"Two Way Rush" Led By A Blanket!

In order to further create a new era and a new journey, comprehensively promote the new practice of Chinese style modernization of Lianyungang, and speed up the strong atmosphere of high-quality development of "starting later and arriving first", Lianyungang Daily launched a series of reports on "Lian" and "Lian" in the world map to select cities related to Lianyungang City from a global perspective, Tell their stories about Lianyungang and the port city, and present the fruitful results of Lianyungang's opening up from a point to an area and from multiple perspectives.

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Hot selling blankets "wrap" the wisdom of the port city

Jeddah, the red sea pearl in the morning, is as beautiful as Mona's impressionistic painting. The rising sun shines on the white wall of the hundred year old house in the old city of Balad, printing golden spots.

The door of Jeddah carpet market has been opened, and Chinese businessman Li Zhe is seriously turning over the latest cloud carpet from the Flying Goose Blanket Company of China Lianyungang Eagle Tour Group to prepare for the arrival of the first batch of guests.

Blanket is a necessity in Arab life. It can be used not only as bedding, but also as bedding and decoration. More importantly, Arabs are used to giving blankets when they get married, have children, die or give gifts on festivals. Chinese made blankets account for 60% of the Saudi carpet market.

In 2009, Li Zhe left his hometown to seek development opportunities in Saudi Arabia. The blankets in great demand became his first product in Saudi Arabia. Unlike most people's choice, Li Zhe hopes to create a high-end image of Chinese blankets in Saudi Arabia, but he has never found a suitable supplier, so he decided to take a chance at the Canton Fair.

In the second half of 2009, the Canton Fair was very lively. Eagle Tour Group set up a brand exhibition area in the blanket area to introduce their products to international customers. "President Zhang, a Saudi dealer asked us whether we could produce high-end blanket Raschel blankets." Zhang Jianguo, the executive chairman of Eagle Tour Group, who was recommending new blankets to customers, suddenly received a call from a salesperson.

It turns out that in the Saudi market, most of the Raschel blankets are supplied by countries such as Japan and South Korea, and it is almost difficult for Chinese carpet manufacturers to find products.

Zhang Jianguo answered positively on the phone: "No problem." This Saudi dealer is Li Zhe, who is actively looking for high-end carpet manufacturers in the domestic market.

The reason behind this "no problem" is that Feiyan Blanket has more than ten core blanket preparation technologies, and every year more than 20000 tons of warp knitting, weft knitting and thin pile blankets in the international market are produced by Feiyan. The quality of Raschel blankets independently developed by the enterprise has far exceeded that of foreign counterparts.

Hearing this reply, Li Zhe was still worried. He wanted to go to Lianyungang Feiyan Blanket Production Line to have a look. Zhang Jianguo saw his concern and arranged for Li Zhe to visit the site.

Entering the production line of Flying Goose Blanket, Li Zhe marveled at the production strength of this enterprise. After a series of production processes, such as weaving, front trimming, printing, and back trimming, each piece of silk turns into a beautiful blanket. "This blanket is 120cm long and 80cm wide, but only 0.8kg." Xu Yingxi, general manager of Feiyan Blanket Company, introduced the quality of Feiyan Blanket to Li Zhe in detail.

Li Zhe, who had seen the production line and understood the R&D capability, ordered two containers of flying geese blankets on the spot to "break into" the Saudi market. Because of its good quality, the Flying Goose Blanket helped Li Zhe gain a firm foothold, making him gradually become a well-known local carpet dealer.

Soon such a two-way rush ushered in a new round of opportunities.

Worship is a very important religious ceremony for Arabs. Jeddah, which is located in the traffic artery of the Red Sea, is the only way for Islamists to go to Mecca, the Holy Land. There is a great demand for prayer blankets in cities.

