The feelings of the founder of Sand River, Xiuling Guo about Shanghai:
Guo used to say that after Nei Mongol "Shanghai is like my second hometown". While Nei Mongol was where she first started to dream, Shanghai is where her dreams came true and shone.
"In summer 2002, after two years in Germany, I came back to China. I had all these cities to choose from but without hesitation I said: Shanghai.
It was not because of Shanghai's fame, but because it seemed somehow so trendy and attractive to me when I visited. There was a voice in my head telling me: come here, this is where everything you dreamed of can become true.
I always remember that moment, in 1997, when I stood by the Huangpu River, in the breeze, in humid weather, I had a gloomy yet powerful feeling out of nowhere pounding in my heart. I have never felt such a strong emotion towards a city: home-like yet full of possibilities. Oh, if I only could live here, I said with deep emotion.
It was destiny that the sentence I uttered unintentionally at that moment came true later.
Shanghai embraces all dreams no matter how great or small they are. I arrived in Shanghai, just like that, with no friends or relatives here, but with my head full of knowledge - a mix of both Nei Mongol and German industry. That was a complicated feeling -- a bit strange feeling, but with more excitement. Maybe because after a long time in Germany, it was good to see familiar Asian faces or maybe it was a choice I made to be closer to my family. In a word, I found a place to incubate my dream, as well as a harbour for a peaceful life.
Just like that, Shanghai became my second hometown. When I look back over the last thirteen years, I am grateful for who I have become and that I managed to turn my dreams into reality. It was a brilliant decade for China, with the economy booming and all new technology and ideas being fully expressed and developed, with all that knowledge being accumulated and becoming so powerful. Everything I learned in Germany was handy and I got to use it all. It was a pleasure to use my knowledge to the full. I have been extremely lucky and grateful to be able to play a part in the last ten years. The most attractive thing about Shanghai is its openness.
As time has passed, deep in my heart, the melody from my prairie hometown has started to ring out.
Yes, I am still that girl from the beautiful broad prairie. Beneath my modern appearance, I was still inhibited. After all these years, yes, I miss my dear hometown.
On cold winter nights I would dig out thick cashmere sweaters from my wardrobe, which I had brought to Shanghai with me. They have a familiar smell and bring back memories; only cashmere smells that way. All of a sudden, I realized that I hadn’t let a single piece of cashmere go throughout all these years. No matter how other things age, cashmere is different: everything is as fluffy as the day they were bought, just like old friends, a piece of home still with me.
On a sunny winter day, just sitting there on a fluffy cashmere carpet, and recalling the past, I am still that pure young girl running freely on a prairie.
That is how Sand River was born. I understand cashmere in the way Ama (Mongol for mother) understands the prairie.
I realized: why not combine my life experiences in Nei Mongol, Germany and Shanghai with Sand River and let the dream take off. Then I knew, my “baby” was born.
It is a dream with a soul and my prairie, and Shanghai will give it the wisdom, understanding and the stage to dance upon.
As for me, I will keep the prairie spirit in me and continue being that free, unconstrained and “stubborn” girl from Nei Mongol.
I know I will not feel cold again on a winter night in Shanghai."
