童之梦，龙之梦

文/沈晶晶 叶诗蕾

2022年国庆期间，太湖龙之梦乐园上演大型高空烟花秀，向国庆献礼。龙之梦/供图To celebrate the 2022 National Day holiday, a large fireworks show was staged at the time at the Taihu Longemont Paradise. Photo credit: Taihu Longemont Paradise.

过了龙之梦隧道，一座文旅新城赫然入眼。

酒店、古镇、动物园、会议中心、湿地公园等，沿着弁山铺开，直到南太湖畔。凭借2.8万间客房、7万个演艺席位、3万个停车泊位、30万平方米宴会会议厅等超大规模，太湖龙之梦乐园在中国乃至全球都独树一帜。

环顾市场，很多投资者的表情是“迟疑”，但龙之梦造城人、上海长峰集团董事长童锦泉反其道而行：年初以来在长兴投入10多亿元，欢乐世界、冰雪世界、养老公寓等新项目大规模开工。力排质疑，他接下去还要到衢州六春湖山，再造一个新乐园。

站在龙之梦钻石酒店28楼向下眺望，童锦泉看着一辆辆穿过隧道的车。尽管是工作日，这里客流不断。

“我就一个‘敢’字。”他说，无论遇到什么样的困难，逢山开路、遇水架桥，机遇之门都是闯出来的，低谷中反而蕴藏转机。

此刻，百年变局和世纪疫情相互交织，世界经济复苏步履维艰。“发展还是衰退？”面对时代之问，锐意创业55年的童锦泉，正在谋划新一轮出发。中国经济的强大韧性，让他深信自己的判断：大众旅游的黄金时代正在到来。

从不固守成规的童锦泉，这一次依然没有后退。

直面困境，他始终勇往直前

人们常说：“诚实守信。”童锦泉却将它改了一个字，变为“诚实自信”，引为自己的座右铭：诚实自信是成功之本。

跨界扎进文旅行业，童锦泉的两次出场足够自信，甚至高调。

一次是2015年，他宣布要在长兴建一座旅游城，规模对标美国奥兰多迪士尼。另一次是今年，他决定和衢州市政府联合开发六春湖项目，总投资约90亿元。

如此大手笔，一出手就引发市场关注。一开始，所有人好奇：童锦泉是谁？到今天，这个疑问演变为：他怎么坚持？

童锦泉是谁？一位立志创造民族文旅品牌的梦想家，一位低调朴素的民营企业家。他最近一次公开出现在人们视野中，是出席大马戏首演谢幕式—绚丽灯光下，头发花白的童锦泉，穿一件旧T恤，露出白色背心一角，一只裤子口袋还外翻着。他双手举过肩膀，向舞台三面鞠躬，像一位恭恭敬敬对着土地的农民。

童锦泉坦言，规划龙之梦不是冲动，他考虑了各种风险，甚至想到过如何应对2003年的SARS危机重演，为此做了很多准备。他立下一条规矩：所有投资，不靠银行贷款，全靠毕生积蓄。一定程度上，这帮助龙之梦缓解了疫情期间流动资金的困难。

做最坏的打算，做最全的准备，企业“敢与不敢”之间，是决策者的勇气，更是充分积累不惧挑战的底气。

今年3月12日，在龙游待了两小时，再到六春湖山顶看了5分钟，童锦泉当场拍板，“这个项目，我投！”

在场的人无不惊讶。龙游县国资公司总经理徐嘉龙，用“不可思议”形容自己的心情，“这不是普普通通的投资，是90亿元，打水漂怎么办？很多知名景区都在叫苦，游客不来，项目失败怎么办？”

连亲眼见证龙之梦成型、熟悉童锦泉性格的长兴县政协副主席、太湖图影旅游度假区负责人成仁贵也瞪大了眼，“老童胆子大得吓人”。他劝童锦泉：“疫情期间稳一点，把龙之梦做完就好。”

