The outdoor culture market in China has experienced a particularly unique period of development over the years. From the rapid growth in previous years to the current presentation of diverse styles, it has demonstrated the public's fondness for the outdoor lifestyle. James, the founder of the Beijing-based boutique outdoor gear shop James Outdoorlife, has not only witnessed the evolution of the outdoor culture scene but has also been an active participant throughout these years.
Unlike the average enthusiast, James not only immerses himself deeply in various outdoor cultures but also seeks to unearth novel ways of engagement and cultural nuances to introduce them to the domestic scene. He has also established a bridge for communication and experience between global outdoor brands and local enthusiasts.
In recent years, while continuing to delve into the various cultures encompassed by style camping, James has devoted more energy to the dissemination and promotion of fishing culture within the country. He has even set up a pop-up shop in Beijing's China World Shopping Mall, aiming to provide more people with an intimate encounter with fishing culture. To this end, Mr. Tiger recently engaged in an in-depth discussion with James on several topics, including the current state of outdoor culture development, commercial transformations, differences between domestic and overseas markets, and the future development of fly fishing culture. Let us now step into James's world of outdoor contemplation.
Tigerhood: Having experienced the initial development, peak, and now the stabilization of the domestic glamping scene, how do you view the entire process and outcome of this development?
James: Let me start with the conclusion: I believe the camping market during this period had two characteristics—it came quickly and left early. This phenomenon also occurred in other outdoor industries like cycling over a decade ago. The same group of people might have overpraised it during the rise and overly criticized it during the decline.
Before glamping, the camping market already existed, primarily centered around adventure and mountaineering consumption scenarios. Glamping created a new model and drove the entire market and industrial chain. In the future, camping will continue to see new products, new demographics, and new scenarios emerge. The transition from a stock market to an incremental market will repeat, and growth will persist because it left too early and hasn't fully developed yet.
Neither campgrounds nor related equipment research enterprises have delved deeply enough. Therefore, I believe camping will enter a new cycle in the future. The current process already provides some evidence, such as the rise of fly fishing, micro fishing, packrafting, whitewater rafting, and soft-tail downhill biking. There is still a vast gap in China's incremental outdoor leisure market. The key lies in whether we can create differentiation and whether we are willing to break through the incremental market rather than staying in the stock market.
Tigerhood: From the perspective of an industry insider, how have the products in your store and your customer base changed over the years?
James: I don’t think James Outdoorlife has ever aimed to become a so-called industry insider. We’ve always focused on outdoor leisure rather than professional outdoor sports. Our mission has been to create or introduce outdoor lifestyle products that didn’t exist domestically, allowing users to discover them and teaching them new ways to enjoy them.
Around 2014, I started with retro urban bicycles, then moved on to cargo bikes from 2016 to 2018, and from 2018 to 2022, we shifted to products related to stylish outdoor activities. Additionally, since 2022, we’ve added a fishing segment to our company.
I feel that both as an individual and as a company, we’ve been gradually completing pieces of a puzzle, becoming an enlightenment center or many users. For example, we’ve been a pioneer in bicycles, camping, and fishing, constantly encountering guests with diverse interests.
Looking back at this time and process, I don’t think any of it has been wasted, because we’ve never strayed from the outdoor leisure culture market. Every few years, we delve deeply into a new segment, studying and learning about it, and then imagining how these pieces will fit together in the future. This, in fact, is the ultimate dream of James Outdoorlife.
Tigerhood: Compared to the outdoor markets of Japan and South Korea, which are closest to us, what aspects are worth learning and referencing?
James: This is a very broad question, and I’d like to focus on some recent observations. Although I deal with Japanese and Korean brands, I’m not blindly praising them. Having recently returned from Japan, I’ve had some realizations. I think they stand on the shoulders of their "predecessors," whether it’s in production, sales, or corporate management, all of which are tied to Japan’s production relations. Firstly, their employment system doesn’t allow for easy layoffs, so the experience of long-term employees is preserved within the company. Secondly, their working hours are fixed, with no overtime, allowing them to focus entirely on their work.
However, this system also hides new issues. Because production relations are solidified, senior employees hold higher positions in the company, making it difficult for young, talented newcomers to be quickly promoted. Additionally, due to the limited number of local outdoor companies in Japan, employees who leave might take valuable experience from one company to another. This geographical limitation allows for rapid "iteration" and collaborative growth.
For example, during my recent visit to Japan, I toured a glove factory we collaborate with. The general manager introduced me to the oldest employee at the factory, who is now 70 years old. The company didn’t let her go or lay her off; instead, she is responsible for crafting all the latest prototype products, showcasing the depth of her experience and her high status within the company. I think this approach reflects the company’s desire to build long-term production relationships with its employees, embodying its values and philosophy.
Tigerhood: Given the current state of the outdoor commercial market, what changes and adjustments have you made?
James: To others, it might seem like there are only so many outdoor brands and products. But in my view, there are still many brands and products worldwide that meet James Outdoorlife's criteria for introduction, as well as those we can independently research and design.
