In November in Beijing, the lowest temperature had already dropped to minus three degrees Celsius. The day before, it was gloomy with rain and snow, but on the morning of November 17th, the 15th anniversary celebration and outdoor carnival event of Sanfo Outdoor, the sun was shining brightly and the sky was clear. At the Chaoyang Park Fireworks Square, a variety of rich and interesting activities were held, including bouldering experiences, Weibo graffiti walls, walking pole experiences, park orienteering competitions, park fun runs, sleeping bag packing races, tent-pitching competitions, wrestling experiences, and getting ready for departure — all kinds of engaging outdoor events. Many members gathered at the scene by appointment, and the lively atmosphere even attracted many park visitors to join in spontaneously. Laughter and cheers echoed across the several-thousand-square-meter square. Thus began the outdoor carnival.
Famous martial arts actor Wu Jing, singer Lao Lang, Li Shuankuo, the president of National Geographic Magazine, Sun Bin, the founder of Peak Adventure, and Zhao Mu, the leader of the Sohu Mountaineering Team, also personally attended the event as super VIPs of Sanfo Company. Together with Mr. Zhang Heng, the general manager of Sanfo Company, they opened the dream box and set the outdoor dreams free.
Over a hundred elites from the outdoor industry gathered at the scene, bearing witness to the development journey of Sanfo Outdoor. Fifteen years — a company writing its youth from scratch, now in its prime. We all look forward to an even better future for Sanfo.
Event site: The experience area becomes a children’s playground
After the event started, at the Chaoyang Park Fireworks Square, Sanfo staff set up various experiential activity zones to allow more members and spectators to participate in outdoor experiences.
On the day of the bouldering experience, many on-site spectators couldn’t resist giving it a try. “I thought climbing looked simple, but once you get up there, you can hardly move — you have no strength at all,” one spectator said breathlessly to a companion after the experience. With guidance from the staff, more and more people succeeded, and the atmosphere on-site was very lively.
The slackline experience zone became a children’s playground. Slacklining involves stretching a flat webbing between two poles and then walking across it like on a tightrope. With their parents’ help, children in the square took turns standing on the line to experience the feeling of tightrope walking.
In addition to the above activities, the Weibo graffiti wall, park orienteering, park fun runs, sleeping bag packing races, tent-pitching competitions, wrestling experiences, and getting ready for departure drew hundreds of members to the site, and some park visitors also joined in spontaneously.
During the event, a live lottery was held for two consecutive days, with prizes including 20 hiking backpacks, 6 Epson outdoor sports watches, 10 BUFF headbands, 2 TNF ski jackets, various on-site TNF sun hats, outdoor gear keychains, outdoor adventure folding chairs, sea to summit dry bags, zealwood socks, Alpini ski gloves, Happy Fox hats, and other items.
The Journey of Sanfo
Established in 1997, Beijing Sanfo Outdoor Products Co., Ltd. has a history of 15 years. Starting from a small 30-square-meter shop just outside the east gate of Peking University, over the years it has adhered to the philosophy of “sports, happiness, and dreams,” as well as the business principle of “honest operation and guaranteed after-sales service,” growing continuously, healthily, and rapidly.
Currently, Sanfo has over 30 stores of international first-class standards in core cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Shenyang, Changchun, Qingdao, and Shijiazhuang, with a total business area exceeding 14,000 square meters. It represents over 200 professional domestic and international outdoor sports brands, fully meeting the one-stop shopping needs of outdoor enthusiasts for camping, mountaineering, rock climbing, self-driving, skiing, leisure travel, and more.
Established in 1998, the Sanfo Outdoor Sports Club has been committed to promoting and popularizing outdoor sports. It currently has over 100,000 official members, with up to 25,000 annual participants, organizing multiple outdoor AA activities of varying intensity every week; it also regularly holds outdoor basic training lectures, hiking alliances, outdoor parties, Christmas galas, high-altitude mountaineering, trekking, self-driving off-roading, leisure travel, and other types of outdoor activities.
For fifteen years, Sanfo has taken it upon itself to promote outdoor sports, sell quality outdoor gear, encourage and help people to get outdoors, engage in sports and stay healthy, and fully practice the concept of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature. The company has been recognized as a “China Famous Store” by the China Textile Industry Association, and the Sanfo Club has been awarded the title of “Top Ten National Outdoor Sports Clubs” by the Chinese Mountaineering Association for many consecutive years.
Many companies start with a big or small dream, and today’s Sanfo originated from a dream its founder Zhang Heng had many years ago by Namtso Lake in Tibet — to let hundreds of millions of Chinese people enjoy the joy and challenges brought by outdoor sports. Will you give it a try? Visit www.sanfo.com, and believe that a new journey is about to begin.
