In a recent visit to Zhongguancun, a group of famous Chinese lyricists were able to get a close look at the first national independent innovative demonstration zone. The group heard stories from many entrepreneurs in preparation to write lyrics for the Song of Zhonguancun.

The lyric writers were able to get a general idea about Zhongguancun’s spiritual outlook and achievements after a field trip to the exhibition center as well as Garage Coffee and 3W Coffee, where entrepreneurs often get together.

The famous lyricists in the group were: Liu Fubo, vice-director of the innovation office of the PRC Air Force Ensemble; Jiang Shiming, producer of CCTV-2 Finance and Business and songwriter for Beijing Model; Liang Mang, songwriter of Naying’s Spring Blossoms and Sun Nan’s Rescue; Pan Yuejian, member of the Chinese Musicians Association; Song Qingsong, secretary of the China Music Literature Academy and winner of the Five “One” Project organized by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC); Li Junwei, a young member from the China Coal Mine Ensemble; Wang Peng, deputy director of the Art Planning and Promoting Center of Renmin University of China; and Zhao Jinbo, vice-secretary of the Beijing Musicians Association.

In Zhongguancun’s exhibition center, the group paid a visit to rooms featuring satellite applications, rail transit, integrated circuits, advanced materials, high-end equipment and general aviation, new energy and green cars. Later, they went to Zhongguancun’s “innovation incubator”, Garage Coffee and 3W Coffee.

Garage Coffee is a coffee house themed around “Pioneer and Investment” where entrepreneurs can enjoy an open work environment after buying a coffee. It serves as not only a low-cost work place for entrepreneurial startups and but also as a garage of promising projects for investors.

Su Di, founder of Garage Coffee, said the changes of Zhongguancun reflect the changes of Beijing in a sense, as there are more and more young Chinese people trying to start up businesses. In his coffee shops, some entrepreneurs who are also repeat customers shared their stories with the writers.

Later when the group visited 3W Coffee, they also got a chance to hear face-to-face the startup story of its founder Xu Dandan. 3W Coffee, started by some pioneering Chinese entrepreneurs and investors in the Internet field, is a social network platform themed around the Internet. It operates businesses in fields such as angel investment, clubs, corporate public relations, conference organization, and coffee shops.

In the end, the group attended a forum at Beijing Sinovac Biotech Company. Yin Weidong, general manager of the company, explains that he started the business because he invented a product when he was young. The same motivation applies to most of Zhongguancun’s entrepreneurial startups today. The Song of Zhongguancun should focus on youth startups and encourage them to make continuous progress, he believes.

Edited by Wang Yifei and Micheal Thai