Exclusive | Tai chi with the Post: Xiaozhu founder Kelvin Chen on handling stress and taking on Airbnb
- This is the latest instalment of an occasional series where Post reporters engage news makers in an activity of their choice
Kelvin Chen Chi, the gynaecologist-turned-founder of Chinese online home-rental company Xiaozhu, has lost 11 kilograms (24lbs) since we last met a year ago.
The pounds have come off as a result of a rigorous regimen of jogging, rope-jumping and rec-league basketball. And since last year, the Sichuan native has added tai chi to the routine.
Founded in 2012, Xiaozhu is one of Airbnb’s most formidable rivals in China, with half a million listings and 35 million active users. But it competes in a crowded field with contenders like Ctrip-backed Tujia and Meituan Dianping’s Zhenguo.
“Running your own start-up business is like climbing up a mountain without enough oxygen,” Chen, 44, said in an interview in his hometown Chengdu, which Xiaozhu has chosen to be its second headquarters after Beijing.
“You are at risk all the time and you need to be careful about every step you make,” he said. “I sometimes feels very tired and it feels like my brain has stopped working. It is a reflection of both stress and age.”
We had arranged to practice tai chi together at a European-style villa in suburban Chengdu, owned by an artist couple and one of the most popular listings on Xiaozhu. Dressed in light-grey Nike athleisure wear, Chen was half an hour early to our 9am meeting and we were 10 minutes into a silent meditative state of slow, fluid movements in the villa’s courtyard when I realised that tai chi was not exactly conducive to an interview.