童锦泉何尝不知道其中艰难：投资文旅项目，本就像场马拉松，成本大、周期长、过程苦、结果未知。3年来，面对疫情，全国旅行社、酒店、景区一边裁员降成本，一边尝试转型，龙之梦也一次次在关停和重启之间切换。今年初，疫情更在北上广一线城市暴发，旅游主力人群出行受阻，收入和消费预期变差，不少旅游城市几乎“断炊”。

真金白银投下去，这是用一辈子的心血在搏！

但那个季节，从六春湖山顶望下去，满眼皑皑雪景。童锦泉看到了一块璞玉：整个浙西南缺少好产品，缺少一站式旅游目的地，他的“龙之梦”有了下一站的天空。

童锦泉就是这个脾气，看到机会就亢奋，认准的事就勇往直前。他说自己只读了5年书，所以不相信条条框框，别人畏首畏尾时，他就要敢为人先。

2022年国庆期间，太湖龙之梦乐园万名游客大合唱，以歌声祝福共和国生日。龙之梦/供图Tens of thousands of visitors sing in celebration of the 2022 National Day at the Taihu Longemont Paradise. Photo credit: Taihu Longemont Paradise.

太湖古镇烟花大会。几凡/摄The fireworks show at the Taihu Lake Ancient Town. Photo by Ji Fan.

同样一幕，也发生在2015年。敲定龙之梦投资意向后不久，童锦泉突然提出“一万间不够、要造两万间客房”。连长兴县主要领导都急了，连夜带队前往上海劝说。面对“游客从哪里来”“造多久”“什么时候有收益”等一连串问题，童锦泉拿出计算器，对着办公室里5块大屏，给长兴干部算成本、算效益。“中国有多少人，这个市场有多大！”说到激动处，他用力拍了拍身边人的胳膊，“老童第一次做旅游，但有信心、能干成！”

攥紧打开市场的钥匙，他履行了承诺。

过去3年，童锦泉没有动摇“一年吸引3000万游客”的目标，也没有停下对龙之梦的投资。他说，上海的产业赚多少就在这里投多少。按照当初规划的那样，马戏城、嬉水世界等项目一个个开放，《醉美太湖》《魔境之旅》等演出一部部上演。众多景区中，太湖龙之梦乐园以玩法多样、性价比高脱颖而出。

疫情反复，文旅行业困难重重，再加上公众消费动力不强，不少景区营收惨淡。龙之梦却能罕见“逆袭”，实现令人惊讶的正增长：仅过去两个月，就吸引300多万游客，今年收入已超7亿元。

绝地反击，他善于开辟生机

采访中，童锦泉讲了一件小事。2018年10月，为了排演梦幻钻石演艺秀，他招募了六七十名外国演员，然而按照工程进度，酒店要到春节前才能开业。演出的票不能销售，但每天20多万元的工资要开，怎么办？

童锦泉想了个招，说动湖州市总工会、市农业农村局，先给职工送票，再请当地村民看秀。演出场场火爆，足足持续了90天，直到酒店开业，从而捧出了龙之梦的知名度。

从这件事里，童锦泉琢磨出一个道理：没有走不出去的困局，办法用对了，困局正是难得的机会。他是一个坚持“一条道走到底”的人，也是一个真正意义上相信“人生有很多条路能走”的人。

来到浙江创业前，童锦泉最广为人知的身份是上海龙之梦商业地产的拥有者。他55年的创业人生，恰是中国改革开放历程的生动写照。

13岁，他学做篾匠，一年半攒下50元钱。用这笔钱，他买了一箱蜜蜂，3年后一箱变十箱，卖出后赚了360元，前后7年共挣了5万元。20世纪80年代，社会商品短缺，他转头办厂，赶上乡镇企业发展高潮，生产的体育用品占到全国5%的份额。1992年，他抓住旧城改造和浦东开发的机遇，进军上海房地产市场，一手创办长峰集团。

