The Life of the Characters in Xu Aizhou's Works

Xu Aizhou, whose real name is Guo Ren, 1968 was born in a peasant family in Boli Village, Potou County. 18 years later, 1899, France forcibly leased Guangzhou Bay (now Zhanjiang City), opened ports, docks and shipyards in Guangzhou Bay, and declared Guangzhou Bay a duty-free free free port; At the same time, the expressway connected with the port was built, which expanded the port economy to Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Guangdong, Guangxi, southern Hunan and other places. In twenty or thirty years, Guangzhou Bay has become a prosperous city and shipping center in the southwest of China. When he was young, Mr. Xu Aizhou witnessed the great changes in Guangzhou Bay from agricultural natural economy to industrial and commercial society. Influenced by the trend of the times, he decided to abandon agriculture and go into business. He developed from the first grocery store in the village to the agent of Texaco gasoline in Guangzhou Bay, and then to various investments: operating aquatic products in Weizhou; An oil mill was established in Boli Village, and high-quality edible oil was exported to San Francisco and other places in the United States.

At this time, Guangzhou Bay has been the cargo transportation port of Guangdong, Guangxi and Yunnan provinces, and the city is becoming more and more prosperous. Mr. Ai Zhou seized the business opportunity, joined hands with friends to bid for the reclamation project in Chikan Beach, built more than 40 shops and residential buildings on the newly filled land, and built the first new hotel "Gem Hotel" (now Ruby) in Guangzhou Bay on Zhongshan Second Road in Chikan. In the 1920s, 30-year-old Mr. Xu Aizhou became a celebrity and businessman in the local real estate construction field.

Mr Xu Aizhou has made great contributions to the development of Chikan. He reclaimed land and built large-scale buildings along Haibin Street, which promoted the vigorous development of Chikan real estate industry. The hotel industry and leasing industry he invested in promoted the prosperity of Chikan business; He took the lead in donating money, actively assisted the construction of the Guangzhou Bay Chamber of Commerce, and contributed to the orderly economic development of Chikan and even Guangzhou Bay at that time.

In the early 1930s, when Mr. Ai Zhou's career in Guangzhou Bay was in full swing, he resolutely switched to shipping and established Shunchang Shipping Company. We have purchased dozens of freighters such as Gems, Dabao Star and Dabaoshan, and rented freighters such as Panama and Norway. In addition, four companies, such as Pacific Shipping Company and Taifeng Shipping Company, have been entrusted, and the routes have been developed to Vietnam, Guangzhou, Shanghai and other places. We have cooperated with China Merchants, British businessmen Jardine Matheson and Jardine Matheson who previously operated these routes.

Speaking of the ancient buildings in Chikan District of Zhanjiang City, we have to mention Xu Aizhou, a native of Potou. In the early 1920s, it is said that Xu Aizhou, who started by selling peanut oil, entered the real estate industry with the first bucket of gold he earned. The biggest move is to apply to France for the right to reclaim land from the sea. The reporter can't know exactly what reclamation technology was used in Xu Aizhou at that time by looking through the information. A few years later, Xu Aizhou finally filled out today's large-scale commercial land such as Minzhu Road, Quan Min Road and Minsheng Road, and squeezed the coastline out of Daya Port in Chikan District. The early reclamation project in Chikan is a highlight of Zhanjiang's city-building movement.

After graduating from elementary school, he went into business with his father and founded Futai, which specializes in peanut oil and other grain and oil groceries. Renhe, Guanghongtai and Tianyuan stores will be opened in Wuchuan, Chikan, Xiashan and Naozhou. Established "Guanghongtai" in Hong Kong, imported foreign goods, including peanut oil, kerosene, aquatic products, etc., and became a wealthy businessman that year. The former site of Gem Hotel, now a commercial pedestrian street, was invested and built for Xu Aizhou, which was very famous at that time.

In the1920s, Xu Aizhou began to develop real estate and reclaim land in Chikan District. In the 1930 s, the hotel industry and industrial and commercial housing developed and made profits. Later, it became "Li Shunchang Shipping Company", which developed coastal and inland river transportation in China, which was comparable to that of foreign businessmen at that time.

During the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, due to the diplomatic relations between France and Japan, Xu Aizhou's shipping industry based in Guangzhou Bay became more prosperous. Later, he cooperated with Daan Shipping Company, Taiping Shipping Company, Taifeng Shipping Company and Guangli Shipping Company to purchase ships on a large scale, and the merchant ships were as far away as Southeast Asia and other places, and they were known as "shipping giants" in the world. 1949, Renxing Mining Company was established in Hong Kong. 1952, Shunchang Airlines Limited was registered in Hong Kong. 1957 Xingyou established China Construction Enterprise Co., Ltd., purchased the original site of Hong Kong Hotel in Queen's Road and built China Construction Building. Later, Asia Tour was built near Central and became one of the famous real estate developers in Hong Kong.

Xu Aizhou died on 1966. His family, Xu Shifen, donated money to HKU to build the Xu Aizhou Science Museum in memory of his father, Xu Aizhou.