How are you? Are you enjoying your new week?

Can you imagine where I took these photos in this letter? -- In the theater that our company had our annual speech contest Saturday afternoon, July 10, 2010.

For satisfying the wishes that many departments and their employees wanted to show their talent in the final, instead of playing a movie as usual, this contest was lasted for 4 hours from 1:30pm to 5:30pm. The best teams and all of the contestants were rewarded by different certificates, cups and money.

As a part of our corporate culture, we have kept doing it for 8 years since the second year that our company was merged, with the titles of “Challenge 2009”, “Touching 2008”, “Enthusiasm 2007”, “Red 2006” “Struggle 2005”and so on. What we want to do is to encourage ourselves to work for our career and dream -- to create a first-class multimedia Securities Information Company, which is similar as Bloomberg in the US.

We knew clear that our distance is huge from the first -class companies in the world, we have to work down to earth with our dream in our hearts. Therefore, we created a huge picture to outline our dream and put it on whole of a wall in the second floor of our office building. Look at it every day, check our work every week, month, quarter, middle and end of a year, to make sure what we have done well, what we have to adjust...

Along with our multimedia platform, a series of productions and markets were found, we started to create profit in the third year of the new company and it has been increasing for 6 years already. We have become the corporate champion in our industry in China. Until this June, we have completed 71% of our income target in 2010.

For returning the good work of our employees, we have raised every one's salary and we have started to distribute quarter bonus since 2010...

This July, the title of our speech contest is “Pride 2010”. We would really like to encourage ourselves, especially the young and new colleagues to remember how we have gone over the hard road and have created a brand new career, with an appreciated heart, love the company, cherish our opportunity, learn something new every day, continue to innovate and create more value for both of the company and ourselves.

I was so happy and so comfort when I saw and listened to the young colleagues (over 30% of our colleagues were born after 1980) were talking how they are proud of themselves to be one of the company, how they are learning, working hard for the company and for themselves -- each day for 15 to 18 hours by their free willing... My eyes were wet when I heard a girl editor said she has gone back to her office at 1:30am when she could not make sure whether the data was right after she came back home, when I heard that a girl engineer had been working until the last day she had her new baby, and how a young photographer who just fixed his mandible on the airplane, then to go to the work place directly as soon as he reached the airport... how similar experience they did as I had done in the past years... a strong feeling jumped into my heart ? It is full of the hope in our company and in China...

I was thinking in the theater when I was listening, I am thinking when I am writing to you at this time -- since our business model has been proved suitable our company, since our Core Competitiveness is from our “Multimedia” and “Combined” theory, products, service, organization and team, along with the company is getting bigger and bigger, the departments are getting more and more, the new employees are younger and younger, something in the current company's system has started to limit the company's faster development. We have to think of them and to adjust them in time, to ensure the company to be developed persistently.

-- Maybe, it is the time for us to think of upgrading it to be a unique group company, to offer our business systems, teams and employees more and bigger room to develop themselves?

-- Maybe it is the time to found a network university/college, at least a training center with our so big multimedia platform to help ourselves while to create new value for the company?

-- Maybe it is also the time to found a system to make the employees, managers to be alternated on the different positions, to train our own inter-disciplinary talents; to make those younger, more alive and more creative employees to go on the limited management positions. To make those a little bit "Elder" managers and the other employees to go on another, but more "Technical" or more "Business" roads? Via more and different lines, to help different people to develop themselves on different roads, instead of crowding on only one road to be a manager?

There are really too many things that need us to think, to study, to imagine and to create in the so huge development room in the company. I am really happy to find that so many ideas have jumped into my mind, so that I have a strong feeling that I should write a new work paper for the company as soon as possible... :-)

In my art learning field, I have created two new painting of landscapes and for a little funny and easy Chinese classical poem, also I re-played the music that I had created in 2005 and re-translated and explained it on the weekend.

As usual, as soon as I went to the office building of Shenzhen Stock Exchange, I went to the biggest book store next to it. I bought a lot of books Wednesday evening and I have bought about 100 Chinese painting books since I came back from the US. I was quite glad for I have bought a very big book that was only printed 4000 copies and there are more than 600 cherished ancient paintings that were published first time in it.

With this letter, I would also like to thank you and all of the friends who are caring for my health. I am feeling better day and day. The best thing is that I have realized why I am sick -- My too tight life and work style hurt my eyes, while lead the headache, the painkillers lead the stomache, the stomache affects my eating, sleeping and reduces my immunity, then to lead some sick on my bones so that ache on my joins...

So, the rooted solution to improve my health is to manage and adjust my life and work style. So, I am going to keep doing exercises while to adjust myself with a positive life attitude, then, I am sure I will recover along with the time...

How about you? Do you have anything special in your week?
I am just a learner on art of painting, music and English, to work on the web site in my free time. I would really like to do a few things with what I have learned to make this little web site to be an Electronic Bridge of Culture Exchange, Chinese Language Learning & Friendship making. To help the others while to improve myself.

I would like to appreciate your understanding, directions, supports and hope to get your friendly direction and help.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, you are welcome to write to shirley@ebridge.cn or shirley004@yahoo.com, or to publish your opinions in the forum.

Shirley Yiping Zhang
Sun., July 11, 2010