Master of Culture

Many of those who have taken CCC's courses or trips keep coming back because of the wide range of activities the club offers. They also say that Feng's affable personality and his knowledge of and insight into traditional and contemporary Chinese customs and culture have been the keys to CCC's success.

A young woman sits before a table and mirror in a large and quiet classroom and applies face powder, rouge and eyebrow pencil before a semicircle of spectators. A palace floor lantern, antique furniture, wash painting scrolls and calligraphy adorn the room. While the woman, a Peking opera actress, puts on gold embroidered robes and shining jewelry, a man in typical Chinese-style coat, stands beside the table and explains to the audience the significance of Peking opera makeup and costumes.

Many of the foreigners already know the man who is in his late 30s. Sometimes his amusing answers to their questions trigger occasional laughs. He is Feng Cheng, the founder and owner of the Chinese Culture Club (CCC), an entrepreneurial endeavor that he started single-handedly eight years ago to spread his knowledge and love of Chinese culture with foreign residents and visitors in Beijing.

Today, CCC offers a range of hands-on classes, workshops such as the Peking opera class, Chinese language courses, lectures and discussions, walking tours, activities in the Beijing area and trips to almost every province of China. Many foreigners who regularly participate in CCC's activities consider Feng's business one of the best of its kind. CCC has helped make Chinese culture accessible for people from other countries, as China has blossomed economically and more foreigners have relocated here for jobs.

Feng first got an inkling for creating a club where he could meet foreigners and hold activities for them to learn about Chinese culture when he was a journalist at China Daily, the country's English-language daily newspaper. After working there for two years, Feng said he found the newspaper's culture reports to be too dry and unattractive.

"I liked traditional culture myself, but some of those articles were hard for me to understand, let alone foreigners," Feng said. That's what got him thinking about a club for the newspaper's readers-mostly foreigners. He came up with a simple plan to organize the club and its activities in addition to performing his regular reporting and writing responsibilities. In the beginning, his mission did not appear to be complicated.

"At first, I simply wanted to introduced Chinese culture to foreigners in a vivid and interesting way," Feng said.

But the extra work quickly took a toll on him and he started to burn out. His coworkers questioned the amount of time he spent on the club's activities.

"I was exhausted, and a few of my colleagues didn't understand [my activities], because they thought I was not concentrating on my job duties," Feng said.

At first, I simply wanted to introduced Chinese culture to foreigners in a vivid and interesting way.

- Feng Cheng

Feng, who has a master's degree in English, formally set up the Chinese Culture Club in 2000 and started to organize some activities in his spare time. He set up a website for his services, even though at that time there were few agencies that offered similar activities for foreigners. All CCC courses were free of charge, because Feng wanted the club to become a kind of salon where his foreign friends could learn about Chinese culture. But he ended up spending almost all of his salary on the club.

In 2004, Feng, who comes from northern China, decided to leave his job at the newspaper and invest all his time and energy in CCC.

"My parents thought I was crazy," he said. "I was in my 30s, but I was still single because I was too busy to think about my love life. Then, I gave up such a good job with a stable income. Now they can understand my decision."

After a while, Feng maxed out his savings and had to start charging for the courses. But his expenses always exceeded his costs. As more foreigners joined the club, they asked him to organized trips to other parts of China. At that point, Feng had to start hiring other people to help him arrange the tours. He used the profits from the tour business to support the training courses. As the tour side of the business has developed, Feng has added more trips that go off the beaten path.

"Usually I don't choose popular tourist spots, but some special places related to Chinese culture that have not been exploited for commercial goals," Feng said.

Modest Beginnings

Humble is the first word that comes to mind when describing CCC's offices and classrooms located in an old courtyard surrounded by storehouses in a small hutong in east Beijing's Chaoyang District. Feng's office contains many Chinese antiques and traditional items such as a woodcut casement and wooden chests, tables and chairs.

When Feng set up CCC as a non-profit organization, he had only one employee, but later hired an accountant. Now he has more than 20 full-time employees, including several foreigners, and 10-20 part-time employees. Every summer, he receives applications from overseas college students who want to work as interns.

CCC offers 40-50 regular courses and classes and has provided services to a total of at least 40,000-50,000 foreigners, Feng said. Although he declined to specify CCC's annual revenue, he said that its total annual expenses are more than 1 million yuan (about $143,200).

When discussing CCC's future, Feng said he does not have an ambitious plan, except to find "a nicer place for the CCC." He and his employees are very confident about CCC's future. Feng still has a lot of ideas about how to expand the club's offerings and recently started offering Mandarin classes. "This is something I want to do and I hope to do it perfectly," he said.

CCC's team of workers is one of the reasons why the club has developed so quickly, Feng said. All his employees must have an excellent command of English, a passion for Chinese culture and be attentive to details in their work.

Crystal Ma, CCC's account manager and longest-serving employee, is very satisfied with her job and has nothing but praise for her employer.

"It is pleasant to work here [and] Feng is more like friend, even an elder brother, rather than a boss to us," she said. "He is very humorous, so we enjoy our meeting time, because we can solve problems during our discussions in a relaxing atmosphere.

Feng's best quality is that he listens to people well and is willing to adopt good suggestions, which is "a very precious quality for a boss," Ma said.

"Feng works very hard and is industrious," she said. "He devotes almost all his time and energy to CCC."

Day-trippers

Many of those who have taken CCC's courses or trips keep coming back because of the wide range of activities the club offers. They also say that Feng's affable personality and his knowledge of and insight into traditional and contemporary Chinese customs and culture have been the keys to CCC's success.

Feng's affable personality and his knowledge of and insight into traditional and contemporary Chinese customs and culture have been the keys to CCC's success.

"Feng is a wonderful person; he is very helpful," said Marilyn Schlueter, an American who participates in CCC activities about once a month. "The CCC courses and events are very fun, and I can learn a lot of interesting things about Chinese culture."

John M. Courtney, an Australian who first came to China in 1982, has used the services of many similar agencies and organizations in Beijing. He decided early on to stick with CCC, largely because of Feng.

"I like the passion Feng displays and his love of his culture," he said. "I have a terrific time here. Since I found CCC as soon as it was established, I have never turned to other agencies."

Courtney recently took CCC's course on contemporary Chinese history and found it to be "rich and informative and deserving of participation" by not only those who have just arrived in China, but also those who have been here for some time. The course helped improve his understanding of modern China and why many things are done in particular ways today, he said. As an added bonus, Courtney said CCC activities provide a meeting place for developing friendships with other foreigners.

CCC's clients are not the only ones who praise Feng's efforts. Chen Juanjuan, the Peking opera actress, said CCC has invited her to perform there several times.

"I am very happy to come and perform here," she said. "I think Mr. Feng's idea of having a Peking opera course is very brilliant." The workshop offers a rare glimpse into the make-up procedures and costumes of Peking opera actors and actresses. Such courses help foreigners to understand Chinese culture better, Chen said.

A hands-on guy

Even though CCC's operations have grown considerably over the past few years, Feng remains directly involved in most of the club's activities. He sometimes provides English translations and narrations during some classes and leads walking tours in Beijing and trips to other cities.

"I want to make sure that our service is of the best quality," he said.