Skift Take
Qunar is a technology company with a big vision and an enormous opportunity as the Chinese traveler busts out into the world. He won't say it outright, but it's clear that CEO CC Zhuang likes where he sits, and wouldn't want to stop the momentum with the complications that a merger with Ctrip would bring.
Amidst all the talk about a potential $10 billion mega merger with Ctrip, you have to visit Qunar's headquarters on Suzhou Street in the Haidian District of Beijing to fully appreciate why Qunar co-founder and CEO Chenchao "CC" Zhuang likes his competitive position and "prefers to manage the largest online travel company in China."
Namely, Qunar, that is.
On the 17th floor, and parts of seven other floors in the building, product managers and engineers sit tightly packed in seemingly endless rows of desks, eyes intently focused on their computer screens in an atmosphere that is, at turns, serious, informal and fun.
Youngish employees clad in jeans or bright-yellow slacks, and work boots or sneakers with splotches of purple, orange or pink, saunter in and out past the reception desk while would-be employees seeking to join Qunar's ranks of more than 2,500 fill out job applications, pens in hand, in the lobby.
CEO CC Zhuang walks into a modest conference room overlooking Suzhou Street, talks about the problems he encountered in 2005 when he sought to build a Kayak for China, and deftly dodges answering the big question of the day about a potential merger with Ctrip, but you can read plenty between the lines.
“I prefer to manage the largest online travel company in China," Zhuang says. "There is such a long run. We will build the system matrix for Chinese online travel. Ther
