The main peak of Siguniang Mountain and the Universiade Park shine together. (Canaan/Photo)
The night of early winter slowly falls, the lights under the eaves are lit up, and the cool streets and alleys are lively. Fashionably dressed youngsters arrive as promised, and the restaurants, taverns and small theaters along the laneways enter the peak moment of sound decibels.
Through the surging crowds, Guo Liang always likes to go to the Live House in the corner of the alley to listen to the melody of jazz. He is an entrepreneur in the city and a scientist in the field of drones. There were two sounds that caught his ears, the flowing melody of the night and the roar of the drones in the daytime. A comfortable life and a passionate career are like a Mandarin duck pot to him, accompanied by the same time and space.
This kind of inclusiveness, he has always considered to be a rare gift in life. To live or to have a career, in many cities is the proposition that "fish and bear paws cannot be combined". The city in front of him called "Chengdu" gave him the opportunity to have both, making him look forward to a soaring future.
The livable Chengdu is well known, but the Livable Chengdu is beyond people's imagination. Chengdu, which manufactures hot pot bases in batches, is also giving birth to entrepreneurial projects, unicorns and listed companies on the Science and Technology Innovation Board. Like Guo Liang, makers with clever minds are pouring in. Chengdu, which was promoted to a megacity in 2020, has been identified as one of the dual cores of the "fourth pole" of China's regional economy.
The Promised Land
In the fall of 2009, Guo Liang, who finished his studies in Nanjing, embarked on a journey to Chengdu and entered the research institute. In the fall of 2015, he started a business in Chengdu, chasing the "blue sky dream" of industrial-grade drones. Rational adults don't just pick a city. For Guo Liang, choosing Chengdu is not only to consider the market environment, but also to chase the lifestyle of dreams.
"It's a great place to attract talent." Guo Liang described the park he was in this way, "In Sichuanese, it is called 'Bashi', and Bashi is very good. ”
In Sichuan dialect, "Bashi" is a word that describes the comfortable state of life. From newcomers to office workers to senior "Rong Drift", the words often hide the self-promise of "Bashi Life".
In February 2021, a short video that rushed to Weibo's hot search, "The Company Dispatched Chengdu Official Attention Manual", interpreted an exotic imagination of Chengdu life. In the short film, two Japanese businessmen on business arrive in the unfamiliar city of Chengdu. From mapo tofu to 52-degree liquor, from the cute giant panda to the depressed Sichuan dialect, business and play are blended in Japanese humor, which is very wonderful.
The wonderful exotic imagination and Guo Liang's perception are no different. From the perspective of business logic, Guo Liang founded Aoshi Technology in 2015, and five years later, he and his collaborators jointly formed Wofei Changkong, and chose Chengdu as the abing base are the CEO's correct market judgments. In the field of unmanned aerial vehicles, Chengdu has endowment resources sufficient to support the development of the industrial chain; Chengdu universities are gathered, and famous universities such as the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China can ensure a large number of graduate talents every year; and the rental subsidies of the park and the preferential policies of the city are also available.
Choosing to delve into technology in such a city with market potential, transforming it into engineering products, and then achieving mass production and pushing it to the surrounding broad market, everything is logical.
Outside of commerce, Guo Liang's idea seems a bit extravagant in some cities. He dreams of the Promised Land, playing the melodious roar of the drone taking off smoothly, and the moving melody of jazz flowing. If there is no artistic atmosphere, the restaurant with fireworks everywhere satisfies the beating taste buds.
The good life is part of the right of the city. However, in many cities, for office workers, career opportunities mean cramped urban village residences, which means that the morning and evening rush hours are crowded into sardine subway cars; and the good life, wanton eating, drinking, and enjoying the beauty of the snowy mountains, seems to need to be given annual leave. Walking between the two is a distant dream of many people.
And What Chengdu makes people cling to is not only to accommodate professional values, but also to carry the interest of life. The key to the intersection of the two lies in cost-friendliness.