进入2015年，整个房地产市场高歌猛进时，童锦泉却选择激流勇退、踩住刹车，转而投资连年逆势增长、产品有效供给却不足的旅游业，他坚信这是“下一个风口”。

跟着时代走、跟着需求走，让童锦泉敏锐洞察机遇，也能在绝境中开辟生机。

2020年初，全球突发疫情，龙之梦正式运营不满一年，因为是边开边建，后续还需源源不断大笔投入。建了大半的项目、4000名员工的生计、政府希望拉动周边发展的期待……所有压力，系于一身。

童锦泉把自己“关”进了酒店28楼的房间，很少有人知道他具体想了什么。但几天后，他下了一个指令，出乎所有员工意料—把景区内独立通风设计的几栋楼，规划成适合疫情防控的隔离酒店。

后来的事证明，童锦泉的应对赢得了先机。去年下半年以来，凭借硬件规模和设施条件，龙之梦成为长三角地区唯一的特大型隔离场所。

还有一件趣事。68岁的童锦泉和78岁的吴晓红，要在龙之梦合作建“东方盆景园”时，长兴人人都说，“这两个倔老头肯定吵起来”。但园子都造完了，两个人也没红过脸、发过脾气。吴晓红私下说：“老童比谁都灵活。”

别看这3年龙之梦方向框架没变，内里细节却已调了多次—原来规划的是嬉水世界、欢乐世界、海洋世界，没有实现“四季能玩”目标，后来就追加建一个冰雪世界；部分游客想有精致的住宿体验，就提前投建高端岛墅项目；暑期过后，亲子游高峰不再，瞄准会议需求，拓展全新业态；此外，还开了烟花秀、水秀、马戏……

最终效果，体现在一张张数据报表上：平均每场马戏上座率超90%，会议订单已经排到11月底……民营企业谋发展，靠的是苦心孤诣求创新，才能“闯”出一片天地。何为“闯”？披荆斩棘、一往无前是闯，打破陈规、开辟新路是闯。童锦泉笑着说，他把游客需求里里外外研究了几千上万遍，“吃、住、行、游、购、娱、养、育、展，只要老百姓喜欢的，就想尽办法把合适的项目引进来”。

吴晓红一直保存着一张照片。盆景园建成那年冬天，童锦泉一手拄着竹杖、一手拉着他，边逛园子边唱《我和我的祖国》。每每回想这个画面，他总会感叹：“老童这人，真像这园子里的梅花，多冷的天都能适应，没什么困难能打倒他，要倒，他也是最后一个。”

披荆斩棘，归来依旧是少年

这几年，没有一家企业的日子是轻轻松松的。

成仁贵见过童锦泉的苦，“最难的时候，上万间客房就住了几十个客人，老童也60多岁的人了，话说着说着，眼泪流了下来”。

连续5年驻扎龙之梦项目一线的长兴县文广旅体局干部许慧，见过童锦泉的愁，“每天一大清早，他就拄着竹杖在动物园、嬉水世界转，看看造好的东西心情好一点”。

但苦和难的事，只能说到这儿。再往后讲，童锦泉就摆摆手，“做事要紧”。

在上海时，许慧这批“援龙干部”的办公室就和童锦泉的办公室紧挨着。童锦泉每天六点半准时上班，观看施工现场发来的照片，查阅当天的报告和新闻，每隔一小时要求各部门提交一次数据报告。

疫情期间，童锦泉也没有丝毫放松。别人觉得可以歇一歇时，他拼命赶进度。百花岛酒店、马戏这些新项目，从工程管理到节目编排，从成本预算到舞台特效，甚至“一只鸽子从这头飞到那头花几秒”这样的细节，他都一丝不苟。

才几个月，徐嘉龙连作息时间都变了。原来，童锦泉要他每隔3天就带无人机到六春湖飞一趟，拍下视频传送给他，“经常在清晨六点半、中午一点接到童总电话，他做决策很大胆，但真正落地时又很细”。

