Yu Pengnian’s personal experience
Yu Pengnian was born in 1922 into a businessman family in Lantian Town, Lianyuan City, Hunan Province. When he was a teenager, he went to the provincial capital to study, specializing in business administration. Graduated from Changsha University. After graduation, he helped his parents in their business. After the liberation of the country, Yu Pengnian went to Shanghai and worked as a cleaner, handyman, and opened a bookstore.
In 1922, Yu Pengnian was born into a businessman family in Lantian Town, Lianyuan City, Hunan Province. His real name was Peng Lisan. Before liberation, he did a book business in Shanghai. Then he worked as a journalist for a period of time. Although the time was not long, he said that "foremans and corrupt officials are afraid of me when they see me." In the 1950s, he was falsely accused of being a "fugitive landlord" and was arrested and imprisoned for three years. He was later released early due to discrepancies in the case.
In 1958, Yu Pengnian smuggled into Hong Kong with only one change of clothes in his bag. In Hong Kong, due to the language barrier, he worked as a cleaner, handyman, and construction worker. In his recollection, the most difficult period was a steamed bun and a glass of boiled water for every meal.
In the early 1960s, Yu Pengnian moved to Taiwan to develop real estate, which allowed him to find the "first pot of gold" in his life. Then, he took a fancy to the continued heating up of the Hong Kong stock market and invested all his funds in it. As the stock market crash hit in 1967, the stock index plummeted from a high of 1,700 points to 300 points, and Yu Pengnian had very little assets left. However, the Hong Kong real estate industry gave him another chance to make a comeback.
In 1973, movie star Bruce Lee passed away, leaving behind a 1,000-square-meter mansion. Hong Kong people believe in Feng Shui and believe that houses lived by people who are too famous are uninhabitable and no one would dare to buy them for a while. Yu Pengnian took a loan from a bank and added his own savings to buy a house for 1 million yuan and rent it to foreigners. By 1996, the house was worth 70 million yuan.
Since 1981, it has donated more than 25 million yuan to Hunan and built more than 20 social charity and welfare projects. Among them are: the Lishan School built in Lianyuan City, the Lishan Dam for sewage treatment, and the Peng Lisan Rescue Center; the Wuyi Square Tunnel Project donated and built in Changsha City, the large lantern fountain at the Changsha Railway Station, the Peng Lisan Rescue Center, and the Peng Lisan Rescue Center Luxury bus line - Lishan special line; Peng Lishan rescue center in Dayong City, etc. His righteous deeds were praised by all walks of life and he was named one of the top ten citizens by the Changsha Municipal People's Government. In order to manage the projects he donated money to build, the Peng Lishan Changsha Welfare Foundation was established in June 1988 with the consent of the Hunan Provincial People's Government.
He has successively served as President of Pok Oi Hospital in Yuen Long, Hong Kong, Chairman of Fu De Development Co., Ltd., General Manager of Yuen Cheong Real Estate Co., Ltd., Executive Director of Yilang Co., Ltd., Consultant of Plaza Hotel Enterprise Management Company, Hong Kong Yu's Charity Foundation President. He once served as the permanent president of the Tsim Sha Tsui District Neighborhood Welfare Association and the president of the Kowloon Lions Club. In 1995, Yu Pengnian was elected as a deputy to the Shenzhen Municipal People's Congress. Yu Pengnian invested 1.8 billion to build a 57-story five-star hotel, Pengnian Tower, in the Luohu Business Center District of Shenzhen City, and made a promise: all the net profits from the hotel will be permanently donated to social welfare and education.
Yu Pengnian made a legislative request to the Municipal People's Congress: after a hundred years, the property rights of the Pengnian Building will not be donated or inherited. A special asset management committee will be established to be responsible for operation and management, and the profits will continue to be donated permanently and free of charge.
At 1:37 a.m. on May 2, 2015, Mr. Yu Pengnian, a well-known figure in Shenzhen and a famous philanthropist, passed away at Peking University Shenzhen Hospital at the age of 93.