"Chengdu is a very low-cost city to live in." Chengdu musician Gong Heling said at the Southern Weekend N-TALK speech show on December 12, 2021, "If you are exhausted every day and rush to catch up on some things you don't want to do in order to survive, then you definitely don't have a life... (Chengdu), a city with a population of 20 million, can provide such a low price, which I think is very rare and valuable. ”
This is the reason why Guo Liang and more young people choose Chengdu. Of the more than 400 employees owned by Wofei Changkong, half of them outside Sichuan Province.
Fujian chef Lin Shuwei also feels that there are many "new Chengdu people". Over the years, he met many Fujian compatriots in Chengdu, "doing real estate, making tiles, tea, seafood, building materials down to the grassroots, all walks of life", it is said that 460,000 Fujian people live in Chengdu for a long time.
"I asked them, did they marry a daughter-in-law in Chengdu?" He said no, the daughter-in-law is still from Fujian. Lin Shuwei quipped.
This is just a wave of the tide of population migration. As early as 2009, when Guo Liang came, Chengdu has maintained a relatively large population growth year by year.
In 2016, the folk song "Chengdu" created by singer Zhao Lei was popular all over the country. The song sings about the taverns and the unrelenting feelings, sings about Chengdu's nightlife, and sends Chengdu to the "top stream" of social networks; this year, Chengdu was selected as a national central city and became a "spire city" among more than 660 cities above the county level in China.
Chengdu has also introduced a series of talent incentive policies. On January 14, 2022, the Chengdu Municipal Party Committee Talent Work Conference was held, confirming that the Chengdu talent policy system has officially entered the "3.0 era". From the "1.0 version" of the policy to give preferential treatment, to the "2.0 version" of the platform to give opportunities, the "3.0 version", Chengdu comprehensively changed the talent thinking, through the excellent platform camp ecology to attract talents, to build a multi-level talent policy system from strategic scientists to new occupation practitioners full coverage. This is Chengdu's clear planning and clarity of the city's talent introduction goals after the total number of talents climbed to 5.876 million.
For high-level talents like Guo Liang, this means the direct benefits of employment and entrepreneurship, and it means that the cost of realizing career value is reduced.
"A lot of people want to find a place where they have a good life and just don't find a job. Once they find employment opportunities, development is not bad, or there is policy support, they are likely to make new choices. Entrepreneur Zhang Yifan told Southern Weekend, "This is an opportunity for new first-tier cities and many third-, fourth-, fifth- and sixth-tier cities." ”
This momentum of soaring has not been interrupted over the past decade. The seventh national census data released, by the end of 2020, Chengdu's permanent population reached 20.93 million, an increase of 5.818 million in ten years, the urban population exceeded 10 million, and a megacity was born.
Chen Yao, vice president of the China Regional Economic Association, pointed out that the huge population inflow is the result of the comprehensive action of factors such as urban construction, quality of life, public services and employment scale. According to this logic, the story of Chengdu's rise to the top of the city has not ended, but continues. The influx of makers seems to be using actions to confirm the slogan of more than a decade ago - "Chengdu, a city that does not want to leave when it comes." ”
On January 24, 2022, the first return China-Laos Railway (Vientiane-Chengdu) international train arrived at Chengdu International Railway Port. (Bai Guibin/Photo)
Innovation DNA
In this comfortable city, more and more people appreciate the companionship of career and life. People want to explore why Chengdu is and why the city can achieve the coexistence of life aesthetics and professional values.
Put into the microscope of time, Chengdu's "changing face" gradually becomes clear: this is first of all a livable city, and then it has become a city of opportunity supported by all, but it has lost its livable background. The magical "face change" hides details that many people overlook - the comfortable Chengdu actually hides a distinct innovation and entrepreneurial gene.
Starting a business in Chengdu, Guo Liang experienced a strong atmosphere of innovation, which was like a musical melody.
