A Chat With Zhuang Yating, Co-Founder of New 5Lmeet Coworking Space
5Lmeet is a new coworking space located just northeast of Zhangzizhong Lu subway station, and is packed with several shops, including a café and bakery, MissC Boutique; a gym, Community Sports; restaurant and food incubator, Hatchery; a bookstore, Unread; a 24-hour self-service convenience store, 15 Minutes Delivery; an app, Joyrun; an open working area in the basement, as well as a living space, a 400-square-meter rooftop garden, and plenty of extra room for pop-up events.
The project was conceived by Mao Daqing, founder of UrWork, China’s largest provider of coworking spaces, alongside Zhuang Yating, the founder of Wenyijiameng, a startup that helps people open their own small businesses, and the author of several bestselling books in China. We sat down to chat with Zhuang Yating about how the new space came to be.
What is the aim and motivation behind Wenyijiameng, your first startup company?
Many young people want to open their own shop or café since they have traveled around the world and seen successful business in other countries, but find that they have limited options in their own city. We act as consultants to help them to open their own ship or café. Our team is made up of a number of lifestyle editors, who have an insight into the lifestyle market, from areas that can be categorized as down-to-earth to luxury. We collated their advice and published a series of books called Storelab.
Could you introduce the 5Lmeet project?
The five "Ls" of 5L stand for livable, linked, liberal, lively, and landscape. Like many Beijingers, I live in the hutongs. For me, hutongs represent authentic life within the big city. However, the hutongs can't meet the needs of the young generation in terms of living standards; a lot of people won't accept public toilets, and basic sanitation facilities are often not good enough, especially since people also need a place to socialize. For this project, we first considered what young people need, then we upgraded our hutong according to those needs, and created a space with quality food and drink options, lifestyle brands, and a nice living area.
You are also keen on interior design – have you tried space transformation yourself?
I have transformed my own home. I did a systematic study of some domestic home and interior designs. When my friend – who is a living space designer – proposed to help me to transform my home, I made clear requests, such as enlarging my storing space to put my cups, plates, and ornaments, and how to divide my workspace. I especially like using wooden products.
What are your hobbies when you're not writing?
I would like to study tea, and aromatherapy.
What is your plan for the near future?
We would like to cooperate with more venues. Our dream is to have our own vibrant city block in every city. We would like to work with the urban planning authorities, bring promising young programs to the neighborhood, and combine artistic and commercial worlds.
5Lmeet
88 Dongsi Jiutiao, Dongcheng District (186 1075 0037)
东四·共享际: 东城区东四九条88号
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Photos: Wenyijiameng, 92to, Tracy Wang
