This midsummer, the WAVES Night is for a group of young people who know how to have a good time.
1. Every year, we look for a place to bring young people together
The WAVES Night is a unique label of WAVES.
It's not just another sub - forum, not just another award ceremony, and not just another two - hour industry dialogue in suits. It is the "evening" of WAVES - the daytime belongs to agendas and logic, while the night belongs to people and intuition.
In 2023, we brought young people and entrepreneurs to Bibo Island in Jinhai Lake, Beijing. That night, some people were drinking beer on the lawn, some were discussing financing terms in the tents, and some were just daydreaming in front of the outdoor movie for an hour without thinking about anything. Later, Dark Waves WAVES wrote a passage, which became the best footnote for the WAVES Night:
"Years, even more than a decade or longer from now, if some of us here today accidentally recall this day, most of the memories may be blurred, but you'll also feel that this was a wonderful summer night. There were sunsets, lawns, beer, music, and movies. And there were a group of friends as young as you used to be."
What happened on Bibo Island? We know that many projects that became very popular later were first heard by investors that night.
In 2024, WAVES went to Langyuan Station in Beijing. At the WAVES Night, Liang You, the founder of Tiaohai Tavern, Liu Huan, the CEO of MIDI, and Cheng Yanliang, the host of the podcast "Huzuohuyou", sat together to talk about "Don't try to guess what young people are thinking". There were no theme restrictions and no PPTs for that round - table discussion. It was just a free - flowing conversation. We also set up the Let's Wave Market in the park. More than 30 trendy brands, cafes, and handicraft stalls were crowded together. Young people shuttled between the stalls, just like at a temple fair, but they were buying AI hardware, hand - brewed coffee, and independent magazines.
In 2025, we went to Liangzhu. The 5,000 - year - old cultural heritage site and a group of entrepreneurs under 25 years old were in the same space. That night was the "Night of the Post - 2000s · Monologue" - ten young people took the stage, and each of them told a story about "something you believe in but others may not".
Vincent, 19 years old, dropped out of school at 15, made his product reach the top of the iOS list at 19. He slept in the company for a year and a half before starting his business and relied on online loans to keep the product running. Liu Shiqi designed an "ugly slipper" with AI, which sells for $145 in the United States. With a team of six, the annual revenue reached 30 million. He took the stage and said a line that was widely shared later: "The secret of AI is to let AI work and let humans slack off."
Zhu Haoyu, 18 years old, just finished the college entrance examination, "broke through the educational fortress" with code and held a global hackathon. Every participant was a young developer from around the world. Zhu Tianyu, the quality inspector, said: "Your hackathon involves not only young people in China, but also young people from all over the world who are creating the future and making history."
On the night in Liangzhu, we truly felt for the first time that the future of this industry is not in any PPT, but in the hands of these young people.
In 2026, we came to Panyu.
Here, we look forward to new stories to unfold...
2. Why design an "evening"
Traditional business conferences have a fatal problem: they are like an exam. Everyone sits in the audience, listens to the speakers on the stage, takes notes, raises hands to ask questions occasionally, and then leaves. This is not connection; it's one - way output.
The most real connections never happen on the stage, but always off - stage - in the corridors during tea breaks, beside the wine glasses at the dinner, and in the unannounced but tacitly understood gatherings after the event.
So WAVES creates an "evening" for young people.
The kind without suits. The kind without PPTs. One person walks over with a glass of wine and says, "I've seen your product." The other person replies, "That feature was actually thought up at three in the morning." And the conversation starts.
WAVES belongs to minds under 36. We don't think that "seeking knowledge" means "sitting and listening to lectures", "socializing" means "adding WeChat contacts", and "connecting resources" means "exchanging business cards". We believe that the best collisions happen at the moment when you happen to relax - in the river breeze while test - riding a motorcycle, when daydreaming in front of an AI hardware, and in the laughter while listening to a post - 2000s talk about his "just - started" entrepreneurial story.
Say goodbye to the "traditional and rigid" conference - listening mode. When you come here, you are a participant, not an audience.
3. The "magic yeast" of the WAVES Night
Youth stand - up comedy
The Night of the Post - 2000s in Liangzhu in 2025 proved one thing: young people are a thousand times better when they take the stage without talking about business plans. Stand - up comedy is not just about jokes; it's an attitude - telling the truth in a humorous way. This year, we invited entrepreneurs and investors under 36 to the stand - up comedy stage to talk about things that are not suitable to talk about during the day.
Under 36 Awards
In December 2017, the first batch of 36 "remarkable investors under 36" took the stage at 36Kr. In 2018, the top of the list was a man named Zhang Yiming, 35 years old, and the valuation of ByteDance was still less than $75 billion. In the following eight years, this list has included 432 entrepreneurs and 108 investors. To some extent, it has become a "Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival" in the Chinese business world - Zhang Yiming, Su Hua, Yang Meng, Qu Fang, Cao Yi, Cao Xi, Fang Aizhi... Most of these names were not well - known when they were included in the list.
