When it comes to the Golden Lion bicycle, the old Changzhou people are full of nostalgia in their hearts. When they got married, they had a Golden Lion bicycle, which made them look good.

In those years, we had a Golden Lion bicycle together.

In the 1980s, the heyday of Golden Lion Bicycle, when the cars from all over the country came to Golden Lion Bicycle Factory to get goods, they could be lined up from the factory warehouse to the factory gate. The old staff of Golden Lion recalled that there were cars, tractors and even tricycles in front of the factory, and the tickets for purchasing Golden Lion bicycles were speculated by the scalpers to be as high as 100 RMB each. For many "80s" and "90s", their parents rode the Golden Lion bicycle when they fell in love.

A. Zero breakthrough: the first Golden Lion car, then build the Golden Lion factory

The early 1970s was still the era of planned economy. "At that time, there was no bicycle factory in Changzhou, and the city hoped to achieve a zero breakthrough." The earliest participation in the Golden Lion Bicycle Factory construction of the Changzhou City Bicycle Factory former party secretary Dong Huanxing told reporters.

In April 1973, Zheng Lianxiang, who was also involved in the construction of the factory, as an important technician of Changzhou Printing Iron Canning Factory, participated in a special meeting of the Bicycle Battle Office of Changzhou Light Industry Bureau (hereinafter referred to as the "Battle Office") at that time, and was asked to develop bicycles with the Printing Iron Canning Factory as the main body and to complete the trial production of 20 28-inch bicycles by the end of June of that year. The task of trial production of 28-inch bicycles was completed by the end of June that year.

Zheng Lianxiang, already 76 years old, recalled that at the beginning of the factory's steam drying equipment, low temperature, not up to the requirements of the bicycle paint drying, the factory's paint master Zhang Yaoming asked Zheng Lianxiang to set up another cooker, Zheng Lianxiang designed a thick iron plate made of fuel heated paint drying furnace, and ultimately solved the problem of the paint process.

Zheng Lianxiang said, at that time, such as "Jade Rabbit", "Golden Dragon", "Lion" and so on have been proposed, a few days can not be determined by the official name. Shen Mingyuan, then deputy director of the Light Industry Bureau, called "Golden Lion", we are very recognised. Changzhou City People's Printing House Arts and Crafts Design Section designed the first generation of the Golden Lion trademark image - a face to the front, the mighty little lion.

After the trial production of Golden Lion bicycles, in 1974, a piece of farmland was requisitioned in the western suburbs of Changzhou, along the Garden Road of Huaqimiao, and the construction of a bicycle factory was started.

B. Prosperous Era: 26-inch Golden Lion Bicycles Selling in the Market

In the era of planned economy, everything had to be purchased with a ticket, and Golden Lion bicycles were even harder to find." Zheng Lianxiang and Dong Huanxing recalled that there were too many people who came to the factory to ask for connections to buy cars. In order to be able to buy a bike for his wedding, a young man from abroad even wrote a long letter to the factory, and after finally getting the car through the approval, the young man wrote another thank-you letter and sent a joyful cigarette and a big packet of joyful candies to express his gratitude.

"During the start-up period, we were 'preferring less, but better'." Dong Huanxing said that in order to differentiate ourselves from the competition, in September 1974, 25 Golden Lion 26-inch bicycles were successfully manufactured. The batch of "Golden Lion" bikes came in cream, sky blue, ochre and other coloured bikes, which were not only more suitable for southerners, but also filled the gap in the province.

"Our bicycles look like the internationally famous British 'Lanling' bicycles, and the quality is not bad, the market immediately caused a sensation." Zheng Lianxiang recalled that there was a craze for 26-inch "Golden Lion" bicycles in the market, and by 1979, the annual output of Golden Lion brand bicycles had reached 100,000 units.

In 1985, the production of "Golden Lion" exceeded 1 million units, profit tax 32.19 million yuan, the city's top. 1986, the China Bicycle Association held a "technological reform and the introduction of" experience exchange meeting in Changzhou, to promote the practice of the Golden Lion. Later, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China also opened "Golden Lion Branch Office" in the headquarters of the group, and escorted the cash of Golden Lion's sales to the treasury by special car. By 1988, the profit and tax had been the first one in the city's industrial and mining enterprises for four consecutive years.

