曲向東的幸福：把興趣做成了生意

下午的陽光耀眼炙熱，城市的喧鬧依舊，但一場對話讓我們遠(yuǎn)離了現(xiàn)實(shí)。之前準(zhǔn)備好的采訪題綱顯然用不上了，聊天式的專訪已經(jīng)把話題延伸得很遠(yuǎn)。于是在將近三個(gè)小時(shí)的時(shí)間里，我們聊歷史，聊文化，聊責(zé)任，甚至還聊到了夢想。

曲向東是位很好的聊天對象，不僅因?yàn)樗f話的聲音很好聽，而且他還是個(gè)有著精彩故事的人。

但怎樣介紹他呢？知名媒體人、社會活動家、玄奘之路創(chuàng)始人還是行知探索公司董事長？望著他放在自己腳邊的那個(gè)黑色雙肩背包——就是這個(gè)很普通的包，我卻已經(jīng)第二次見到它了。今年5月，曲向東背著它走上玄奘之路，帶領(lǐng)500多名EMBA完成了戈壁挑戰(zhàn)賽；6月，他又背著它去了晉南豫西，和我們一起完成了“發(fā)現(xiàn)中國”的文化之旅。今天，剛剛出差回來的他又背著這個(gè)包接受了本刊專訪。顯然，這位經(jīng)常行走在路上的人已經(jīng)離那個(gè)央視名嘴漸行漸遠(yuǎn)了。于是，我們的話題便從“發(fā)現(xiàn)中國”開始了。

“發(fā)現(xiàn)”的誘惑

有人說，凡是出于性情做的事情，愉快就是基本標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。曲向東對此深有感觸，他說，自己做的這些事都是基于興趣和好奇心，最初并沒太想運(yùn)營模式是什么樣的，“發(fā)現(xiàn)中國”的項(xiàng)目也是如此。

在做玄奘之路的活動時(shí)，曲向東查閱了很多資料，他發(fā)現(xiàn)一個(gè)現(xiàn)象：凡是資料中提到玄奘經(jīng)過的某一個(gè)地點(diǎn)，西方人都在考證這是今天的哪個(gè)地方，包括絲綢之路，雖然起點(diǎn)在中國，但它的命名者卻是德國人李希霍芬。所有這些都讓曲向東有了很多的思考與疑問。為什么外國人比我們更了解？為什么不是中國人向世界推薦？為什么這些著名的事件更多地由西方人發(fā)現(xiàn)？

后來曲向東了解到，過去的100年是我們文化自信力最弱的100年，我們無法判斷自己，而西方人卻在不斷地做發(fā)現(xiàn)的工作，他們帶著西方的眼光，反而會發(fā)現(xiàn)其價(jià)值和獨(dú)特性。“我覺得物質(zhì)生活逐步富足后，自然會產(chǎn)生一種想法，會追求這種文化上的獨(dú)特性，甚至獨(dú)立性。是時(shí)候了，普通民眾也要重新發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的歷史，發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的文化”。于是，在2006年第一次玄奘之路的回歸日那天，曲向東提出“發(fā)現(xiàn)中國，發(fā)現(xiàn)自己”的口號，核心理念就是：中國人對中國的歷史要有一個(gè)重新發(fā)現(xiàn)。

新加坡RH能源公司執(zhí)行主席王海榮也參加過玄奘之路的活動，后來又和曲向東一起去南極探險(xiǎn)。在去南極的路上，王海榮提出他的祖籍山西運(yùn)城是中國最早國家文明的發(fā)祥地，而曲向東則認(rèn)為河南二里頭才是最早的中國。爭論過程中他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，對于這樣一個(gè)重要的問題，不僅僅他們兩人，普通民眾都說不清楚。“我走過不少國家，發(fā)現(xiàn)國外很多地方甚至一個(gè)小鎮(zhèn)對于自己的歷史都有著像模像樣的博物館。可是我們很多人對于中國的歷史知道的太少了。”王海榮說。

爭論的結(jié)果是，王海榮聯(lián)合一些山西的企業(yè)家朋友捐款，于2010年9月在中國婦女發(fā)展基金會建立了一個(gè)“發(fā)現(xiàn)中國基金”，曲向東成為“發(fā)現(xiàn)中國”這個(gè)文化項(xiàng)目的策劃人。宗旨是通過深度行知體驗(yàn)的方式，探訪華夏文明起源和繁榮的心路歷程，深入認(rèn)識中華文明之根是如何決定了今天我們的思考、行為、甚至民族性格。“發(fā)現(xiàn)中國，就是發(fā)現(xiàn)最本真的自己”，曲向東說。

