01
Ten years ago, in the summer, young people were unwilling to become civil servants, and the number of candidates for the national exam decreased sharply by 360,000. Hot posts claimed "less money and more work in government agencies".
That year, there were over 7 million graduates nationwide, with an employment rate of over 90%. Fudan University students rented yachts for graduation parties, and girls spent 2,000 yuan to buy evening gowns for night cruises on the rivers and seas.
That year, the gears of the world were stable, and China and the United States celebrated the 35th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations. In a US poll, over 72% of young people considered China as a "friend".
Before the summer, Michelle Obama visited China and experienced the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and Chengdu hot pot.
On the Great Wall at Mutianyu, the First Lady looked at the undulating Yan Mountains and felt that everything was spacious and beautiful. "The length of the Great Wall is almost equivalent to four times the distance from the state of Maine to Oregon in the United States."
The fate of the country also fluctuated like mountains and valleys that year.
During the summer, the stock market was cold, with 70% of accounts idle. Stock market investors joked about eating instant noodles with the lights off. IPOs opened in July, triggering a wave of mergers and acquisitions. At the end of the year, the stock market had a single-day trading volume of 710 billion yuan, soaring to new heights.
The real estate market had a similar story. Ten years ago, during the May Day holiday, real estate developers were struggling. Beijing launched zero down payment for housing, Nanjing reduced prices by tens of thousands of yuan, and Shanghai showcased bikini-clad beauties at property exhibitions. In September, the real estate market was loosened, and speculators went into a frenzy.
Ten years ago, people were still unaware of setbacks and decline. Even if there were occasional setbacks, they believed it was just a temporary setback and remained confident in everything.
Jia Yueting announced plans to create a super internet car, and Luo Yonghao announced plans to release the best smartphone in the eastern hemisphere. However, it was Xiaomi that had the best-selling phone, with sales surpassing Apple in the first quarter.
After the summer, Lei Jun went to Wuzhen to attend the first Internet Conference. He stuttered and said, "Dreams are still necessary. What if they come true?"
The most prominent companies in Wuzhen that year were BAT. All three companies established branches in Silicon Valley. Robin Li said there were too many opportunities and he was anxious:
"We are actually living in a very interesting era, a magical era. It just so happens that our generation witnessed the rise of the Internet."
At night, the sounds of water and paddles echoed through the white walls and black tiles of Wuzhen. Ding Lei set up an old wooden table and hosted a banquet, and people at the table recorded on Weibo: "Drinking more than a dozen bottles of yellow wine, spitting out old stories, drinking and talking about things in the clouds, a network of heaven and earth."
The uninvited guest, Jack Ma, was the real protagonist that year. In the summer, Alibaba launched the world's largest IPO.
Before going public, Jack Ma sent an internal email advising employees not to squander their wealth and to handle it well. "We have worked so hard, not to become a group of nouveau riche."
In September of that year, Alibaba went public, and Jack Ma became the richest person in China. Ten million Alibaba employees became millionaires, and BMW salespeople and real estate agents crowded the entrance of Alibaba's campus.
Ten years ago, the summer was as dreamlike as a mirage, with a scorching hot wind blowing across China. Beijing broke temperature records since 1951, and residents consumed 4.5 times more water from Kunming Lake.
Jinan, Shanghai, Chongqing, and Turpan became like furnaces, and an even greater heatwave hit the internet lottery servers. That year was the World Cup in Brazil, and the sports lottery sold 2.3 billion yuan.
In Guangzhou, Evergrande was striving for its third consecutive Chinese Super League title. On the coaching bench, the newly appointed assistant coach Li Tie said that many things cannot be measured by money. "I give myself about ten years to strive to become the head coach of the national team."
That summer, the spokesperson for Evergrande Ice Spring was Jin Xiu Xian, the star of "My Love from the Star," and his name was mentioned at the National People's Congress.
Amidst the fiery Korean wave, some people returned. In October of that year, Lu Han announced the termination of his contract with a Korean company. His single comment on Weibo received over 10 million likes, setting a Guinness World Record.
And during that summer, his teammate Kris Wu terminated his contract even earlier and left a domineering message on Weibo: "Thank you to everyone who supports me. Kris Wu has always been here!"
Their era was just beginning, while the previous generation's idol, Han Han, released his first film that summer ten years ago.