Today’s Sanfo Outdoor is like a fifteen-year-old teenager — in its prime, full of dreams and vitality — in this era of rapid development in the outdoor industry.
Outdoor Club: 200,000 members, 25,000 annual trips
In the second year of the company’s establishment, the Sanfo Outdoor Sports Club was founded, dedicated to promoting and popularizing outdoor sports.
Currently, the club has over 200,000 official members, with up to 25,000 annual participants, organizing multiple outdoor AA activities of varying intensity every week; it also regularly holds outdoor basic training lectures, hiking alliances, high-altitude mountaineering, trekking, self-driving off-roading, and other types of outdoor activities.
Speaking about the company’s future development, founder Zhang Heng said that after visiting abroad, he found that outdoor stores often have thousands of square meters in scale, while outdoor stores in China are only just getting started. He hopes that in the future, his stores can continue to expand, allowing more people to get involved in outdoor activities and experience different lifestyles.
Sanfo Outdoor Entrepreneurial Chronicle
In May 1997, Zhang Heng traveled independently in the west for three months and conceived the idea of opening an outdoor store;
In September 1997, the first Sanfo store had a trial opening, 30 square meters, outside the east gate of Peking University;
In March 1998, Sanfo Outdoor was officially registered under the name: Beijing Sanfo Tourism Products Center;
In October 1998, Sanfo organized its first outdoor activity, a camping trip to the Simatai section of the Great Wall;
In May 1999, the Sanfo website went live, www.sanfo.com;
In July 1999, the Sanfo Club was officially registered and established;
In August 1999, the first store was relocated due to demolition, moving to Guajiatun outside the west gate of Peking University, covering 50 square meters;
March 2001: The Beijing Madian West store opened, covering 140 square meters, and Beijing Sanfo Outdoor Products Development Co., Ltd. was registered;
April 2002: The Beijing Guomao store opened, covering 100 square meters;
March 2003: The Beijing Madian East store opened, covering 260 square meters;
April 2004: The Beijing Madian West store expanded to 450 square meters;
March 2005: The Shanghai Wanti store opened, covering 850 square meters;
April 2006: The Beijing Chaoyang Park store opened, covering 400 square meters;
September 2006: The Beijing Madian East store expanded to 450 square meters;
January 2007: The Shanghai Pudong Jinqiao store opened, covering 160 square meters;
August 2007: The Beijing Yuetan store opened, covering 500 square meters;
September 2007: The Beijing Olympic Village store opened, covering 500 square meters;
October 2007: The Shanghai Wujiaochang store opened, covering 460 square meters;
December 2007: The Beijing Peking University store opened, covering 150 square meters;
January 2008: Sanfo successfully took over Juji Tiyan, occupying 700 square meters;
February 2008: The Beijing Wangjing store began trial operation, covering 1,100 square meters;
April 2008: The Beijing Gongzhufen store opened, covering 185 square meters;
The Fangzhuang store in Beijing opened in June 2008, covering an area of 313 square meters;
The Action Sports store at Madian Zhong in Beijing opened in July 2008, spanning 700 square meters;
The three-story Shanghai Wanti store opened in October 2008, with an area of 800 square meters;
The Nanjing Xinjiekou store opened in March 2009, covering 800 square meters;
The Hangzhou store opened in December 2009, with the east branch at 380 square meters and the west branch at 108 square meters;
The Wuhou Shrine store in Chengdu opened in March 2010, with an area of 367 square meters;
The Jinxinghe store in Nanjing opened in April 2010, covering 260 square meters;
The Zhenhua Road store in Shenzhen opened in April 2010, with an area of 330 square meters;
The Shenyang Fushou Store opened in May 2010, covering an area of 437 square meters;
The Chengdu Nijiaqiao Store opened in May 2010, covering an area of 235 square meters;
The Shenyang Nanwuma Road Store opened in July 2010, covering an area of 520 square meters;
The Changchun International Building Store opened in September 2010, covering an area of 688 square meters;
The Nanjing Zifeng Tower Store opened in December 2010, covering an area of 246 square meters;
The Shenyang Beierdong Road store opened in May 2011, covering an area of 310 square meters;
The Qingdao Hisense Plaza store opened in May 2011, covering an area of 520 square meters;
In June 2011, the company was renamed: Beijing Sanfo Outdoor Products Co., Ltd.;
The Shenyang Beiling Street store opened in July 2011, covering an area of 400 square meters;
The Shijiazhuang Zhongshan East Road store opened in August 2011, covering an area of 600 square meters;
The Changchun Xinmin Square store opened in October 2011, covering an area of 160 square meters;
The Changchun Xinfalu store opened in October 2011, covering an area of 120 square meters;
The Beijing Guanghua Road store opened in April 2012, covering an area of 100 square meters.