to learn to do business.
Later, in the twenty-ninth year of Daoguang (1849), the 24-year-old Chen Fang helped his uncle transport goods to Honolulu for sale, which was the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom at that time, Chen Fang initially operated Chinese souvenirs and traditional furniture, but Chen Fang understood the local people's lifestyle, and pioneered the modern supermarket model - "open shelves to sell goods, free to buy", the business is very hot, it is said that even the Chinese clothes worn on the body have been bought.
But Chen Fang also experienced some setbacks, has encountered a store fire, the store guys swept away 30,000 US dollars absconded, but fell Chen Fang still climbed up, borrowed usury to reopen, from scratch, and local people have been very familiar with Chen Fang and understand, Chen Fang's business soon started again, not only paid back usury, but also turned to the operation of plantations and sugar industry.
Chen Fang and his good friend Cheng Zhi jointly ran "Fang Zhi Ji", began sugarcane cultivation and sugar industry, in the 1860s the Outbreak of the American Civil War, the American side cut off the supply of sugar to the north, Chen Fang seized this opportunity, to the north of the United States to sell a large number of sugar, money poured into Chen Fang, soon Chen Fang became the first millionaire among the local Chinese, but also won the title of "Prince of Commerce".
Chen Fang not only broke out of the business legend, but also married the royal princess of other countries, in 1856, the Hawaiian king held a wedding ceremony, Chen Fang spent a huge amount of money for the king to hold a huge luxury ball, thus winning the attention of the king, and in order to win the heart of the royal princess Julia, Chen Fang also built the most beautiful scenery in the north of Honolulu City, the most luxurious villa in Hawaii at that time.
However, before Chen Fang married the princess, he already had a wife Li Xing, so Julia was actually Chen Fang's concubine, but this did not hinder Chen Fang's play, Chen Fang became a member of the Hawaiian high society, and with strong financial resources, the princess's brother Kava kanu ascended to the throne of the king, and Chen Fang's status also became a royal state relative, serving as a member of the Privy Council (Legislative Yuan).
But Chen Fang was brilliant outside, and did not forget the situation of the local Chinese, at that time the status of the Chinese overseas was not high, the success of business was already very legendary, but Chen Fang was obviously a more legendary figure, and Chen Fang did not forget his motherland, sponsored the Hawaiian king to visit China, visited Li Hongzhang, Chen Fang also became China's first Chinese businessman in Hawaii, the Consul General of the Chinese Consulate in Hawaii.
In 1890, the 65-year-old Chen Fang returned to his hometown of Meixi with his wife and children to settle down, and set up a public welfare undertaking, because Chen Fang and his parents were charitable and charitable, the Guangxu Emperor specially built the "Meixi Arch".