Twenty-four-year-old Cheng Jiali from Yangzhou of eastern China’s Jiangsu Province has introduced her business of musical instrument guqin to North America.
Cheng is anticipating a sales increase in her business as boosted by the cross-continental expansion.
"I hope to sell my guqin around the world so as to get more and more people to know about the profound Chinese guqin culture," Cheng remarked.
The guqin enthusiast first discovered her great passion for playing the instrument at an early age. Guqin is a seven-string plucked instrument akin in some aspect to the zither.
Cheng started her guqin company after she graduated from university.
At first, people were hesitant to partner with her, stating that she is still young. Cheng then decided to expand her horizon and immersed herself in different musical-instrument exhibitions.
Cheng also started to venture on e-commerce. She posts photos and videos of her products in order to reach more prospective customers. As a result, her Web-based business stood out and helped grow her company’s rising popularity.
San Francisco-based North American Guqin Association was reported to have initiated communication with Cheng for a possible business venture.
With her growing company, Cheng has expanded her number of employees from a mere handful of workers.
She shared: “Some young people who love guqin culture have even asked to learn to make guqin under us.”
This has helped her provide employment opportunities for her fellows.
Cheng’s guqin firm now has annual sales of more than 2 million yuan, selling more than hundreds of regular guqins and thousands of high-end units.