Retired Businessman Enjoys Rural Entertainment

Since his retirement from Transfar， a giant private chemical group he founded in 1986， Xu Chuanhua has fully enjoyed working as a director of Chuanhua Troupe and traveling around with his troupe on road shows in rural areas. Based in Hangzhou， the capital of Zhejiang Province in eastern China， the entertainment troupe is named after him， just as the name of the chemical conglomerate is named after him. Transfar， the English name of the chemical group， is a perfect transliteration based on the pronunciation of his Chinese given name.

Xu Chuanhua is more than the director of his rural troupe. The 75-year-old is also the troupe’s principal player of Erhu， a two-stringed Chinese fiddle which is arguably the most popular folk musical instrument in China. Before he dedicated himself to entrepreneurship in the 1980s， he was an amateur instrumentalist. As a boy， he watched local opera shows passionately. He learned to play Erhu at the age of 30 under the guidance of some young men from Hangzhou. He made an Erhu himself. And self-appointed folk music artist learned to play some more folk musical instruments. Relatives and friends believe that he would have been a good folk artist if he hadn’t got into business.

Xu Chuanhua lost his job as a salesman in the winter of 1985 when the small chemical fertilizer factory where he worked closed the door. About a year later he learned that there was a big demand for liquid soap on the market. Sensing a business opportunity， he hastily borrowed 2，000 yuan and set up a workshop at home. The family of five worked together to produce liquid soap. The family business took off. Today， Transfar ranks 84th of all the private businesses in China.

As his business was expanding rapidly in the 1990s， Xu Chuanhua saw an opportunity to find an outlet for his passion for entertainment. He set up an entertainment troupe. Some people wondered why such a smart businessman was willing to spend money on such a not-for-profit showbiz program. His answer was simple enough: “It is my dream”.

The troupe put on shows to entertain the employees of the group as well as rural communities where Transfer facilities are located. As the business expanded rapidly and more people came to work for Transfar， the troupe increased its performances. During the fast expansion period， the troupe staged about 250 shows a year. All of the players of the troupe were amateurs. Soon Transfar realized that it needed to hire professionals to entertain employees who wanted to see better shows. Since 2000， the troupe has engaged professionals for important events.

It was in the years around the turn of the century that Xu Chuanhua began gradually to phase out as the president of the group. He has slowly but surely shifted his focus to the troupe. His two sons are at the helm and they are doing pretty well. In 2009， Transfer’s annual output amounted to over 15 billion yuan and about 3，000 employees worked for the Transfar Holding.

In comparison with Transfar， the Transfar Entertainment Troupe is tiny. It has about 30 actors; it has five automobiles and a full set of stage equipment. Transfar has allotted more than 10 million yuan for the operation of the troupe and the funds assigned to the troupe increase at the rate of one million per year.

Xu Chuanhua and his troupe have visited more than 80 counties and cities in Zhejiang， Anhui and Jiangsu provinces over years. The troupe has never charged a cent for all these shows.

His sons’ only complaint about the busy schedule is about their father’s health. The old man gloats whenever they ask him to take care of his health: “They need me everywhere. What can I do?”

They really need him. And he influences many rural people. The shows of the troupe are largely about the way of new rural life. Xu Chuanhua is very proud that he is now playing a role in introducing new concepts into rural areas through entertainment shows. The troupe’s data shows that the troupe has staged more than 2，000 shows free of charge so far and that the audiences have amounted to over 10 million.

Xu Chuanhua is known among friends as a barefoot scholar， referring to his limited school education， his business acumen and epic success， and his passion for not-for-profit rural entertainment programs. □