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Students revive campus kiosks
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THE decline of traditional media is all too obvious at newsstands on every corner of Shanghai. Some news kiosks have been forced to close. Others are branching out into the sale of other merchandise, like soft drinks, flowers, snacks and prepaid phone cards.
But when one door closes, another opens.
At Shanghai Jiao Tong University, creative thinkers are turning disused red newspaper kiosks into new businesses. Four campus newsstands were offered free to young entrepreneurs. Thirty-three teams bid for them. The four who won turned the sites into a matchmaking office, a greenhouse, a ticket kiosk and a national defense education office.
Wang Yiran, an official with the university’s School of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, said the old newsstands are the first rung on the ladder for up-and-coming entrepreneurs to gain real business experience. In the past, these young innovators had to rent space, which added to start-up costs.
Wu Siyi, a doctoral student in the School of Media and Design, heads the Jiao Da Hong Niang matchmaking program, which began services two years ago by relying mostly on the online instant messaging platform QQ. Hong Niang refers to a matchmaker in the ancient Chinese love story “Romance of the West Chamber.”
“In 2013, one of my friends who was single asked me to introduce him to some women,” Wu told Shanghai Daily.
“Since the ratio of male and female students in some academic majors is skewed, it’s often hard for students to find dates within a limited social network,” Wu said.
Wu began her matchmaking service to try to help lovelorn students at the university.
“It’s now a group of 500 members,” she said.
An online platform for chatting proved too restrictive. The students needed an offline site to meet. Wu first organized eight-minute “quick dates” in venues like cafes.
“The eight-minute date model is a very efficient way for people to meet and meet a lot of people,” Wu said. “Ten percent of these encounters are successful. The traditional way of organizing a group date was to get people involved in activities and games. The eight-minute format forces even those who are shy to communicate with every other participant.”
Jiao Da Hong Niang also helps people termed “single dogs” spruce up their appearance to make them more attractive date magnets. Wu cited the example of a 32-year-old male graduate who participated in eight events but never found a soulmate. Wu sized him up. He was frumpy. So the group took him for a haircut and a few new clothes. His luck at the matchmaking events has turned for the better.
At the red newsstand, women can also take lessons in hair styling, nail painting and make-up.
Wu said she and her team have chalked up successful matches of 1,200 men and women.
“Every time we help, they express their deep appreciation,” she said. “It makes me feel that what I am doing is worthy.”
Another old news kiosk on the campus is now being operated by Zhu Zhemin and five peers from the School of Agriculture and Biology. The newsstand sells plants and products cultivated by the school.
“The public now is worried about food safety,” Zhu said. “So we wanted to introduce the concept of safe, healthy food to the campus.”
Team member Cheng Zhicai said many students buy plants online and raise them in the dormitories. Often they don’t thrive under those conditions. The team is experimenting with new ways of cultivation at the school’s agricultural demonstration center.
At the beginning, the team didn’t have enough plants to sell. The school helped by finding cooperative partners, and teachers often contributed experimental successes for sale without requiring an upfront payment.
As sales grew, supply lines widened.
“Small, lovely succulent plants have been given to us by the university’s succulent plant club,” said Zhu. “We had some students from the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region give us local dates to sell.”
The team also does strawberry planting and makes essential oils from plants.
The other two disused kiosks are being run by Zhou Cheng, an aeronautics and astronautics student, and Wang Yixia, who is studying at the Institute of Arts and Humanities.
Zhou uses the kiosk to sells books and magazines related to national defense. He said he is trying to educate others on campus of its importance. His team also organizes regular Live Counter-Strike games for national defense enthusiasts.
Wang, a literature and art lover, uses her kiosk to sell tickets to cultural events. She started her business because tickets are often expensive and beyond the means of students.
“When I went to cultural performances, I looked around a theater and saw a lot of empty seats,” Wang said.
By contacting theater companies and ticketing agencies, she was able to get hold of unsold tickets at lower prices. Wang and her two partners then built an online platform offering the tickets at discounts of 20-70 percent.
The team also plans to promote university drama club performances and hopes to introduce off-campus performing troupes to the university.
“We plan to build another six such ‘entrepreneurship newsstands’ on the campus later to give more student groups the chance to start their own businesses,” campus official Wang said.
Next rung on the ladder” Successful teams are placed in the neoBay-Global Innovation Community, an entrepreneurial park in Minhang District set up by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the district government and the Shanghai Real Estate Group.
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