SPREADING HER WINGS

At KONE, our mission is to improve the flow of urban life. To capture the essence of urbanization, we bring you stories of people from 17 cities. Follow Chen Qin Qin’s journey from a college student to an entrepreneur in Chengdu, China. This 28-year-old is only getting started.

“I was 21 years old. I'd just finished college and I went to Beijing in 2009 to study photography. Over the next six years I worked in offices, bars, and as an actors’ agent.

I partied too much, drank too much, and I hated the pollution. I needed something new.I moved back to Chengdu last year and realized the change has been phenomenal. Ten years ago it was a third tier city, now it's second tier. People's ideas have changed. Ten years ago there weren't as many outsiders, now there's more people from everywhere and they love it.

Chengdu is like what Beijing was five years ago - a baby. That's why I'm excited to be here. Now I've set up my own business. We sell boxes of salads or sandwiches at Green Food. From five to ten boxes a day, we now sell 15 to 20. My goal is to make my company known in Chengdu. I want to build the brand and expand my business by organizing events. Young people accept new things pretty fast and it's easier to do business here because there's still not a lot of sophisticated products. If I opened my business in other cities it wouldn't be like in Chengdu.”

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