He wrote the theme song "The Ordinary Road" for the film and invited the reclusive Pu Shu to sing it. Young people liked the line "I have crossed mountains and seas," which had a sense of enlightenment after experiencing everything.
They didn't know that the real mountains and seas were still ahead.
02
During her visit to China, Michelle Obama gave a speech at Chengdu No. 7 High School, expressing unprecedented confidence in the common future, saying, "I hope the bond will continue for decades to come."
A few months later, Barack Obama said at the APEC meeting, "Deepening US-China trade will benefit both countries and help stabilize the world."
That year, the World Bank predicted that China's economy would continue to grow at a high speed, and the Hurun Rich List expressed strong confidence in China, stating, "China has 176 billionaires this year, including 8 self-made billionaires born in the 1980s."
During that year, the horn of the era sounded loudly, but the real driving force behind the stock and real estate markets was infrastructure development.
That year, the central government approved 15.6 trillion yuan in infrastructure projects, and the National Development and Reform Commission approved 16 railway lines and 5 airports within 21 days.
Ren Zeping passionately published three research reports, stating, "Please don't let this era down. Bury the bear market completely."
Ten years ago, at the Davos Forum, the concept of "mass entrepreneurship and innovation" was proposed for the first time, aiming to eliminate all constraints and allow the blood of innovation to flow freely:
"A new wave of mass entrepreneurship and grassroots entrepreneurship is sweeping across the 9.6 million square kilometers of land."
Haidian Bookstore Street was renamed Entrepreneurship Street, and the garage cafes were filled with ambitions. Zhu Xiaohu said that as long as you want to see, there are endless entrepreneurial projects waiting.
On the popular TV show "Super Speaker," a girl born in the 1990s said, "I'm not here to adapt to society, I'm here to change society."
In the midst of the waves, the entrepreneurs of ten years ago also had youthful spirit. Sun Hongbin of Sunac said, "Idealism is soul-stirring," and Wang Shi of Vanke said, "I believe in the power of the market."
That year, Yu Minhong, the founder of New Oriental Education, published a new book called "Finding Hope in Despair." He went to Nankai University to encourage freshmen, saying, "People have to choose their own way out of endless roads."
When the world is wide enough, the heart of a prodigy can always accommodate an empire.
Ten years ago, Evergrande held a sales conference in the depths of the grasslands.
32 chartered planes flew directly to Ulanhot, and 80 buses set off mightily, crossing the grasslands and crossing the hills to reach the remote valley of Arxan.
Evergrande provided water, electricity, and wifi to the valley. Over 5,000 people camped on-site, and fireworks were set off for half an hour after the banquet.
That night, Evergrande's sales reached 11.9 billion yuan, and Xu Jiayin declared that he would strive to make Evergrande one of the top 500 companies in the world within three years. After getting drunk, he asked his subordinates, "How can I leave a lasting legacy?"
Wang Jianlin's goal was even further away. Wanda aimed to become the world's number one tourism company by 2020, surpassing Disney.
That summer, he was on a shopping spree around the world, saying that London's land prices were so low that it was like getting it for free, and that if CNN wanted to be acquired, it could be bought.
In June, he spent 265 million euros to buy the iconic Spanish Building in Madrid, and rumors spread that "Wang Jianlin went abroad for inspections and happened to buy a building."
That summer, the most widely circulated phrase was actually from his son. When his grassroot friend had a birthday, Wang Sicong gave him a luxury car, saying, "I don't care if my friends are rich or not, anyway, they are not as rich as me."
Ten years ago, gold dust was flying in the air. Netease offered an annual salary of 500,000 yuan for campus recruitment, and China News Network claimed that the income of college graduates doubled three years after graduation. That year, Ant Financial was established, and Yu'e Bao became popular. Jack Ma said that having too much money at Alibaba was a burden.
Didi and Kuaidi engaged in a fierce battle, giving out 4 billion yuan in red envelopes. At its peak, they burned 100 million yuan in a day, making people nervous. "If you stack 100 million yuan in cash in a room and burn it, it would probably take a whole day to burn it."
The one who really burned money was Li Xiaolai. During an interview, he lit a cigarette with US dollars in front of the camera.
The song "Little Apple" became popular that summer, and the streets were filled with the sound of "fire, fire, fire, fire." Fan Bingbing rode on a horse, playing the role of Wu Zetian, and said that there would never be a big-budget production like this again.