"Chengdu attaches more importance to the new economy, not to trade, nor to other industries." Guo Liang said emphatically, "This is very friendly to technology-based startups. ”
Internationally, the "new economy" specifically refers to the new models and new formats born in the wave of information technology. Associated with this is silicon valley's "blowout" maker movement in recent years. In China, the "new economy" is regarded as a synonym for "Internet +" and hardware technology, which is related to the vigorous "mass entrepreneurship and innovation" seven or eight years ago.
The tide of the times swept in, and Chengdu's response was very rapid. A group of young people have stepped out of the campus and joined the wave of innovation. This group of pioneers includes Shen Bo and Zhong Bo, the former founded Byodong Technology and the latter's Jimi Technology, both of which eventually became unicorn enterprises that attracted the attention of the technology circle.
And Guo Liang's two choices in life are stuck in the rhythm of the notes of the times. He came to the city to work on research and development when the city was the first wave of innovation, and he set off a whirlwind of industrial-grade drones during the second wave of innovation.
Forward-looking moves reflect flexible mechanisms.
"Chengdu's innovation soil is very good, there is a good mechanism, suitable for the survival of Internet enterprises and international business." Jin Xu, who has worked in Chengdu for many years, said that the Blue Ocean Media Group he founded chose Chengdu to settle down, which is the driving force behind well-known overseas IP such as "Office Ono".
Why does Chengdu have such a strong innovation gene? Flexible mechanisms are not the answer.
The other answers are hidden in the details of life in Chengdu. In other words, creative careers are inseparable from a comfortable life.
This may sound paradoxical. However, looking at the north and south of the river, how the city's living temperament affects the city's industrial genes has been clearly demonstrated: the pragmatic and inclusive temperament of Guangzhou people has created a commercial and trade capital that has endured for thousands of years; the adventurous spirit and fighting temperament of Shenzhen immigrants have given birth to a young "Chinese Silicon Valley".
Chengdu adapts to such logic. Innovation needs to smooth the ruggedness of the market and need to cross the death canyon of technological research and development. The key to the innovator's ultimate success lies in how he copes with the pressure of failure and the possibility of failure. The free mentality given by the comfortable life is precisely the "shield of the brave" against failure.
"There is a very interesting phenomenon that no matter how bad the situation chengdu people are in, the hot pot is still eaten." Jin Xu said.
The panda on the roof of Chengdu International Finance Center is a famous landmark landscape in Chengdu. (Zhang Yuemin/Photo)
Super hub
The story is still not over. If the "Bashi" life and innovation gene is Chengdu's "software", then the city's "hardware" story is played by the whistle of a train.
On March 25, 2016, the crisp whistle broke through the natural silence, carrying 41 lockers of goods, slowly leaving the Chengdu Railway International Port on the banks of the Qingbai River. This is the first China-Europe express train "TCL Special Train" to be sent to the European market.
In TCL's global footprint, the Chengdu plant is regarded as a domestic production base. The quiet rise of China-Europe express trains has made Chengdu the forefront of TCL's European market. Shipping has always played a leading role in international trade, and coastal areas rely on the advantages of ports to occupy the forefront of opening up. New ways of logistics make things different.
According to public reports, the relevant person in charge of TCL has calculated an account, and it generally takes 42 days for the export of products to go by sea; with the China-Europe express train, the freight cycle is one-third of that of the sea, and the price is one-fifth of the air. "Whether it is time cost or economic benefits, Chengdu China-Europe Express is the best choice." Another advantage is that the electrical appliances are replaced quickly, and the sooner they are put into the market, the more advantageous they are, because they need to race against the clock in logistics. After the opening of the China-Europe express train, TCL has transferred 80% of its European orders from the Huizhou plant to the Chengdu plant for production.
In other words, enterprises through Chengdu's China-Europe express train, enjoy not only the "soft" convenience of the comprehensive bonded zone, but also the "hard" cost saved by location advantages.