在對山西運(yùn)城、臨汾以及河南偃師三次探路考察后，曲向東確定了一條從襄汾陶寺遺址開始，到丁村遺址、侯馬晉國鑄銅作坊、垣曲中條山銅礦遺址、夏縣西陰村、運(yùn)城鹽池及池神廟、平陸虞坂古鹽道，一直到河南偃師二里頭遺址的考察路線。

2011年10月，由“發(fā)現(xiàn)中國基金”出資，曲向東正式組隊(duì)走上了這條文化考古路線。北京大學(xué)教授、著名經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家張維迎也加入了這個(gè)隊(duì)伍，但他并非來休閑的，當(dāng)他走完8公里的虞坂古道后，他告訴記者：“我來有兩個(gè)目的，第一，作為一個(gè)中國人，應(yīng)該了解中國的歷史；第二，我希望通過這樣的活動走出自己的專業(yè)學(xué)習(xí)，修煉自己。”

希望得到修煉的人很多。今年6月，第二次發(fā)現(xiàn)中國文化考察活動也圓滿結(jié)束，和第一次不同的是，有一些自己付費(fèi)的隊(duì)員加入了隊(duì)伍，他們的共同點(diǎn)就是對歷史和文化感興趣，又對田野考古充滿了好奇心。

這讓曲向東有了持續(xù)做下去的信心，這也是他想達(dá)到的理想狀態(tài)。他并不太著急去接受商業(yè)性的贊助、捐助，他說這是以后再考慮的事。而對于“發(fā)現(xiàn)中國”這個(gè)項(xiàng)目，他的計(jì)劃是按照夏、商、周、秦、漢、唐6個(gè)朝代進(jìn)行“發(fā)現(xiàn)”，正是這6個(gè)朝代奠定了中國的文明。他說，今年10月，將對“商”開始探路了。

體驗(yàn)產(chǎn)品的設(shè)計(jì)者

不理解曲向東辭職創(chuàng)業(yè)的人很多，這位北大中文系的才子、央視著名欄目的主持人，生活得風(fēng)光、安逸，為什么要折騰，他要折騰什么？

“名人”曲向東體會到了創(chuàng)業(yè)的艱辛。“我以為愛好、激情能成就夢想，創(chuàng)業(yè)之后才發(fā)現(xiàn)，完全不夠。因?yàn)閻酆靡埠谩⒓で橐埠茫荒艹掷m(xù)一段時(shí)間，但遇到大的困難時(shí)，可能就會放棄愛好，消減激情，而更重要的因素是責(zé)任。責(zé)任是讓你無法放棄的東西。”

玄奘之路的活動成功了，但投資拍攝的紀(jì)錄片從商業(yè)上徹底失敗了，這就意味著他要對投資人負(fù)責(zé)任了。再就是做玄奘之路時(shí)形成了一個(gè)團(tuán)隊(duì)，走完玄奘之路，這個(gè)團(tuán)隊(duì)怎么辦？如果簡單地解散，感覺不落忍。出于對這群人的責(zé)任，曲向東成立了行知探索文化傳播有限公司。“我對投資方說，讓他們做股東，我來打工，把這筆賠掉的資金還上。這就是成立這家公司的初衷。人家開公司是為了賺錢，而我卻是為了還錢。但這就是責(zé)任，不能放棄。”

員工、債務(wù)、生存忽然把他原本安逸的生活占得滿滿的。那是最艱難的一段時(shí)間，這個(gè)有著文人的矜持不喜歡拉關(guān)系的人，不那么情愿甚至羞澀地混入了“生意人”的隊(duì)伍。那時(shí)候他甚至在外面從不說“我們公司”這個(gè)詞。他也曾千方百計(jì)地找人來替他經(jīng)營這家公司，但沒人愿意來，因?yàn)闆]人知道這家公司到底要做什么。

最艱難的日子扛下來了，曲向東也有了更清晰的規(guī)劃。他把公司定位為“深度體驗(yàn)產(chǎn)品的設(shè)計(jì)者與提供者”。《體驗(yàn)經(jīng)濟(jì)》這本書里說：體驗(yàn)產(chǎn)品必須具有4個(gè)屬性：娛樂、教育、審美、逃離現(xiàn)實(shí)。能同時(shí)實(shí)現(xiàn)這4個(gè)屬性就是完美的體驗(yàn)產(chǎn)品。