C. International fame: the leader in exporting foreign exchange earnings

In 1984, the Golden Lion set up the bicycle import and export department, in 1985, began to try to undertake foreign orders, and gradually towards direct participation in the negotiations. "From 1987 to 1989, the annual export earnings of about 3 million U.S. dollars, doubled to 6 million U.S. dollars in 1990, and broke through to 10 million U.S. dollars in 1991, becoming the city's leading export earner on the industrial front." Zhou Zhongxian, chairman and general manager of the former Golden Lion Bicycle Group, said that the Golden Lion bicycles were also awarded the Gold Medal at the Bicycle International Expo.

"In 1986, the formation of the Golden Lion Bicycle Industry and Trade Group Company, the subordinate bicycle three factories took the lead in the joint venture with Taiwanese businessmen, the establishment of a Sino-foreign joint venture Jinbao Bicycle Co. Zhou Zhongxian recalled that, later on, Japan's Bridgestone and the Golden Lion also built a joint venture, the project of Taiwan's Kwang Yang Motorcycle Co. Ltd. was also finally settled in Changzhou, the Golden Lion was then a move to become the city's industrial front The Golden Lion then became the city's industrial front in one fell swoop, the front-runner in the export of foreign exchange.

At that time, the Golden Lion bicycle also attracted the attention of the media and counterparts at home and abroad. The experts of the United Nations Bicycle Committee in Geneva came to inspect the Golden Lion, the U.S. Newsweek interviewed the Golden Lion, and the president and general manager of the world-famous British Lanling Bicycle Company also came to inspect the company.

D. The boom and the bust: three consecutive years of losses, the Golden Lion towards disintegration

In 1993, the sales of Golden Lion exceeded 2.3 million units, and the annual profit and tax was more than RMB 80 million. However, in 1996, the company's output value, sales are down. Data show that in 1996, the Golden Lion loss of 39.86 million yuan, the production of 706,000 vehicles in 1997, the loss increased to 42.66 million yuan, the production of 198,700 vehicles in 1998, the loss increased to 57.65 million yuan. Three years of accumulated losses of more than 140 million yuan, the city attaches great importance to the three times in the working group to explore the reform and reorganisation of the road.

In October 1999, the Golden Lion disintegration and streaming, and through the withdrawal of several Sino-foreign joint venture capital stock, raise funds to solve the problem of resettlement costs of employees.

Zheng Lianxiang said, once so brilliant an enterprise finally went to disintegration, can not help but be saddened.

E, future expectations: protect the brand, explore the new energy road

"Once the Golden Lion, and permanent, Phoenix, Flying Pigeon, Wuyang is known as the national bicycle industry within the five brands. This is the pride of our Changzhou people, if the Golden Lion brand disappeared, but also the loss of Changzhou." Zheng Lianxiang told reporters that the trademark was registered in 1976 when the Golden Lion was built. In the heyday of the Golden Lion bicycle, the Golden Lion trademark ownership has changed, but are not much impact. 1999, the Golden Lion Group disintegrated, the trademark right to state-owned Changzhou Jinrun Industrial Co.

In the first half of this year, gold run industry transferred to changzhou industrial investment group without compensation. In order to keep the old brand of Golden Lion, Jinrun Industry and Jiangsu High-tech Golden Lion Vehicle Industry Co., Ltd. signed a contract, specifically commissioned the company to maintain and develop the Golden Lion brand. "We signed this specialised management agreement in order to allow the Golden Lion brand to still seek new development and gain opportunities for transformation and development." Ling Weigang, head of Jinrun Industry, told reporters that they no longer have the ability to further develop the Golden Lion brand, but the significance of preserving the Golden Lion is significant, and only after careful consideration, the Golden Lion trademark rights entrusted to the management of the Jiangsu High-tech Golden Lion Vehicle Industry Co.

"In fact, I am also a Golden Lion." Jiangsu High-tech Golden Lion Automobile Co., Ltd. is a private enterprise, but his general manager Chen Guorong, it is in 1988 to work in the factory of young people. 1997, the Golden Lion losses are serious, Chen Guorong resigned to go to sea, began to run the factory, and now he is in order to "fulfil the dream", in order to the Golden Lion complex.

"Golden Lion's transformation is imperative, we may not be stuck in the future in the field of bicycles to explore, and even in the green, environmentally friendly new energy transport to explore, including the development of new energy vehicles." Chen Guorong said that the Golden Lion Industrial Park is currently being built, hoping that the Golden Lion will be able to gain new glory in the new century.