Convenient transportation can reduce costs and distances, so that the economic bloodline is smoother. As a super hub, Chengdu's unique location and the traffic arteries where the eight parties gather, is the basic hardware to support "Yiye" and maintain innovative activities, and is the hard power of the city that is different from other cities.
In the future picture of China's transportation, Chengdu is the "fourth pole" that plays an important role, and the sea, land and air constitute a three-dimensional transportation network covering the world. At the sea and land level, the high-speed rail network, the Yangtze River waterway, the China-Europe express train and the new land-sea corridor under construction, the river-land-sea intermodal transport network will extend Chengdu's logistics channel to the European and Southeast Asian markets; in the air, with the official opening of Chengdu Tianfu International Airport in June 2021, the rare twin international airport city was born, drawing a global displacement trajectory of people and things.
The transportation network lays a solid foundation for the creation of a polar city. In October 2021, the Cpc Central Committee and the State Council issued the Outline of the Planning of the Twin Cities Economic Circle in the Chengdu-Chongqing Region. In this blockbuster document, it is called for strengthening the leading role of Chongqing and Chengdu central cities, and then "creating an important growth pole and a new power source that drives the country's high-quality development." From the perspective of transportation networks, the two central cities are super hubs where transportation infrastructure converges.
Since starting his business, Guo Liang has maintained the habit of looking around. He needs to fly to cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, Wuhan and Shenzhen to "see how others are doing"; Jinxu's international business requires companies and other overseas customers of the Unicom Group scattered across Hong Kong, Macau and North America, Europe and Australia. In the matter of promoting business, Chengdu's transportation network is very useful.
Of course, a good life also requires transportation. Needless to say that the convenience of the urban transportation network, the beauty of the surrounding "four-hour life circle" alone is enough to envy others.
"As long as you are connected to this network, you can be where you want to go at any time, today in Beijing, tomorrow in Guangzhou, and you don't even have to care where your company is located." Zhang Yifan told Southern Weekend.
Accessibility makes people look forward to the future of cities and regions.
"There are more than 30 million people in the Chengdu metropolitan area, and together with the Chongqing metropolitan area, the population is nearly 100 million people. This is the big market. Xiao Jincheng, former director of the Institute of Land Development and Regional Economics of the National Development and Reform Commission, said that coupled with the development of the international market, the future of this area is worth looking forward to. The gradual improvement of infrastructure is the starting point for becoming an international metropolis.
"Whether a city is an international city depends on whether external transportation, product brands, and company scale have influence in the world, depending on the sales radius of your products." He said.
The ancients often said that "Shu Road is difficult", and transportation was a great challenge for Chengdu. Fortunately, shu dao is no longer difficult now, but gives people the spirit of "light boat has passed through ten thousand heavy mountains". The city has come a long way in connecting the world.
As evidenced by this, in GaWC's biennial Register of World Cities, Chengdu has always held a good position. This set of evaluation indicators focuses on the interaction and connectivity of modern service industries between cities. In the latest issue of results in 2020, Chengdu has achieved a significant improvement in ranking for three consecutive times, from 71st to 59th in the world.
According to the GaWC Chengdu in Globalization report, Chengdu is undergoing a globalization process related to the growth of its advanced industries, supported by an advanced global productive services network. The connectivity of the latter underpins investment in Chengdu and the outbound business activities of export-oriented local producers.
It is the global connectivity that has created Chengdu's neighborly neighbors. In the N-TALK Talk Show, Chef Lin Shuwei talked about his daily life at the airport to welcome his catering industry colleagues, who set off from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan to Singapore and Thailand, from Europe to the Americas.
Sometimes, in the waiting hall, he would meet relatives from abroad. Suddenly, my cousin, who had not been seen in Auckland for more than a decade, called, "I'm coming to Chengdu."
"It's a really amazing thing." Lin Shuwei said, "Traffic invisibly changes the city, and happiness suddenly comes. ”
Southern Weekend researcher Dai Chunchen Guo Qianqian Southern Weekend intern Chen Xiaonan