童锦泉评价自己没别的爱好，不爱社交，就爱工作，两万天如一日。无论是做篾匠，养蜜蜂，改革开放后办工厂，闯荡上海经营地产，还是后来转型做文旅，他都喜欢把每件事弄得清清楚楚，并在实践中不断学习、不断创新，走出不一样的路。

有一回，宋城集团创始人、《宋城千古情》总导演黄巧灵到龙之梦参观交流，工作人员向他展示了一份特别的学习报告：先将一场秀拆解成舞蹈、声乐、机械等各个元素，再像股票K线图一样画出一张图表，上面标出观众笑了几次、鼓掌几次、赞叹几次，最后注明每种情绪由哪些元素引发。黄巧灵大感震撼：“竟有人这样学演艺。”

“这是我老童最宝贵的才能。”对这件事，童锦泉有点得意，摸清技术和规律后，他自己当导演创作的《醉美太湖》歌舞秀，用现代声光电艺术，演绎千百年间发生在太湖畔的传说故事，他笑称，人气赢过百老汇。

一位晚辈看望童锦泉时曾问过，如今不读书，还能像他一样成功吗？童锦泉思考良久，回答道：“今天的中国，创业氛围不一样了。但是什么都能变，勤奋和坚持的精神不能变。”

披荆斩棘，归来依旧是少年。他的梦，正在更大的版图上实现。

（张泽民对此文也有贡献）

水舞烟花秀—水上飞人。龙之梦/供图The flyboard fireworks show. Photo credit: Taihu Longemont Paradise.

Tong’s Dream: Longemont Paradise

By Shen Jingjing Ye Shilei

童锦泉在龙之梦大马戏首演谢幕活动上。龙之梦/供图Tong Jinquan delivers a speech after the first show of the circus at the Taihu Longemont Paradise. Photo credit: Taihu Longemont Paradise.

After passing through the Longemont Tunnel, a new cultural tourism city appears. Hotels, ancient towns, the zoo, the conference center, the wetland park, etc., are spread along Bianshan Mountain to the shore of South Taihu Lake. With 28,000 guest rooms, 70,000 performance seats, 30,000 parking spaces, and a 300,000-squaremeter banquet and conference hall, Taihu Longemont Paradise is unique in China and even in the world.

Across the market, many investors appear “hesitant”, but Tong Jinquan, the founder of Longemont and chairman of Shanghai Changfeng Group, has done the opposite: in this year,he has invested more than one billion yuan ($137 million) in Changxing county, Huzhou city and new projects like Happy World, Ice and Snow World, and pension apartments were started on a large scale. He assured others that he would go to Liuchunhu Mountain in Quzhou city to build a new paradise.

Looking down from the 28th floor of the Longemont Diamond hotel, Tong Jinquan watched vehicles passing through the tunnel. Although it was a weekday, there was a constant flow of passengers. “I only say ‘dare’,” No matter what difficulties Tong encountered, by opening a road in mountains and building bridges over water, he always had the door of opportunity, and there is a turning point in the trough. At this moment, the changes in a century and the pandemic of the century are intertwined, and the recovery of the world economy is shaky. “Development or recession?” Facing the question, Tong, who has been so determined in his own business for 55 years, is planning a new kickoff. The resilience of the Chinese economy has convinced him that the golden age of mass tourism is coming. Tong, who never sticks to the rules, does not back down even this time.

Tong Jinquan has the following saying as his own motto:“Honesty and self-confidence are the foundation of success.”Changing lanes into the cultural tourism industry, his show-up twice is confidence itself, even high-profile. In 2015, he announced that he would build a tourist city in Changxing, the scale of which would be comparable to Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando,Florida. Then this year, in 2022, he decided to jointly develop the Liuchunhu project with the Quzhou Municipal Government, with a total investment of about nine billion yuan. Such a large amount of money attracted the attention of the market as soon as the news was released. At the beginning, everyone was curious: Who is Tong Jinquan? To this day, the question has evolved into: How will he keep on?

