About Shen Nan

I am Shen Nan (沈楠), a technology practitioner whose career has taken me from radio communications to the internet, cloud computing and artificial intelligence.

I serve as Director, Vice President and CIO of Chengde Kuangguang Holdings Group and hold a master’s degree in informatics from J. F. Oberlin University in Japan. After years working in communications networks, internet services, data centers and software development, I moved into retail, where I oversee enterprise information systems, digitalization and technology architecture.

In 1998, I began building ZISAI (zisai.com), an early website within Chengde’s postal and telecommunications community.

From single-sideband radio, point-to-point data links, dial-up networks and the early web to broadband, data centers, online games, enterprise systems, hyperconverged infrastructure, IoT, cloud-native systems and AI, the technologies have kept changing. What I try to do has remained much the same:

Understand a problem, break it down, and solve it with technology that is as simple and reliable as possible.

I still maintain ZISAI today. It is a place for technology, Chengde, everyday life, memories of the city and small things worth keeping.

From communications to the internet

My work with technology began in the 1990s.

In 1993, I joined a military communications unit, working with radio, single-sideband (SSB) and double-sideband (DSB) communications, computers and data transmission. Before internet access became widespread, connecting people and computers often meant radios, serial ports, modems and point-to-point links.

Around 1995, I began writing point-to-point communications programs in C and exploring BBSs, dial-up networks and early online communities. After 1997, I turned to the web, online information services and early internet applications.

In 1998, I joined a telecommunications operator and started the website that became ZISAI. The internet has been a continuing thread through my work and life ever since.

ZISAI and Chengde’s early internet

ZISAI began in 1998 as a very small website.

As broadband spread, it grew to include a portal, forums, chat rooms, blogs, a flea market, software downloads and audio and video services. For many of Chengde’s early internet users, it became part of a shared memory.

Around 2001, I was developing and maintaining these services with PHP, MySQL, C++, ASP and Pascal. They included the ZISAI forum, online chat rooms and blogs, a flea market, FreeICQ local instant messaging, the MUD Xia Ke Xing, and local broadband media services.

In 2002, I developed Rehe Fengyun (热河风云), a multiplayer online game with a local cultural setting.

These projects may look simple today, but they document a local internet’s transition from dial-up to broadband. They were also my first sustained experience of building and operating internet services from end to end.

Telecommunications, broadband and data centers

From 1998 to 2014, my work at a telecommunications operator expanded from computers and data communications to broadband networks, business systems, internet data centers (IDC) and internet operations.

I worked on or took responsibility for ADSL business systems, network operations systems, broadband streaming services, data center services and internet content partnerships.

Between roughly 2003 and 2006, I helped introduce and operate local server groups for games including 科洛斯, 坦克宝贝, NetEase’s 梦幻西游 and 大话西游. All of the server groups were named “避暑山庄”, after Chengde’s Mountain Resort.

As online game account security became a growing concern, I also designed and developed a dynamic-password authentication system to improve account protection.

Around 2009, my work increasingly involved IDC, ICT and internet infrastructure. I helped bring relevant business activities of companies including Tencent, Youku and Alibaba to Chengde. This experience gave me a more systematic understanding of networks, systems, data centers and high-availability architecture.

From telecommunications to retail digitalization

In 2014, I left the telecommunications operator and joined Chengde Kuangguang Holdings Group as Vice President and CIO.

The business environment changed, but the questions were familiar. How could systems become more stable? How could data create practical value? How could online and offline operations connect? How could fragmented systems work together? How should security, performance, cost and business efficiency be balanced?

For more than a decade, my work has centered on enterprise information systems, retail digitalization, infrastructure, data, security and software development. It has included e-commerce, stored-value cards, business intelligence, hyperconverged infrastructure, cloud platforms, IoT, cybersecurity, disaster recovery, the WeChat ecosystem and AI.

