A Tale of Two Cities Supporting Xinjiang

Although some disagreements remain, most people agree to try the alliance's proposal.

A week later, Han Jidong personally led a team to the most remote Altay pastoral area.

The head of the cooperative, Batel, is a Kazakh man in his fifties with dark skin and a straightforward manner of speaking.

"Mr. Han, you city folks don't understand our difficulties."

Batel pointed to the pasture in the distance, "It's thirty kilometers from here to the nearest road, and it's a dirt road that turns into a mud pit when it rains."

We have to use a tractor to pull the goods to the side of the road, then find a vehicle to transport them to the county town, and then from the county town to Urumqi.

After all that handling, the lamb isn't fresh anymore.

Han Jidong listened attentively: "Brother Batel, what if we opened a direct line from the pastoral area to the airport?"

Scheduled departures and cold chain transportation—what do you think?

"That would be great! But what about the cost? We can't afford a private car."

"Fee sharing among the alliance."

Han Jidong explained the alliance's operating model in detail: "The pastoral area contributes 30%, the transportation company contributes 30%, and we contribute 40%."

Furthermore, the first three months are a trial period, during which we cover 60% of the costs.

After discussing the matter with several herder representatives for a long time, Batel finally said, "We need to see tangible results. Talk is useless."

Han Jidong immediately approved, "Okay, we'll pilot it here first."

The car arrived within a week.

Upon returning to Urumqi, Han Jidong immediately contacted several transportation companies.

But when they heard that they had to go to such a remote pastoral area and run a regular shuttle bus, several companies backed out.

"Mr. Han, it's not that we're not cooperating."

The owner of one company bluntly stated, "In those road conditions, the vehicles would suffer excessive wear and tear."

Moreover, you can't haul much cargo in one trip, so it's not worthwhile.

After hitting a series of setbacks, Han Jidong thought of Lao Wang again.

"What can be done if transport companies are unwilling to operate dedicated routes?"

"Your mindset isn't fully open yet."

Old Wang laughed on the phone, "Who said you have to use a big truck?"

Who says you have to take the conventional route?

"The frontier has its own methods."

"What ideas do you have?"

"Solar-powered mobile freight station".

Han Jidong was taken aback: "What?"

"I've seen it in the pastoral areas."

Old Wang explained, "It's just a mobile station converted from a shipping container, powered by solar energy, and has basic refrigeration capabilities."

It is placed at a key node between the pastoral area and the highway. Herdsmen use small cars to transport goods to the station, and then large trucks transfer them from the station.

This solves both the last-mile problem and improves the loading efficiency of large vehicles.

Han Jidong suddenly realized: "This is a great idea! It requires less investment than ride-hailing services and is much more flexible!"

"And the herders can see tangible things."

Old Wang added, "They'll only believe you genuinely want to solve the problem if the site is right in front of them."

Just do it.

Han Jidong, in collaboration with the technical department, designed solar-powered mobile freight stations suitable for pastoral areas. Each station is equipped with solar panels, a small cold storage, weighing and packing equipment, and wireless network access, allowing for real-time tracking of cargo status.

On the day the station in the Altay pastoral area was put into use, Batel and dozens of herders came.

Looking at the gleaming container terminal, Batel touched the solar panels and said with emotion, "Mr. Han, you really are helping us solve our problems."

"Brother Batel, why don't you give it a try?"

Han Jidong demonstrated the operating procedure: "Bring the goods here, weigh them, pack them, put them in the cold storage, and then scan the code to register them."

The next transfer truck will come and take it away directly. You can check the location of your goods on your phone at any time.

The first herder to try it out pushed two boxes of mutton into the cold storage, scanned the code, and his mobile phone immediately displayed "Goods received, expected to arrive at Urumqi Airport tomorrow afternoon".

"Is it that convenient?"

The herdsman said with delight, "Before, we had to make many phone calls, and we still might not be able to get the information we wanted."

On that day, more than a dozen herders shipped their goods.

A week later, shipments from the Altay pastoral area quadrupled.

Once the news spread, other pastoral areas couldn't sit still any longer.

Several pastoral areas that were originally opposed to cooperation took the initiative to contact Han Jidong, requesting to join the alliance and build mobile sites.

Looking at the latest report, Lao Wang finally smiled: "President Han, the freight volume increased by 80% this month. Although we incurred expenses for site construction, the overall revenue still increased."

You've made the right choice with this alliance.

Han Jidong, however, dared not relax: "President Wang, this is just the beginning."

Once the website is built, it still needs maintenance; once the alliance is established, it still needs management.

There's still a lot to come.

"But at least we're on the right track."

Do you know what I admire most about you?

It's not about how many ideas you can come up with, but about how well you can put those ideas into practice.

That mobile site may seem insignificant, but it solved a big problem.

Han Jidong recalled Old Wang's words: "The frontier has its own methods."

Six months after the route opened, cargo volume stabilized, but Han Jidong couldn't help but worry as he stared at the financial statements.

"Old Wang, our route is getting a lot of praise but not enough business right now."

He pushed the report to Lao Wang to see, "The freight volume has increased, but the profit margin is still low."

If things continue like this, the board of directors will still have objections.

Old Wang took off his glasses and said slowly, "I told you long ago, you can't make big money just by transporting goods."

You need to make this route generate added value.

"Added value?" Han Jidong pondered.

Just then, Zhou Mingyu called, his voice excited: "Han Jidong, I have an idea! We can't just be porters, we have to be promoters!"

"How so?"

"Think about it, aren't all the local specialties we transported out—Altay mutton, Turpan grapes, Hotan dates—good stuff?"

But when they go to other places, they become ordinary agricultural products and don't fetch a good price.

We need to label them!

"Promote the unique products made with Tianshan snowmelt and organic agricultural products from the Gobi Desert!"

"You mean, building a brand?"

"Yes! And this brand needs to be deeply integrated with our flight routes."

Zhou Mingyu had clearly been planning this for a long time: "to open a direct sales zone at the airport so that passengers can see and buy the products as soon as they get off the plane."

Let them know that these products were freshly delivered on our plane!