Vaping Reaches the Western Plateau

A sedan was carrying a banner with the bold words: “SWIG E-cigarette? 2014 Healthy China Tour.” A closer look revealed a poster with a QR code attached to the front passenger door. It turned out to be one of the three major brands under Shenzhen Qisai Group. SWIG e-cigarettes were promoting a nationwide government anti-smoking campaign and advocating environmentally friendly smoking alternatives across China. As this car sped along expressways throughout the country, crossing mountains and valleys, it brought e-cigarettes to the snowy plateau and frontier cities of the western regions. It could be called a landmark initiative in the era of e-cigarettes.

After learning more, the reporter found out that this was the “Healthy China Tour” event held to commemorate the second anniversary of the SWIG brand entering China and to celebrate the launch of its Tmall flagship store. The brand was introduced through a partnership between Qisai Technology and Kenruite Technology. Through this event, SWIG e-cigarettes, as a modern high-tech cigarette alternative product and concept, were brought to the snowy plateau and frontier cities of the western regions.

In ancient times, the Western Regions referred to the territory in western China, what is now Xinjiang. Xinjiang was located on a key route of the ancient Silk Road. More than two thousand years of history have endowed Xinjiang with numerous cultural relics, historic sites, and unique natural landscapes, creating the brilliant civilization of the ancient Western Regions. It is a beautiful and prosperous part of China, rich in colorful ethnic customs.

Fang Binhua, general manager of SWIG, said that the “SWIG E-cigarette? 2014 Healthy China Tour” started from Shenzhen and traveled through Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Tibet, Qinghai, Gansu, Shaanxi, Hubei, and Hunan before returning to Shenzhen, Guangdong. The event lasted 25 days and officially concluded on October 22, 2014.

As the longest-running and longest-distance cultural and health communication journey in the e-cigarette industry up to that point, SWIG's “Healthy China Tour” set out from a modern metropolis and spread modern high-tech cigarette alternative products and concepts across more than half of China. At the same time, it engaged in extensive exchanges in traditional tobacco strongholds such as Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan, and surrounding regions, exploring and experiencing the cultural spirit of initiative, courage, integration, inclusiveness, harmony, and creativity embedded in traditional culture.

While promoting Chinese civilization, this event also actively promoted healthy cigarette alternative concepts and smoking cessation knowledge. E-cigarettes were given to people in ethnic minority regions so they could learn about cutting-edge international high-tech products. Duan Haifeng, the person in charge of the event, said: “This is a brand-new fusion and collision of modern technology and traditional civilization across the most magnificent land of China.”