“我們的項(xiàng)目就是圍繞這4個(gè)屬性來設(shè)計(jì)的。例如戈壁挑戰(zhàn)賽，是個(gè)高規(guī)格的好玩的游戲，符合娛樂屬性的要求；在玄奘曾走過的偉大路段上進(jìn)行，有心靈勵(lì)志的教育屬性；戈壁的風(fēng)光獨(dú)特、漂亮，能滿足人的審美要求；而遠(yuǎn)離城市和熟悉的環(huán)境，會讓人逃離現(xiàn)實(shí)，達(dá)到人人平等的境界。這就是個(gè)完美的體驗(yàn)產(chǎn)品。反過來看南北極的旅游探險(xiǎn)項(xiàng)目，它的審美屬性和逃離現(xiàn)實(shí)的屬性非常明顯，那里很美，也很遙遠(yuǎn)，但教育屬性和娛樂屬性感覺很弱。如果只是坐郵輪去看風(fēng)景，在漫長的途中，你會覺得很單調(diào)，很沒意思，于是我們在路上就把課程安排得很豐富，來加強(qiáng)娛樂和教育屬性。而發(fā)現(xiàn)中國這個(gè)項(xiàng)目則以體驗(yàn)式考古的方式完成一個(gè)文化體驗(yàn)，也具備體驗(yàn)產(chǎn)品的4個(gè)屬性”。

如同問最喜歡自己的哪個(gè)孩子，作為這些體驗(yàn)產(chǎn)品的設(shè)計(jì)者，當(dāng)問到曲向東最喜歡哪個(gè)時(shí)，他沉思了片刻說，最喜歡的是發(fā)現(xiàn)中國，最得意的是玄奘之路。

扛住了的曲向東現(xiàn)在的狀態(tài)令人羨慕，有一群有著職業(yè)正義感的員工在身邊工作，有一幫一起走過玄奘之路的朋友可以聊天，有一些自己感興趣的項(xiàng)目正在良性運(yùn)營。而更令人羨慕的是，他把自己的興趣漸漸地做成了生意，那么，他的下一個(gè)夢想呢？是不是還是行走在“發(fā)現(xiàn)”的路上，用探索的目光去滿足人類不停息的好奇？我忽然忘記問他答案了。

The prepared interview guideline proves to be useless. Qu Xiangdong and I chatted about everything， history， culture， responsibilities， and even dream for almost three hours. Qu is a great conversationalist with a beautiful voice and great stories to tell， and we forgot the scorching sun and the noisy of the city outside.

But how shall I introduce him to readers? A well-known broadcaster， activist， the pioneer of the Xuanzang Road and the chairman of Know， Act and Explore (KAE)? I saw the non-distinguished black backpack at his feet for the second time. In May this year， Qu led 500 EMBAs on the Xuan Zang Road and completed the Gobi Challenge with the bag. In June， we were on the “China Discovery” cultural trip together to south Shanxi and west Henan， him again with the backpack. Today， just back from his business trip， he was interviewed by U-Jet with his trademark backpack. He is always on the road these days， a far cry from his days as a famous CCTV broadcaster. We started to chat about “China Discovery”.

The Allure of Discovery

It is said that if one does a thing out of interest， then happiness is the only criteria. Qu Xiangdong couldn’t agree more. He said he does everything out of interest and curiosity， and didn’t think of business model initially. It was the same with the “China Discovery” project.

Qu Xiangdong researched for the Xuan Zang Road project and noticed something interesting. The monk Xuan Zang passed many locations on his road， and westerners have been trying to verify where these locations are on today’s map. The “Silk Road” originated in China but it was a German Richthofen who came up with the name. Qu Xiangdong has been thinking and questioning， why foreigners know more about these than the Chinese? Why we Chinese are not telling the world about these facts in our own history?

Qu Xiangdong gradually understood that we have been culturally impotent for the past 100 years. We couldn’t judge ourselves and westerners have done the discovery for us. They discover our worth and uniqueness through their western perspectives. “I feel that once we live affluent life， we will be looking for cultural uniqueness and independence. It is time for ordinary folks to rediscover our history and culture.” In 2006， on the anniversary of Xuan Zang’s first return， Qu Xiangdong launched a campaign called “Discover China and Yourselves”， with the idea that Chinese should rediscover our history.

Wang Hairong， the executive chairman of RH Energy of Singapore participated in the Xuan Zang Road journey and he later went to the South Pole with Qu Xiangdong. During the journey， Wang Hairong argued that Yuncheng of Shanxi， where his ancestors came from was the earliest origin of Chinese civilization. Qu Xiangtong disagreed， believing in Erlitou of Henan being the earlier China. The two argued and realized that ordinary people didn’t know about these simple yet important facts. “I have been to many countries. Even a small town has a decent museum about local history. We Chinese know too little about our own history，” reflected Mr. Wang Hairong.