During the summer, Huayi Brothers celebrated its 20th anniversary and announced plans to earn 10 billion yuan in box office revenue within two years. That year, Wang Zhongjun spent 377 million yuan to buy Van Gogh's painting of daisies and poppies.
Ten years ago, during the peak of summer, Pengpai was launched. In the farewell message, Qiu Bing wrote:
Later, the noisy era came. We went from idealism to consumerism, to refined selfishness. We welcomed countless "isms"... That summer night, looking back, entangled, like countless centuries.
My heart is still surging.
03
Ten years later, in the summer, the White House announced a 100% tariff increase on imported electric cars from China, attempting to strangle the industry.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce responded, calling it "typical political manipulation of economic and trade issues."
After the United States announced the tariff increase, one of the unexpected beneficiaries was Jia Yueting, who was stranded in the United States.
The stock price of Faraday Future increased by 1600%, although it only rose from $0.04 to $0.7. After ten years, he finally produced cars, but there were only 11 units, all of which were recalled due to safety reasons.
Ten years have passed like an endless sea. Jia Yueting lost LeEco, and Luo Yonghao lost Smartisan. The night banquet in Wuzhen has also been absent for many years.
Ren Zeping, who claimed to bury the bear market ten years ago, sold hair growth products last year. On Weibo, he showed his daily routine: running three kilometers in the morning, doing one hundred push-ups and sit-ups, and maintaining a positive mindset.
His former boss, Xu Jiayin, failed to leave a lasting legacy and has been taken coercive measures according to the law. Another real estate tycoon, Wang Jianlin, is selling Wanda assets everywhere and it has been eight years since he sang "The False Monk" at the annual meeting.
Before the May Day holiday, Wang Sicong was spotted by netizens in Tokyo, still driving a luxury SUV, but netizens said, "Wang Sicong seems more haggard than usual."
The person he recorded a program with, Wu Yifan, has already been imprisoned, and there is no trace of him on Weibo. The wax figure of Wu Yifan at Madame Tussauds Shanghai has long been removed.
When his wax figure was unveiled, Wu Yifan said in an interview that he often hangs out with Fan Bingbing and others. "Fan Bingbing said I look like her twin brother and takes good care of me."
Fan Bingbing no longer has time to take care of him and has long fallen into the dust. When she appeared at the Singapore International Film Festival last year, she said, "I feel like everyone has their own destiny."
The fate of many people has permanently changed. The number of candidates for the national civil service exam increased by 400,000 after the United States announced the tariff increase. Among the 11.79 million graduates this year, the highest-ranking expectation is to enter state-owned enterprises. According to the Quark Report, the keyword for young people in 2023 is "getting a stable job."
Everything has turned into practicality and stability. Young people set alarms to grab large-denomination certificates of deposit and invest in money market funds to quietly accumulate wealth. They like the line from the TV series "Blooming Flowers":
"Not everyone makes money like you, Baoshou. Most of us work hard, saving coin by coin."
Ten years ago, the golden dust had long dissipated, and the 3W coffee shop closed its doors. The new favorite on Entrepreneurship Street is hard technology, and investors rush to university laboratories to compete for professors.
An investment institution said that it is gratifying that the number of small and medium-sized enterprises is still growing.
The era of rapid growth has become a thing of the past, and everyone is adapting to the new rhythm. Upon returning from Japan, Jack Ma said in an internal letter, "Times have changed, and we must keep up with the times."
At the beginning of this year, 94-year-old Wu Jinglian wrote an article stating that the most important things are to persist in reform and continue to open up. He said:
There is only one way, and that is to create a business environment as much as possible that allows individuals and enterprises to charge forward. Eventually, some people and enterprises will achieve breakthroughs, and then we can continue to move forward along these paths of breakthroughs.
Amidst the turmoil in the real estate market, Wang Shi gave up his retirement pension of tens of millions of yuan due to Wanda's financial difficulties.
He remains optimistic about the industry, saying, "The real estate market is not over, it is just beginning."
Ten years ago, in the summer, he took Tian Pujun to Ailao Mountain in Yunnan to visit Chu Shijian. The old man was waiting at the village entrance, wearing a round-neck shirt and black pants.
Chu Shijian said that he was also once a young person. Since the founding of New China until now, society has undergone great changes, and there are many things in life that are not a straight line. The country needs to transform and always rely on people to solve problems.
He said that even though there are many difficulties, if we do a little better, we will have more confidence. We can only move forward step by step in this way.