01
Ten years ago, in the summer, young people were unwilling to become civil servants, and the number of people taking the national exam decreased by 360,000. Hot posts claimed "government jobs pay less but have more free time."
That year, there were over 7 million graduates nationwide, with an employment rate of over 90%. Fudan University students rented yachts for their graduation party, and girls spent 2,000 yuan on evening gowns for a night cruise on the river and sea.
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 vast and beautiful. "The length of the Great Wall is almost four times the distance from 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 investors joked about eating noodles in the dark. 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. On May Day ten years ago, real estate companies were struggling. Beijing launched zero down payment for housing, Nanjing reduced prices by 100,000 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 unaware of the twists and turns that lay ahead. Even if there were occasional setbacks, they believed it was just an interlude and faced everything with confidence.
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 (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent). All three companies had 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. Our generation happened to witness the rise of the Internet."
At night, in Wuzhen, with its white walls, black tiles, and the sound of water and paddles. Ding Lei set up an old wooden table and hosted a banquet in Wuzhen. People at the table recorded on Weibo: after drinking more than a dozen bottles of yellow wine, they shared stories from the past, laughed and talked about everything under the sky.
The uninvited guest, Jack Ma, was the real protagonist that year. In the summer ten years ago, 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.
The summer ten years ago was like a dream, with a scorching hot wind blowing across China. Beijing broke temperature records since 1951, and residents consumed 4.5 times more water than usual.
Jinan, Shanghai, Chongqing, and Turpan became ovens, and an even hotter wave hit the internet lottery servers. That year was the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, and sports lottery sales reached 2.3 billion yuan.
In Guangzhou, 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 Guangzhou Evergrande Ice Spring was Jin Xiu Xian, the star of "My Love from the Star," which was a hit in China and even mentioned in 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 ten 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 has supported me. Kris Wu has always been here!"
Their era was just beginning, while the previous generation's idol, Han Han, released his first film in the 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 loved the line "I have crossed mountains and seas," feeling a sense of enlightenment after experiencing everything.
They didn't know that the real mountains and seas were still ahead.
02
During a visit to China, Michelle Obama gave a speech at Chengdu No. 7 High School, expressing unprecedented confidence in a shared future. She hoped that the bond between the US and China would continue for decades to come.
A few months later, Barack Obama said at the APEC meeting: deepening US-China trade would benefit both countries and contribute to global stability.
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 that there were 176 billionaires and 8 self-made billionaires born in the 1980s.
The era's engines were roaring, but it was the launch of infrastructure projects that truly drove the country.
That year, the central government approved 1.56 trillion yuan in infrastructure projects. Within 21 days, the National Development and Reform Commission approved 16 railway projects and 5 airports.
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 free flow of innovative blood:
"A new wave of mass entrepreneurship and grassroots entrepreneurship is sweeping across the 9.6 million square kilometers of land."
Haidian Book City's pedestrian 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 for you.
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 wave, the entrepreneurs of ten years ago carried the spirit of youth. Sun Hongbin from Sunac said, "Idealism is soul-stirring," and Wang Shi from Vanke said, "I firmly believe in the power of the market."
That year, Yu Minhong, the founder of New Oriental Education, published a new book titled "Finding Hope in Despair." He went to Nankai University to encourage freshmen, saying, "People have to choose their own path out of endless possibilities."
When the world is wide enough, the hearts of the proud can always accommodate an empire.
Ten years ago, Evergrande held a sales conference deep in the grasslands.
32 chartered planes flew directly to Ulanhot, and 80 buses set off, 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 the company one of the world's top 500 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 global shopping spree, saying that London's land prices were so low that it was as if they were giving it away for free. He also said 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. Rumors spread that "Wang Jianlin went abroad for inspection and happened to buy a building."
That summer, the most widely circulated quote was actually from his son. When his grass-roots 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. NetEase offered an annual salary of 500,000 yuan for campus recruitment, and China News Network reported that the income of college graduates doubled three years after graduation. That year, Ant Financial was founded, and Yu'e Bao became popular. Jack Ma said that having too much money at Alibaba was a burden.
Didi and Kuaidi's battle sent out 4 billion yuan in red envelopes, burning 100 million yuan a day at its peak, making people nervous. "If you burn 100 million yuan in cash in a room, it would probably take a whole day."
The one who really burned money was Li Xiaolai. During an interview, he lit a cigarette with US dollars in front of the camera.
"Little Apple" sang a hit song that summer, and the streets were filled with excitement. Fan Bingbing rode on a horse, playing the role of Wu Zetian, and said that there would never be another big-budget production like this.
During the summer, Huayi Brothers celebrated its 20th anniversary, claiming that it would earn 10 billion yuan in box office revenue in two years. That year, Wang Zhongjun spent 377 million yuan to buy Van Gogh's painting of daisies and poppies.
Ten years ago, in the scorching summer, Pengpai was launched. In the farewell message, Qiu Bing wrote:
Later, the noisy era came. We went from idealism to consumerism, to refined egoism, and 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 stifle the industry.
China's Ministry of Commerce responded, calling it "the politicization and instrumentalization of economic and trade issues, typical political manipulation."
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, 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 Hammer Technology. 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 showcased his daily routine: running three kilometers in the morning, doing one hundred push-ups and sit-ups, and maintaining a positive and focused mindset.
His former boss, Xu Jiayin, failed to leave a lasting legacy and has been subjected to compulsory measures according to the law. Another real estate tycoon, Wang Jianlin, is selling off Wanda's assets everywhere and has not sung "The Fake Monk" at the annual meeting for eight years.
Before May Day, 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, terminated his contract even earlier and is now untraceable on Weibo. The wax figure of Wu Yifan at Madame Tussauds Shanghai has long been removed.
When they recorded the wax figure unveiling, Wu Yifan was interviewed and said 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 fallen into the dust. When she appeared at the Singapore International Film Festival last year, she said, "It seems that everyone has their own destiny."
Many people's destinies have permanently changed. At the end of last year, the number of people applying for the national civil service exam increased by 400,000. Among the 11.79 million graduates this year, the highest-ranking expectation is to enter state-owned enterprises. According to the Quark Report, "getting a job" is the keyword for young people in 2023.
Everything has become practical and stable. Young people set alarms to grab large fixed deposits 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 your CEO, doing math problems. Most of us work hard, saving coin by coin."
The scorching battles of the past have become history, and everyone is adapting to the new rhythm. Upon returning from Japan, Jack Ma said in an internal letter, "Times have changed, and we need to 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, so that individuals and enterprises can charge forward like an army. Eventually, some people and enterprises will achieve breakthroughs, and then we can continue to move forward along these paths of breakthroughs.
Amidst the turbulence in the real estate market, as Wanda faced financial difficulties, Wang Shi gave up his retirement pension of tens of millions of yuan.
He remains optimistic about the industry, saying, "Real estate is not over, it is just the beginning."
Ten years ago, he took Tian Pujun to visit Ailao Mountain in Yunnan and meet Chuhai. The old man was waiting at the village entrance, wearing a round-necked shirt and black pants.
Chuhai said that he was once a young person too. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China until now, society has undergone significant changes. Many things in life are not a straight line. The country needs to undergo transformation, and it always relies on people to solve difficult problems.
He said that when faced with difficulties, if we can make a little progress, our confidence will grow. We can only move forward step by step in this way.