The award ceremony at the WAVES Night is not a formal indoor event. There is no red carpet, no award - ceremony dresses, and no speeches by leaders. You are by the Pearl River, holding a glass of wine, and the person beside you might just be an entrepreneur or investor selected this year. The list is announced on this night - it's not the end, but a new starting point, meaning "you've been noticed".
AI Market
This year's market is an AI experience field that focuses on "the present moment". It's not a forum about "what AI will be like in the next three years", but about "the AI that you can touch, use, and play with right now". Everyone who comes to the market can have a hands - on experience.
Panyu Cuisine
Panyu is the "kitchen" of Guangzhou. If you don't have a meal in Panyu, it's like you've never been here. We don't arrange formal banquets - you can stroll around the market and eat. You might meet an aunt selling clay - pot rice, an old store making double - skin milk, or a bowl of Shunde raw fish. The memory of taste can sometimes last longer than a PPT.
HORWIN River - side test ride
HORWIN, an exclusive news. It is a global intelligent electric motorcycle brand founded by Zhou Wei in 2016, targeting the high - end European market. It globally pioneered the 400V full - vehicle - specification IM integrated power platform, achieving a charging breakthrough of "10 - minute charging for 100 - kilometer range". This time, we brought it to the Pearl River.
At dusk, straddle the high - performance intelligent electric motorcycle SENMENTI ONE and speed along the Pearl River. The river breeze blows in your face, and there is a setting sun behind you.
At that moment, you don't need to understand what a "business closed - loop" is or think about any "moats". You just need to feel.
4. Creating a new wave
The venue of the WAVES Night - Liangcang · Xinzao Creative Park - used to be the Second Grain Reserve Warehouse of Guangdong Province.
There are red - brick walls and old warehouses. A yellow crane full of historical memories is parked by the river. It faces the university town across the river, and in the distance is the skyline of the Canton Tower.
Xinzao was born because of water and thrived because of wisdom. In the Ming Dynasty, dikes were built to create land and form a market town. It was once the seat of the Panyu County government. Time has left marks on the former residence of Qu Dajun, the Monument to the Martyrs of the February 18th Anti - Japanese War, and the old Liangcang granary. The charm of Guangzhou embroidery and dragon - boat festivals has never faded. Along the 5.5 - kilometer riverside, the industrial charm of red - brick walls blends with the river view. The evening breeze at the ferry and the sunset by the shore hide the most relaxing romance of Lingnan.
Today's Xinzao has long shed the gentleness of the old days and has become a vibrant hub for science and technology innovation in the Greater Bay Area. Located at the core of the innovation city and on the south bank of the university town, the wisdom of 12 universities and nearly 200,000 teachers and students converges here. Leading enterprises like Hikvision and Zhejiang Dahua have gathered, and the digital economy and science and technology innovation industries are booming. Liangcang · Xinzao Creative Park has revitalized the old granary, turning the historical building into a cultural, commercial, and tourism landmark. High - tech enterprises have taken root in the Smart Valley, and with the combined efforts of industry, academia, and research, scientific and technological achievements are taking root here.
This is a place where history and the future coexist. Ancient village cultures and high - tech buildings stand side by side. Traditional folk customs and digital lights coexist. The evening breeze by the river blends with the enthusiasm for entrepreneurship. There is no rigid urban hustle and bustle, only profound heritage, surging opportunities, and a group of people pursuing their dreams.
The waves are moving south, and science and technology innovation is moving east. Xinzao, carrying more than 570 years of historical precipitation, is presenting a new look of "innovation, creation, and intelligent manufacturing", embracing a passionate love and moving towards a new chapter in the Greater Bay Area.
5. This midsummer
In the evening of June in the south, the air is hot, the Pearl River is warm, and the orange - red glow on the horizon seems to burn from the water surface to the university town on the opposite bank.
This midsummer, everyone is talking about AI. They talk about large - scale models, Agents, embodied intelligence, and quantum computing. But no one can accurately tell you where these waves will take us.
This midsummer, a group of people under 36 met in the old granary in Panyu. Among them, some have just completed Series A financing, some are still writing code in the garage, some have invested in three unicorns, and some have been rejected by investors 47 times. The only thing they have in common is that they are all in the "water".
This midsummer, WAVES came to the Pearl River for the first time, after moving from Beijing to Hangzhou, from Bibo Island to Liangzhu. It's not because Guangzhou is hotter, but because the waves are moving south.
This midsummer, we don't talk about the future in PPTs. We talk about what's happening right now. Your product in hand, the line of code you just wrote, the UI you modified at three in the morning, the idea you finally dared to say after three glasses of craft beer - these are all real, more real than any prediction.
This midsummer, it's the WAVES Night.
Come when the sunset starts.
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