As a result， Wang Hairong imitated a donation with some Shanxi businessmen to establish a “China Discovery Foundation” under Chinese Women Development Foundation in September 2010. Qu Xiangdong became the strategist behind the project. The mission is to explore the origin and prosperity of the Chinese civilization through in-depth discovery and exploration， to understand better the roots of Chinese civilization， and how the ways we think， act and behave have been shaped. “To discover China is to discover the deepest and most truthful you，” said Qu.

Qu inspected Yuncheng and Linpan of Shanxi， Yanshi of Henan three times to determine a route of discovery， starting from Xiangfentao Temple relic， to Ding village relic， Houma Jin Country bronze workshop， Yuanquzhongtiao Mountain copper relic， Xia county Xiyin Village， Yuncheng Yanchi and Chi Temple， Pinglu Yuban ancient salt path， all the way to Henan Erlitou relic.

In October 2011， Qu Xiangdong led the team on this cultural archaeological exploration. Mr. Zhang Weiying， a professor from Beijing University and a famous economist joined the team. He wasn’t in it just for fun. After 8-kilometer trekking through the Yuban ancient passageway， he told a reporter that “I have two purposes for the trip. As a Chinese， we should learn the Chinese history. Second， I want to be away from my field for a while to enrich myself.”

Others are also keen on spiritual enrichment. In June this year， the second journey was completed successfully. This time， some members bore their own costs. They are all interested in history and culture， and full of curiosity for field archaeology.

Qu Xiangdong is motivated to go on， and this is what he likes best. He is not in a hurry for commercial sponsorship. He said he might consider it in the future. He plans to rediscover the six dynasties， Xia， Shang， Zhou， Qin， Han and Tang， which laid the foundation for Chinese civilization. He said the exploration into Shang Dynasty was to start in October this year.

The Mastermind of Experience Product

Many people couldn’t see why Qu had to resign and do such a start up. He was a top graduate from the Chinese Department of the Beijing University and the anchor of a high-profile CCTV program. He had a great enviable life. Why all the hassle? And for what?

The famous Qu Xiangdong learned the difficulty of a startup. “I believed that hobby and passion could turn a dream in reality. But I found out it was totally inadequate. Hobby and passion can only sustain you for a while. With great difficulties， one might give up the hobby and see one’s passion ebb. What’s more important is responsibility. You simply cannot relinquish your own responsibility.”

The Xuan Zang Road event has been successful. But making a documentary out of it was a complete failure commercially. Qu had to be responsible for his investors. He formed a team for the trip. What should be done to the team after the trip? Qu couldn’t bring himself to dismiss people. He founded the KAE Culture Communication Company to accommodate the team. “I said to investors that they are now shareholders. I would work and pay back the investment that had been lost. This is what’s behind the company. People do business to make money; I start up a company to pay back my investors. This is my responsibility that I cannot throw away.”

Employees， debts and survival. Qu’s comfortable life was turned upside down. Those were the toughest days of his life. He had been a man of letters and didn’t like to work on relationships. But he had too now， reluctantly， shyly. He tried very hard to find professional managers， but nobody cared to come， having no clue what the company was supposed to do.

After the toughest days， Qu began to have some clearer ideas. He now positions his company as the “designer and provider of in-depth experience.” The book “Experience Economy” points out four attributes of experience products – fun， education， aesthetics and escape. Perfect experience products fulfill all the four purposes.

“We design our products focusing on these four attributes. Take the Gobi Challenge for an example， this is a fun game. It is conducted along the great Xuan Zang Road， so very educational and inspiring. Gobi is extremely scenic， so aesthetical. Finally， it is far away from cities and one’s familiar environment， therefore definitely an escape from reality. Here， we are all equal. This is a perfect experience product. We also have North and South Pole exploration. You get the aesthetics and escape， because the poles are remote and beautiful. But what’s the educational and entertainment part? If you board on a cruise， you could still feel bored. So we arrange a lot of programs on the road. China Discovery incorporates culture and archaeology， scoring high on all four attributes.”

Which ones are your favorites? Qu Xiangdong reflected for a while and answered that he loves China Discovery best， and feels proudest of the Xuan Zang Road.

Having toughened out the most difficult days， Qu’s life today is again enviable. He has a group of people with a strong sense of doing the right thing; he has friends who have been with him on the Xuan Zang road to chat; he has good interesting projects in good shape and virtuous cycle. What’s more enviable is that he is gradually turning what he loves to do into good business. What’s his next dream? On the road again for more discovery? I suddenly forgot to ask him.

Qu Xiangdong， founder of the Xuan Zang road， founder of Pole Beauty brand， project designer of China cultural explorations， the chairman of Beijing KAE Culture Communication Company.