▲ There are very few Taiwanese youths in Ningxia, and Lin Zhixun has developed in Yinchuan since 2016, focusing on the baseball industry. (Photo/Photo by reporter Ren Yifang)
Reporter Ren Yifang/Ningxia reports
Brave the Great Northwest! Lin Zhixun, a young Taiwan who loves baseball, went to Ningxia in 2016 to develop, struggled to make small achievements, and currently established the Baseball and Softball Association, and is also the head of the Ningxia Wild Ball Workshop Baseball and Softball Club. Talking about the journey of westward expansion, he humorously said that although Ningxia has a dry climate, there are no cockroaches, and the biggest gain is to marry a local Yinchuan girl, and at the same time he is also very optimistic about the potential of the northwest sports industry, and his greatest wish is to organize a baseball team in Ningxia to promote Taiwan's sports spirit and technology.
Lin Zhixun from Taiwan never wanted to go to Ningxia, thousands of miles away, to develop, everything starts because of his love for sports and baseball. He started playing baseball at the age of 8 and later switched to fitness after suffering a shoulder injury. It just so happened that there were many gym brands in the mainland in the past 10 years, and a friend asked him, "Do you want to go to Ningxia to open up territory?" After thinking about it, he decided to embark on a life of struggle from scratch.
Looking back on the days when I first came to Ningxia, the Great Northwest was heavy on taste, and most of the halal cuisine was predominant, and I was a little uncomfortable with the diet at first, "At that time, there was no even Starbucks, and there were no Taiwan convenience stores, and then gradually there were catering brands stationed in the country, and I gradually became accustomed to local cuisine." Lin Zhixun shared.
As a southerner, Lin Zhixun is quite adaptable to the climate difference in the northwest, "Taiwan is relatively humid, I like the dry environment here, because I rarely see cockroaches, because I am actually quite afraid of cockroaches, and the drying clothes are also very fast to dry, and then it will not be moldy and wet, but quickly adapt to the climate."
Lin Zhixun started as a chain gym manager, met the wife of the company's bicycle coach, and decided to spend life together after a few years of love. Lin Zhixun said, "It happened to be the epidemic when I got married, and I found that there was no baseball and softball in Yinchuan, so I stayed and switched to sports promotion."
When it comes to the biggest gain from coming to Ningxia for development? Lin Zhixun said with a smile, "The biggest gain is to know my current wife, and because after the establishment of the Baseball Association, the early stage of entrepreneurship was very difficult, and I almost divorced."
▲Lin Zhixun started from scratch and took root in Ningxia to achieve his baseball dream. (Photo/Photo by reporter Ren Yifang)
Recalling the baseball and softball association established before, the most difficult point is to start from scratch, Taiwan baseball and softball after all, the development of baseball and softball is very early, the mainland north, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen or coastal cities have contact with baseball and softball, but Yinchuan has many people or parents do not understand, there are few Taiwan in the northwest region, there is no helper can only rely on themselves, the initial promotion often encounters difficulties.
The sports industry in the northwest is not yet saturated, the high terrain of Yinchuan is conducive to training, and the high proportion of sunny days are all development potentials that Lin Zhixun values. After several years of hard work, coupled with Lin Zhixun's modest personality and good football skills, good friends and parents publicized.
At present, there are more than 1,000 people in the adult club, and most of the office workers have irregular practice hours, and about 80 people are playing "iron coffee". There are two indoor training grounds, and the main customers are adult teaching after work and children's holiday courses, which cost 1,500 yuan a year, or about NT$7,000.
▲The club organizes various activities for golfers to join. (Photo/Provided by the interviewee)
In order to stimulate the sports of golfers, the club will also hold activities on weekends, using baseball as a platform to hold activities such as desert camping and lake paddle boarding. After a long time, Lin Zhixun met like-minded friends.
He is proud of winning the fourth place in the continent in the women's baseball club a few days ago. "Actually, it was a big surprise to me, because we were actually advancing much faster than I thought we were here." Lin Zhixun shared.
In addition to promoting baseball and softball in Ningxia, Lin Zhixun also promoted cross-strait exchange activities. For example, in July last year, the Shih-Hsin University team was invited to exchange, and it happened to invite their classmates, past team coaches, and current players to share their experience, and Taiwan's "star baseball team" will also come to Yinchuan in October this year to play baseball games.
Lin Zhixun, who loves baseball, is confident in taking root in Yinchuan, and also hopes to have the opportunity to invite Taiwan teams to Ningxia for exchanges.
Eventually, I hope to set up a full-fledged baseball team and pass on all the things I have learned and loved.