Who is Tong Jinquan? A dreamer determined to create a national cultural and tourism brand, and a low-key and simple entrepreneur. His most recent public appearance was at the curtain-calling ceremony of the premiere of the big circus: under the brilliant spotlights, the gray-haired Tong was in an old T-shirt,revealing a corner of a white vest, and one of his trouser pocket was turned inside out. He raised his hands over his shoulders and bowed from the stage to three sides, like a peasant respectfully facing the land.

Tong Jinquan said frankly that his Longemont plan was not impulsive. He considered various risks, and even thought of the recurrence of the SARS crisis in 2003, and made proper preparations for this. He set a rule: all investment will come from his own savings instead of bank loans. To a certain extent,this helped Longemont alleviate liquidity difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On March 12, after staying in Longyou county, Quzhou city for two hours, and then visiting the top of Liuchunhu for five minutes, Tong Jinquan made the decision on the spot. Everyone present was surprised. Xu Jialong, general manager of Longyou County State-owned Assets Company, described his mood as“incredible”: “This is no ordinary investment, but nine billion yuan. What if you fail? “

Even Cheng Rengui, vice chairman of Changxing County People’s Political Consultative Conference and head of Taihu Tuying Tourism Resort, who witnessed the formation of Longemont and is familiar with Tong Jinquan’s character, also widened his eyes, “Old Tong is too bold.” Tong Jinquan knows the difficulty: investing in cultural tourism projects is like a marathon,with high cost, long cycle, painful process and unknown results.In the past three years, travel agencies, hotels, and scenic spots across the country have tried to transform themselves while laying off staff and reducing costs. Longemont also switched between shutdown and restart again and again. At the beginning of 2022,the pandemic broke out in cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou and the main tourist groups were unable to travel, and the income and consumption expectations became worse. Many tourist cities almost “ran out of food”.

But in that season, looking down across the snow-covered scenes from the top of Liuchunhu Mountain, Tong Jinquan saw a piece of raw jade: the whole southwestern Zhejiang lacked good products and one-stop tourist destinations, and his Longemont had the sky for the next stop.

Tong Jinquan has this temper. He gets excited when he sees an opportunity, and moves forward bravely when he sees it. He said that he had only five years of schooling, so he did not believe in set rules. When others were afraid, he would dare to be the first.The same scene happened in 2015. Shortly after finalizing the investment intention of Longemont, Tong suddenly proposed that“10,000 rooms are not enough, but 20,000 rooms are needed”.Even the main leaders of Changxing county government were afraid of the risks that they went to Shanghai overnight to dissuade him.Faced with a series of questions such as “Where do tourists come from?”, “How long does it take to build it?” and “When will it be profitable?” Tong Jinquan took out a calculator to sum up the cost and bene fit before the Changxing officials. “How many people are there in China, and how big is this market!” Excitedly, he patted the people around him on the arms, “This is the first time I have invested in tourism, but I am confident and will be successful!”Clutching the key to the market, he fulfilled his promise.

In the past three years, Tong Jinquan never faltered from the goal of “attracting 30 million tourists a year”, nor has he stopped investing. He said that he would invest here as much as his industries in Shanghai earned. According to the original plan, projects such as Circus City and Water World opened one by one, and performances such asandwere staged one by one.Taihu Longemont Paradise stands out for its diverse gameplay and splendid performance. Longemont has achieved surprisingly positive growth: In the past two months alone, it has attracted more than three million tourists, and the revenue in 2022 has exceeded 700 million yuan.

龙之梦国际马戏城。龙之梦/供图The Circus City at the Taihu Longemont Paradise. Photo credit: Taihu Longemont Paradise.