I often use this analogy: what others see as a wall, I see as a vast expanse. My biggest challenge right now is time management—I need more focused time. Life in Beijing is inherently fragmented, and running a company involves handling numerous tasks, so achieving this requires self-adjustment.
What I want to say is that it’s not necessarily that the outdoor commercial market is objectively poor, but rather that too many people are stuck in stock markets and doing homogenized things. Objectively, there’s no need for such intense competition. If you’re doing camping, I’ll do it too; if you’re into fishing, I’ll follow suit; if you’re making clothing, I can do that as well. Then it becomes a race over fabrics and technology.
In essence, this is still competition within a stock market. Otherwise, why would people with spending power prefer to shop abroad? It’s because there are consumption scenarios, products, and cultures there that meet their needs. Of course, there are successful domestic cases too, like packrafts, which have created new consumer products, scenarios, and demographics. After all, not everyone enjoys slow-paced leisure fishing or extreme sports like skiing and rock climbing. Users are actually very diverse.
My current shift is to focus James Outdoorlife on incremental markets and differentiated products. Since our inception, we’ve been a product-driven company, so we need to explore differentiated products for incremental markets. For example, we’ve introduced the RGM brand’s leisure lure rods, which differ from the traditional competitive lure market. This brand also offers micro fishing rods. This market wasn’t popular a few years ago, but due to economic constraints and limited time, more people now prefer simpler, low-difficulty options like micro fishing.
Additionally, we’ve introduced Japanese fly fishing brands like Foxfire, Shakuhunter, and Campanella. Commercially, fly fishing is a completely different business from the other fishing methods mentioned earlier—it’s more like a long-term investment. Fly fishing has been lukewarm for the past decade and only started gaining traction in the last two years. Although they are all fishing gear, I believe they are fundamentally different because the education cost for these products is very high.
Tigerhood is a media outlet that knows James Outdoorlife quite well. We promote cycling, camping, fishing, and other outdoor sports. Each sport requires not just my understanding but the entire team’s understanding, and each takes several years to fully grasp.
But I believe every step we take counts. In the future, when we have ten times the space we have now, we will bring together all the outdoor leisure products we’ve ever handled to present a complete James Outdoorlife. Whether before or after achieving this, our mission and task remain the same: to explore and present diverse outdoor products from around the world.
Tigerhood: How do you understand the concept that James Outdoorlife is more like an adult toy store?
James: This perspective of mine is primarily aimed at those who view outdoor products as markers of class status or luxury. I believe all businesses should adopt a healthy, human-centric approach that grows and evolves with people, rather than exploiting human weaknesses to make a profit.
I’m not interested in how successful individuals or teams with opposing views might be. I only want to do things the right way, as my mentor taught me. Often, we’re not just selling products; we’re connecting with customers who share similar lifestyle interests. This has nothing to do with wealth or status—everyone has the right to pursue their passions.
After all, people living in big cities still need healthy lifestyle hobbies as a form of spiritual support, and the solutions to this involve these products and gear. Adults also need their own toys to return to a state of simplicity and authenticity. Through these playful experiences, they can rediscover their true selves and find like-minded companions, rather than merely socializing for work or business purposes.
Tigerhood: What are the unique features and differences of the James Outdoorlife-style outdoor pop-up store you recently created at China World Mall?
James: The pop-up store at China World Mall is, I think, an experiment or a trial. Previously, no one had sold fishing gear in a top-tier mall in a super-first-tier city like this. Both China World Mall and I wanted to gather some real "experimental" data. This location is extremely challenging—it’s only about 10 square meters, and no matter what product you’re selling, there are unexpected difficulties.
In fact, I think a place like this, if it’s to meet both sales and business needs, is particularly suited for experts, akin to the extreme makeover masters you see on TV. But for now, I’m just at a passing level. We’re very grateful to China World Mall for giving us this opportunity, making us the first store to bring fishing gear into the mall. I’ve personally been on the front lines, and I feel that people still need time to adjust to seeing such products in a mall like China World, as this has never happened before.
The entire landscape design was created by our friends at MOSS Design Studio, a Beijing-based company led by two Singaporean designers. The design inspiration comes from a hidden fishing spot in a stream in Sendai, Japan, which I visited with friends. The theme is "passing by a stream," and through this scene-based sales approach, we hope to transport passersby from the concrete jungle into a lush, real forest stream.
We’ve also displayed the locations of stream fishing spots around Beijing here. Years ago, I had no idea that such gear could be bought in Beijing, nor did I know that there were so many interesting places hidden around the city. We want to bring this information to the city center and present people with healthier outdoor hobbies that can help alleviate urban stress.
I’ve experienced anxiety before, but now I feel very motivated. Although there’s still pressure in daily life, the thought of going fishing once a week provides strong mental support. It’s similar to how many people now enjoy tennis, but not everyone likes fishing or tennis. What we can do is offer more healthy, differentiated solutions. After all, there are still many fun activities in the world that haven’t yet made their way to Beijing.