Selected technology projects

A technology journey spanning more than thirty years

• 1993–1997: Radio and computers. From SSB and DSB radio to computers and data communications.
• 1998–2001: The internet and the web. Joined a telecommunications operator, began ZISAI, and worked with Perl, ASP, PHP, MySQL and C++.
• 2002–2008: Broadband, communities and online games. Developed Rehe Fengyun, built chat rooms, forums and streaming services, and worked on game servers and security authentication.
• 2009–2014: Data centers and telecommunications operations. Led work in IDC, ICT, data communications, internet business development and mobile network business management.
• 2014–2020: Enterprise systems and cloud architecture. Built retail e-commerce, card systems, BI, virtualization, hyperconverged infrastructure and enterprise cloud systems.
• 2021–2024: IoT, data and security. Continued practical work with Go, IoT, enterprise and payment security, WeChat and core data disaster recovery.
• 2025 onward: AI and retail digitalization. Began applying large language models, data analysis and AI to real business situations.

The names of the technologies keep changing. My curiosity and interest in using them to solve practical problems have stayed with me.

Education

I studied at J. F. Oberlin University Graduate School in Japan and earned a master’s degree in informatics in 2021.

Studying abroad let me revisit more than twenty years of practical work through research and academic inquiry. It also strengthened my preference for starting with small, concrete questions that can be observed and tested. That approach shapes how I write on ZISAI today.

Professional and community roles

Current roles

• Director, Vice President and CIO, Chengde Kuangguang Holdings Group
• Supervisor, Chengde Kuangguang Supermarket Group
• Member, Digital Technology Application Committee of the China Chain Store & Franchise Association
• Member, Digitalization Committee of the China Commerce Association for General Merchandise
• Vice Chair and Executive Chair, Chengde Internet Association
• Chair, Chengde Federation of Internet Industry Trade Unions
• Council Member, Chengde Police Association
• President, Shuangqiao District E-commerce Association, Chengde

Earlier experience

• Department Section Chief, China Unicom’s Chengde branch
• Secretary of the Communist Youth League Committee, China Unicom’s Chengde branch
• Service in a military communications unit, 1993–1997

Recognition and industry experience

Recognition over the years has included National Outstanding CIO; the Digital Technology Innovation Award at the China International Digital Economy Expo; communications-industry QC group activity assessor qualification from the China Association of Communications Enterprises; Hebei “Knowledge-based Employee”; the Chengde “Shen Nan Innovation Studio”; and Chengde honors for young skilled professionals, science and technology work, commerce expertise and science communication.

These are part of the record. But I am more inclined to remember the systems built, the code written and the feeling when a problem was finally solved.

About ZISAI

Founded in 1998, ZISAI has passed through the eras of portals, forums, chat rooms and blogs, and from desktop and broadband internet to mobile internet and AI.

Today, zisai.com is my personal digital space. I write about:

• Technology: software, networks, servers, Hugo, Go, AI and practical work.
• Retail: digitalization and business observations grounded in specific problems.
• Chengde: the Mountain Resort, Rehe, the old city, internet history and local memories.
• Life: travel, cars, exercise and questions that arise in ordinary days.
• The past: gathering personal and urban memories before they fade.

Not everything worth recording has to be a major event. Much of what makes up a life consists of small things that seemed ordinary at the time.

Places hold stories. Everyday life shines.

Technology and life

I still enjoy writing code and exploring new tools. My interests include Go, Python, SQL, Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Hugo, cloud computing, virtualization, network and information security, IoT, data analysis, large language models and AI.

My approach is simple:

Use the simplest possible logic to solve complex problems.

Away from technology, I enjoy walking, driving trips, music, keeping fish, growing orchids and quietly tinkering with my website.

I started ZISAI in 1998. Today, I can still spend hours adjusting a page, an image or a few lines of code. Technologies and tools change. Curiosity and the habit of keeping a record may well remain.

Public references

The following sources provide further information in Chinese:

• Kuangguang Holdings executive profile
• China Association for Science and Technology
• Hebei Association for Science and Technology
• National Outstanding CIO
• Retail digitalization committee notice
• Hebei News profile
• Baidu Baike: Shen Nan

Contact

• ZISAI: zisai.com
• GitHub: Mythflair
• Email: [email protected]

If you once visited the original ZISAI, or share an interest in technology, Chengde, internet memories or the small questions of everyday life, you are welcome to get in touch.

Profile last updated in October 2026. English editorial version based on the Chinese profile; organization names and titles are descriptive translations.