In October 2018, he recruited about 70 foreign actors for the rehearsal of the Fantasy Diamond show. However, the hotel could not open until the eve of the Spring Festival. Tickets for the performance could not be sold, but the daily salary of more than 200,000 yuan had to be paid. What should he do? Tong Jinquan persuaded Huzhou Federation of Trade Unions and the Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs to give free tickets to the employees first, and invite local villagers to watch the show for 90 consecutive days until the opening of the hotel. Longemont became a hit. He is a person who truly believes that “there are many paths in life”.

Before coming to Zhejiang to start a new business, Tong Jinquan was best known as the owner of Shanghai Longemont commercial real estate. His 55-year entrepreneurial life is a vivid portrayal of China’s reform and opening-up. At the age of 13, he learned making bamboo baskets and saved 50 yuan in 500 days.With the money, he bought a box of bees. After three years, one box became ten boxes, and he earned 360 yuan from the sale. He earned a total of 50,000 yuan in seven years. In the 1980s, he set up a factory, whose sporting goods accounted for five percent of the whole country. In 1992, he entered Shanghai’s real estate market and founded Changfeng Group. In 2015, when the entire real estate market was advancing by leaps and bounds, Tong Jinquan chose to retreat bravely, and invested in the growing tourism industry, which was still faced with insufficient product supply.

When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in early 2020,Longemont had officially operated for less than a year. It still required a steady stream of large investment. The half-finished projects, the livelihood of 4,000 employees and the government’s expectation to stimulate the development of the surrounding area ...all the pressures were heaped together on him.

Tong Jinquan “locked” himself up in a room on the 28th floor of the hotel. A few days later, he gave an order to the surprise of all employees — to transform several buildings in the scenic area with independent ventilation design as a quarantine hotel. Later events proved that Tong’s response brought the first opportunity. Since the second half of 2021, with its scale and facilities, Longemont has become the only extra-large quarantine hotel in the Yangtze River Delta region. So far, it has accommodated 50,000 people returning from overseas, Shanghai and other places in 458,000 room-night quarantine tasks.

龙之梦嬉水世界室外造浪池。龙之梦/供图The wave-waving pool at the Water World of the Taihu Longemont Paradise.Photo credit: Taihu Longemont Paradise.

When 68-year-old Tong Jinquan and 78-year-old Wu Xiaohong wanted to build an “Oriental Bonsai Garden” together in Longemont, everyone in Changxing said, “These two stubborn old men will de finitely quarrel.” The garden is completed but they never disagreed or lost their temper. Wu Xiaohong said privately, “Old Tong is more flexible than anyone else.” Though in the three years the orientation of Longemont has not changed, the internal details have been adjusted many times: the original plan of the water world,the happy world, and the ocean world did not meet the goal of being “playable in four seasons”, so an additional ice and snow world was built; some tourists wanted to have an exquisite accommodation experience, so they invested in high-end island villa projects ahead of schedule; after the summer vacation, the peak of parent-child travel was no longer there, so they aimed at meeting needs for conference and expanded new business formats; in addition, there were fireworks shows, water shows, circus ....

The final effect is reflected in the data reports: the average attendance rate of each circus show exceeded 90 percent, and the conference venues have been booked until the end of next November. ... Tong Jinquan said with a smile that he has pondered over the needs of tourists thousands of times, inside and out,“Eating, housing, traveling, touring, shopping, entertainment,keeping fit, nurturing, and exhibiting; as long as people like it,we will try our best to make it happen. And the right projects are brought in.”

Tong Jinquan commented that he has no other hobbies. He doesn’t like socializing, but he likes to work. 20,000 days are like one day. He likes to analyze the entertainment programs. “This is the most precious talent of me old boy.” Tong was a little proud of this matter. After figuring out the techniques and rules, he directed the song and dance show, which utilizes modern sound and light art to interpret the legendary stories that happened by the Taihu Lake in a thousand years. Its popularity must have surpassed the shows on the Broadway, he said with a smile.