About

I'm Gu Yi (顾义), writing from China.

In 2026 I set myself a ten-year assignment: to write 1,001 stories of the world's quietly remarkable businesses. Some are Chinese companies that went global and took a category's top spot. Others are small giants from anywhere on Earth, heads down in an unnoticed corner for decades.

There is only one selection rule, and it is the motto of this site: ordinary people doing one small, ordinary thing well, decade after decade — that is extraordinary.

The format is fixed too. People and events first, then the hard numbers, each with its source noted. After the bright side, the flip side — the honest negatives are never hidden. And every story closes with a line from the Chinese classics. Consider it the signature.

The Chinese originals are published first on my WeChat Official Account, 跨境杂牌铺. This site is the global edition and the archive: reachable everywhere, searchable on Google, subscribable by RSS. English editions are translated from the Chinese originals, and more are on the way.

To reach me: WeChat (guyi0007), or WhatsApp — the link is at the bottom of every page.

Do one small, ordinary thing well, decade after decade — that is extraordinary.