On his Sina weibo account, Qiao Xiaodao (乔小刀) introduces himself simply as “a very amiable person”, but there is far more than that when it comes to his life experiences. His stories can make a good read. A welder when he first came to Beijing, he started his pursuit of dream in a dark basement, like most of the other drifters in Beijing. Starting from there, he has staged an installation exhibition with the waste materials he had collected, become an art editor, started his own design company, formed a band and released a well-received album etc. What a colorful resume! He has made fortunes as well as suffered from bankruptcy that brought him back to the basement.

Not only a dream seeker, Qiao is to most people a dream maker. He loves music, so he formed a band with his niece and released an album. He is interested in creative designs and products so he held individual exhibitions. He is devoted to helping others so he initiated the program “Weibo Zhi Yan” (微薄之盐, A Pinch of Salt) to support independent young musicians. Many found his experiences interesting and he has inspired people to join him. While Qiao’s stories appeal to more people, they start to encourage more dreamers.

Do not let money keep you from pursuing dream

“What the future looks like? I do not want to know. “–from a song written by one of Qiao’s friends

Like many others, Qiao has a lot of dreams. Also like many others, he has money concerns. In his book “Live A Good Life is Not Necessarily Expensive” (好的生活没那么贵), he wrote in the preface, “Money is the biggest obstacle when one is to start a business or plan to do something. How to lower the cost, save the time and human resources? Only by changing the set thinking pattern and knowing clearly where one’s strengths and resources lie can one find the nearest and most plausible path. Through pooling resources and execution, one can gradually grasp the dream in hands during the process of practice.” When Qiao took the first step toward his dream, he only had 400 yuan and his ID card. He got on a train heading for Beijing. The idea that sent him to Beijing was “Now that I am suffering at home, why not go suffering in the best place in China?” And in his mind, the best place in China is Beijing—the capital.

The early days in Beijing were not easy for someone who had such a meager amount of money. To survive in the capital, he had to take on various jobs as a manual laborer to keep life going on. For Qiao, the best way for him to realize dreams was knowledge. He took every job as an opportunity to learn new things and gain experience. Once he became skilled at one job, he turned to a more difficult one. He used to copy what aroused his interests in the bookstore onto a notebook and took it everywhere. It was the books on installation and abstract art that attracted him most. He was enormously impressed with art works made from wasted materials and he found those reminiscent of what he did everyday. Later he started collecting all the materials that could not be used anymore and study installation and abstract art at the same time. With his efforts, he came up with the idea of an exhibition showing all his works at the end of that year. His friends became the audience, among which were some underground musicians in Beijing. Although he did not stick to art in his career path due to economic concerns, it was a beginning of his artistic pursuits in various forms and brought him the courage and confidence to do something big.

Another possibility: to live a good life without too much money

Sometimes all one needs is to think out of the box and explore unusual ways to approach one’s dream.

It is true that one does need money to get things started, but it does not always have to be a large sum. With only 400 yuan, Qiao survived in Beijing and started his new life. Just like the art exhibition on which he spent only 500 yuan, his other achievement were as well low-cost and jaw-dropping. It is all about the pooling of resources and best use of what one already has.  His records include 3000 yuan for a documentary, 500 yuan for an art exhibition, 50 yuan for an outfit, and 35 yuan for a dinner for ten, etc. He became a living example to those who take adequate wealth as the prerequisite for a happy life.

Qiao Xiaodao and his niece

Among all his different identities, one of the most known is the ballad singer who formed the ballad group with his niece—Da Qiao Xiao Qiao (大乔小乔, Big Qiao, Small Qiao). Music has always been one of his loves and he particularly likes watching people playing guitar. He certainly hoped to sing for others with his own guitar. The first thing was to get to know about music. His more than 200 fragments of composition suggested how difficult it was for an outsider to do music. After several failed attempts to form a band with some of his friends, he stopped trying and decided to go solo for the moment. Later when Qiao performed for his family, his mother suggested that his little niece Qiao Munan (乔木楠) sings with him and this was how the group came into being.

After several performances, the group got famous and people started to ask for their album. The biggest challenge they were facing was where the money came from. Qiao Xiaodao made up his mind to make an album hoping to explore a way for other independent musicians who were struggling to stick to their music dreams and to attract more support. Thanks to his friends in the music circle, he managed to finish the recording of the whole album in a one-square-meter studio and the music video was also self-made, simple and rough. All the family members helped in the process of making the album. It was the success of such a simple album that led to the later more ambitious project.

Weibo Zhi Yan (微薄之盐)—A pinch of salt

Weibo stands for “small”; Yan stands for contribution and Weibo Zhi Yan stands for “a small contribution”.

The idea of “Weibo Zhi Yan” came from that Qiao wanted to help others but he knew well that his ability was limited. So he came up with such a name for his project. Supported by some of the entrepreneurs he became acquainted with, Qiao started to build the platform he had always been thinking of to pool resources to help independent musicians like him. Based in an art zone turned from a storage house, he found some friends and hired new hands. In this way the platform was established and Qiao and his people started to scout for talented musicians. The way the project works is that it help young musicians to achieve their goals such as releasing an album with the social network it has built. For example, it may introduce musicians to producers and publishers who are possible to provide support. They provide resources as well as show them how to tap into opportunities for long-term development.

Following the traditional Chinese philosophy that “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”, the project works towards the ultimate goal to help independent musicians to stand firm on their own feet and find their own paths. Qiao and his friends also made a project magazine to let more people get to know about it and attract more support from the society. As the project grows, so does the need for an even bigger platform. With an idea to provide these musicians a stage to shine, the Weibo Zhi Yan concert kicked off. Weibo Zhi Yan concert welcomes all kinds of music styles and is open to whoever is interested with a low threshold. Qiao compares Weibo Zhi Yan to a public lavatory where people from all walks of life come by. Strangers meet here and make friends. People come and go, leaving different stories.

One leg of his nationwide tour in Renmin University of China

As he thinks that money cannot stops one from pursuing one’s dream, Qiao also thinks that finance is not the prerequisite for non-profit initiatives. From a commoner to someone who helps people realize their dreams, Qiao lives a colorful as well as simple life. His life philosophy of thinking out of the box and use the ready resources to do things we want inspires the following of us to look back on our own dreams that have been postponed for various excuses. Now with his guitar, Qiao Xiaodao is busy meeting his fans in different cities for his 2012 A Inspirational Tour around China (2012励志中国行) and sharing his stories with them. Engaged to helping others with his limited power, Qiao Xiaodao and his stories might shed some light to those who also have big dreams but have not taken any actions yet.