Workers build reticular barriers along sand dunes in the Tengger Desert in Inner Mongolia. China Daily Lou Zhiping is working on a project to combat desertification in northwestern China, thousands of miles from his hometown in Shengzhou, Zhejiang province. The 72-year-old has invented a long reticular barrier fixed vertically along the top of a dune. The barrier is a screen made of two layers of mesh fastened by iron threads and supported by a wooden bracket. When the wind blows, sand sifts through the mesh and settles between the two layers, transforming the screen into sandbags that prevent the whole barrier from falling down and being removed by wind or sand. The development of the barrier has involved 12 years of research into desertification control in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, Qinghai province and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, areas severely affected by land degradation. I hope to provide a new way of combating desertification worldwide, reducing the cost of desertification control and gradually solving this serious environmental issue, Lou said. Once a farmer in his hometown, Lou is a proven inventor. Before he shifted his interest to desertification control, he spent 15 years focusing on gardening and landscaping. One of his previous inventions involved growing plants on vertical walls. In 2003, his involvement in landscaping and interest in ecological restoration inspired him to visit a desert in Inner Mongolia. I was shocked by the desert, a barren area where little precipitation occurred, in Dengkou county, he said. All of the pear trees, which were more than 10 meters tall, were buried under the sand. Few treetops could be seen in the dunes. Recalling the experience as thrilling and devastating, Lou has since devoted his time to developing simple and quick techniques to stop the moving dunes. He became a frequent traveler to the deserts in northwestern China in the years after his initial visit. Few, including his family, knew of his intentions. During his desert trips, he was asked the purpose of his visits. His answer was met with doubt and ridicule. aa wristbands202mm to inchesbracelet maker onlinecustom fidget spinnersuv braceletcheap silicone wristbandsadjustable wristbands
Kenneth Madsen, president of Pandora Jewelry Asia-Pacific, calls himself an "entrepreneur at heart" with a passion for the commercial aspects of running a company."You could never put me in a business that has been running for 30 years, growing 2 percent each year and optimizing on cost. That's not me. I love to grow a business and explore new cultures, new countries as well as new markets," he tells China Daily.Though born and raised in Denmark, Madsen has been living out of the country for years, having spent a long time in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.He joined Pandora in 2009 as managing director for Central and Eastern Europe in Warsaw, Poland, where he built up the brand as a new startup from zero within four years. With two or three people in his team, Madsen made business plans in Starbucks at the very beginning. The company quickly expanded with the joint efforts, taking root in Poland and having found distributors in Russia. Next, it went to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and opened stores there.Madsen moved to Hong Kong five years ago to take over the nascent business here."We had to set up a new team and close down some stores that were not working. But, this kind of resetting and then building up the business is definitely where I get my energy from."Before Madsen's venture into the jewelry business, he had been associated mainly with sales and marketing. The industries involved ranged from Danish beer brewer Carlsberg and music publishing company EMI to footwear retailer Ecco."I had been with Ecco shoes for six years when I decided to change. Part of it was because I was familiar with Pandora from back home in Denmark," he says. "The work I did for Ecco shoes before has helped me put more life into a jewelry store. We try to modernize a little bit in how to operate as a jewelry business."According to Madsen, the jewelry business is quite old-fashioned. Back in the old days, normally there were two collections per year, spring-summer and autumn-winter. People would visit a traditional jewelry store once or twice a year, depending on their consumption levels.His early career equipped him with the ability to combine the fast fashion trend with traditional business, making it possible there's always something new at Pandora's stores."We have seven launches every year. It's relatively affordable to buy one charm and build a little bit on the bracelet," Madsen says."What we're trying to do at Pandora is actually adding innovation to the traditional business and that's a big part of our success."