Tigerhood: Why have you focused your interest on fly fishing culture over the past two years?
James: Fly fishing has been a dream of mine since I watched the movie *A River Runs Through It* as a child. Then, in 2015, I went to Portland, USA, and had a staring contest with a fly fishing shop clerk. He wanted to sell, and I wanted to buy, but we didn’t know how to communicate, so I left disappointed. If something keeps recurring in your mind, it’s probably what you truly want to do.
Later, I had the opportunity to learn fly fishing from a mentor, and before I went abroad, he passed me on to two other "teachers" to continue my training. I’ve always told my colleagues that we must genuinely like and enjoy a project before we dive into it. We shouldn’t sell products or gear that we don’t personally use—that’s a dead end.
At James Outdoorlife, product selection has always been led by me, James. I’ve always held myself to this standard: I don’t want to choose products just for economic gain, and I won’t follow trends in cultures I don’t engage with or study. I always ask myself why I like something. The reason I’m so passionate about fly fishing now is that no one dares to claim they’ve fully mastered it. It’s something worth a lifetime of research, learning, and experience, making it perfect for me and other long-term enthusiasts.
Tigerhood: You recently went on a months-long fly fishing trip to Japan. What new insights did you gain?
James: This time, I visited two fly fishing regions: Northeast Hokkaido and Northwest Hokkaido. In Northeast Hokkaido, the main fish species is rainbow trout, which were introduced by Europeans and Americans 100 years ago and have since become wild, inhabiting these waters. What amazed me was that some of the beautiful fishing spots in Northeast Hokkaido looked strikingly similar to Beijing’s Yudu Mountain. It dawned on me that Yudu Mountain could potentially become a fishing destination in Asia.
During this trip, I also tested James Outdoorlife’s gloves and other products. The key takeaway was that we need to create usage scenarios for our products so that users have the opportunity to experience and utilize what they need. I jokingly called this a "business fishing trip" because the main purpose was to meet and exchange ideas with the owners of fishing and camping shops and companies in Japan that operate similarly to us. I believe it’s highly meaningful to engage with experts both domestically and internationally. This time, they also saw our original products from China and showed great interest.
In Northwest Hokkaido, I stayed near Niseko for almost a month. My Beijing landlord shared with me the history and development of Niseko’s skiing industry. A small town with a permanent population of 5,000 transforms into a skiing destination for over 300,000 people from around the world starting around December 1st. How do they achieve this? Of course, natural factors play a role, but there are also many human elements involved. How to fully leverage local characteristics and apply these lessons to create our own sports scenarios in the future is something worth studying in depth.
Tigerhood: How do you view the future development of fly fishing culture in China?
James: Fly fishing is a low-leverage business because it comes with a learning curve and is difficult to get into. For example, if you’re given a diagram of the equipment, you might not even understand what it is or its features without prior knowledge, which invisibly increases the learning and selection costs for users. Additionally, figuring out who to learn from and where to play are not particularly "user-friendly" for beginners. Moreover, both users and businesses need time to develop tacit cooperation, making it inherently a low-leverage business.
However, this industry belongs to an incremental market, and its growth curve will be slow. If it experiences an unusually rapid rise at any stage, it’s definitely not due to the natural development of fly fishing itself—don’t misinterpret that. To give another analogy, it’s somewhat like "value investing" in the investment world. The market gap is still very large, but it’s certainly not a red ocean stock market. It’s suitable for companies like ours that prefer to learn and grow gradually. I hope to see more fishing shops, fishing grounds, and teaching professionals emerge in the future, as it can create employment opportunities across various dimensions.
Fly fishing originated in 15th-century England, starting with trout fishing, and later spread to Europe and the United States. Its development is similar to that of fashion history—it began among the people (commercial fishing), caught the attention of royalty, and gradually evolved into a fashionable sport in European courts. Over time, it has accumulated a wealth of knowledge and content.
The fun of fly fishing lies in the fact that its techniques are endless. It includes various casting methods and corresponding rod types (somewhat like golf, which is why it’s sometimes called "golf on water"). It also involves fly tying (creating lures), which has even become an art form. Since it originated with cold-water trout fishing, northern regions like Beijing, with their cold-water environments, are well-suited for this sport. However, fly fishing isn’t limited to cold-water fish anymore—it can target most fish species, and there’s even saltwater fly fishing.
In summary, I believe fly fishing will show a growth trend in the future. While it might experience a surge similar to what happened with glamping, this new sport will gradually settle and mature in China. On one hand, it offers health and spiritual enjoyment. On the other, it can provide more employment opportunities, promote economic development, and facilitate the promotion of multiculturalism.
James Outdoorlife
Store Address: Room 108, Building 1, No. 4 Courtyard, Jinhang West Road, Shunyi District, Beijing
Business Hours: 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Photo: James
Edit: Zehua Qin