Building Family Trees：New Venture on Old Life

By Xiao Yi



Building Family Trees：New Venture on Old Life

By Xiao Yi

Tu Jincan's company， the Beijing Family Tree & Biography Agency， publicizes his business via clients' introduction， as well as advertising in newspapers and magazine favored by the seniors. And some young people bring old photos and document so to make a biography for their grandparents. A copy of a biography costs 5，000 Yuan （US$766） to 6，000 Yuan （US$919）. （Photo by Xiao Yi）

Known as “China's Silicon Valley”，Zhongguancun in Beijing's western suburbs is home to the country's best-known IT companies. As the tide of Internet undertakings sweeps across the country， Zhongguancun has enjoyed a renaissance as a popular entrepreneurial base.

At the northern end of the road that forms the core position in Zhongguancun stands a majestic stone archway inscribed with seven gilded characters， meaning“Zhongguancun Entrepreneurial Avenue”. The Beijing Family Tree & Biography Agency run by Tu Jincan is just a few steps away， occupying an enviable location on the highly-prized street.

Tu Jincan moved his company to this avenue in 2010 when it was called Haidian Tushucheng. The crowded avenue was flanked by hundreds of large and small bookshops. He liked the cultural atmosphere. After several twists and turns， he rented the current shop site for 900，000 Yuan a year （US$136，788）.

On June 12， 2014， the Zhongguancun Entrepreneurial Avenue saw a grand opening. Before Tu Jincan and his team could react to this， the landlord came and claimed the annual rent should rise to 2.7million Yuan （US $400，000）.

Tu's response was： “We can accept a 50 percent increase， but your demand is triple the old rate. Who can stand it？” he thought most businessmen on the avenue were entrepreneurs in urgent need of money， so that rents should drop not rise

Not a Declining Industry

Now， except for Tu Jincan's agency，the writing materials shop downstairs and a beef noodles restaurant， the whole entrepreneurial avenue is flled with incubators and bookstores concerning Internet undertaking as well as cafes.

Diferent from other high-tech companies striving for young users and catering for their hobbies， Tu Jincan strictly follows the timetable and ways of working unique to the traditional industry. Work hours are 8：00 am to 8：00 pm. Tey try to rope in every obviously elderly person passing along the street. “Older Chinese have a stronger sense of clan，” Tu explained.

Mr. Liang from Zhangjiakou belongs to the 23rd generation of the Liang family. He wanted to plot a family tree a decade ago， and was eventually introduced by his friend to Tu Jincan. Tu's agency spent one year sorting out materials and printing 60 copies of Liang's family tree. Another 4，000 copies followed in a second printing. All this costs only 50，000 Yuan. Mr. Liang sent copies to some celebrities surnamed Liang.

“I do not rely on the Internet to survive， but certainly depend on it to develop my undertaking，” Tu said. Lots of the historical data and family trees they need can't be found on the Internet， but have to be dealt with by studying various old literature. Moreover， the company has several thousand off-line users. “We are engaged in an undertaking based on ‘culture +

Tu Jincan also developed an App and hopes by this way to attract young people to care about their own family tree. （Photo by Xiao Yi）

A brown bookcase against the wall holds hundreds of completed family trees， which is made of Chinese art paper. If a customer requires， Tu Jincan's company can make the family tree in a vertical layout. （Photo by Xiao Yi）

The 60-year-old Liang from Zhangjiakou， Hebei Province， showcases his family tree with wearing gloves. Tu Jincan's company is also a place for people like Liang to exchange ideas. （Photo by Xiao Yi）

Tu Jincan holds that the surname and clan culture is the best Internet culture， having an inherent “circle”. The Internet is for the purpose of social contact， and China's relationship diagram mainly involves urbanites out of touch with their rural roots， those of the same surname and those bound by marriage.Internet'，” Tu added.

Tu Jincan strictly follows the timetable and ways of working unique to the traditional industry. Work hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. They try to rope in every obviously elderly person passing along the street. “Older Chinese have a stronger sense of clan，” Tu explained. （Photo by Xiao Yi）

To attract investors， Tu Jincan emptied a corner of the ofce upstairs to place a few tables， renting at 500 Yuan/month （US$ 76/month） for each table as an incubator. Six teams made use of his tables， dealing in such areas as express delivery， beauty treatment， marriage brokerage， hanging gardens， etc.

However， Tu Jincan found them unreliable because they only presented two pages to introduce their projects， even without a PPT presentation. Later， they even had no money to spend on food and intended to sleep in the ofce. Afer one or two months，they disappeared without paying for the ofce space.

Tu Jincan holds that the surname and clan culture is the best Internet culture， having an inherent “circle”.

These entrepreneurs thought Tu was engaged in a sunset-industry and said：“The Internet undertaking is the tide of the times. Speed is stressed now. Who still uses paper and pen to make handicrafs？”Tu Jincan only responds with a forced smile.

At the northern end of the road that forms the core position in Zhongguancun stands a majestic stone archway inscribed with seven gilded characters， meaning “Zhongguancun Entrepreneurial Avenue”. Tu's company is just a few steps away， occupying an enviable location on the highly-prized street. （Photo by Xiao Yi）

Tu Jincan's company is rebuilt from a corridor and covers up to 30 square meters （Photo by Xiao Yi）

‘Surname Culture' the Best ‘Internet Culture'

Although he thinks his surname project is a natural social contact project of Internet culture， he hasn't found an investor on this street. Sometimes， he goes to the next door entrepreneurial café to get in touch with some investors， but he said a relatively mature project with a team and an of-line revenue of several hundred thousand Yuan arouses no interest. “Tey are only willing to invest in the short-term，adaptable and fast e-commerce and fnancial projects with high return，” he said.

“Our off-line customer source is very stable. Our customers are mainly elders who have both money and time， having a desire to sum up their life.” Every book compiled by Tu Jincan's agency has the company's contact information， and each customer would send their respective family tree to relatives and friends， which is an ideal way of communication.

Therefore， half of their business comes through customer introductions. Meanwhile， they promote their business through newspapers and magazines loved by elders.

Remaining on the street， Tu Jincan wants to usher in its second period of high prosperity. He holds that the surname and clan culture is the best Internet culture，having an inherent “circle”. The Internet is for the purpose of social contact， and China's relationship diagram mainly involves urbanites out of touch with their rural roots， those of the same surname and those bound by marriage.

Both hometown and marriage might change， in particular in this era with fragmented migration. Members of the same family live in diferent cities， so the circle is enlarged.

“We have also developed a WeChat platform based on clan culture，” said Tu. At the end of April 2015， the company opened a WeChat public account to issue information about family trees， surnames and biography， but their number of readers seldom surpassed 100.

Therefore， inspired by investors， this traditional agency began to explore the operation mode of “circle”. They pull together those with the same surname and plan to write some articles related to surname origin to interest the customers. Tey intend to launch a series of activities of root-seeking tour and hope more elders and especially young people proficient in the Internet will take part.

Advocated by the manager of this avenue and enlightened by the Internet thinking of investors， the agency put up a poster， conspicuously marked with “Internet + Family Surnames” and“Internet + Circles of Relatives and Friend”in the center. “In this way， we are in tune with the atmosphere of this avenue，” Tu said.