In the 12th month of the 2017 Islamic calendar, Jeddah welcomed pilgrims. People wear traditional Islamic costumes and carry a pilgrimage blanket on their backs on their way to Mecca for pilgrimage. "If only the pilgrimage blanket could be lightened," said Li Zhe one day when he was helping to greet guests in the shop when he heard a pilgrim say.

This suddenly awakened Li Zhe. He hurriedly contacted the Feiyan blanket salesman and said, "Can you produce pilgrimage blankets?"

At that time, Turkish woven jacquard pilgrimage blanket was popular in the market. This kind of pilgrimage blanket is exquisite in workmanship and silky in texture, but restricted by the weaving process, the color expression method used is relatively simple and expensive, which cannot be accepted by most consumer groups.

Late at night, there were a lot of people in the research and development room of Flying Goose Blanket, and everyone was still considering how to meet customer needs. Zhang Jianguo, executive chairman of Yingyou Group, said: "The stamping process of flying geese blankets can make beautiful flower shaped and colorful blankets. Can you try to use this technology to make pilgrimage blankets?"?

After two weeks of research and development, the research and development team tested the first batch of pilgrimage blanket samples. Although not very satisfied, it has at least confirmed that the stamping effect of blankets can be achieved through technological innovation. After repeated argumentation and modification, the bronzing product of Feiyan Blanket has achieved the expected effect of glittering, no peeling and no peeling.

One month later, the gilded pilgrimage blanket produced by Yingyou arrived in Jeddah, and soon won the market.

In that year, when you walked into the shops in Li Zhe Jida Blanket Market, you could see the Chinese pilgrimage blankets with good quality and low price. With this unique innovative product, Feiyan Blanket has sold 1.5 million pieces throughout the year, equivalent to a total price of about 5 million dollars.

In September 2023, the daytime temperature in Jeddah will still reach more than 40 degrees Celsius, and people will sweat when walking on the road. Xu Yingxi rode westward in the car Li Zhe had prepared for him and arrived at the blanket market in western Jeddah.

Different from the professional market in China, there are not only blankets, carpets and other products, but also incense burners, aromatherapy, agarwood, and even ancient books full of historical vicissitudes in Jeddah carpet market.

Through the crowded crowd, Xu Yingxi went into Li Zhe's shop to learn more about the current sales of cloud carpets and composite carpets. Later, Li Zhe took Xu Yingxi seriously to inspect the whole carpet market, and took him to his shop in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, to learn about the situation, hoping to enrich Xu Yingxi's market research materials.

Jeddah is brightly lit late at night. People go out of their homes to go shopping and entertainment facilities. Xu Yingxi, however, was looking through his research notes and was deeply stressed.

Because of the impact of other markets, the traditional advantage of Feiyan Blanket, the pilgrimage blanket, has disappeared and needs to be replaced by new products. What is the future direction? Xu Yingxi sent his research results to Zhang Guoliang, Chairman of Yingyou Group, on his mobile phone through WeChat.

Zhang Guoliang replied: "It is no longer a crowded track to cross the single wooden bridge, but a new track that can be smooth all the way."

This sentence awakened Xu Yingxi, who decided to focus on the research of high-end blanket cloud blanket and composite blanket in the Middle East market. It turns out that with the increasing demand of the Saudi people for the comfort of blankets, their new demand is to choose blankets with exquisite patterns and light weight. Cloud blankets and composite blankets are just high-end products that meet the needs of consumers.

After that survey, the cloud blanket and composite blanket of Flying Goose Blanket were gradually introduced to the Middle East market, becoming the new "exclusive product" of Flying Goose Blanket. Compared with traditional blankets, cloud blankets are lighter, with the lightest weight reaching 220-250 grams per square meter. The cloud blanket is very comfortable for consumers. The composite blanket can replace the single-layer blanket, and can guarantee two different designs and colors to meet the different needs of users.

Nowadays, more and more Lianyungang blankets have entered ordinary Middle Eastern families with the help of the "Maritime Silk Road", allowing the warm friendship from China to be passed on in the Arab world.

(Source: Lianyungang Daily)