Author: Retired employee of the Information Technology Department of ICBC Beijing Branch Sheng Youzhi
I always have an indescribable emotion for Wangfujing. Now at home, whenever ICBC outlets on Wangfujing Street, Wangfujing Street, I always go in and take a look: at the counter, employees communicate politely and professionally with customers, stare at the computer screen with concentration, operate with their fingers skillfully on the keyboard, are well-trained, and everything is in order.
Wangfujing Savings Bank
Looking at all this in front of me, another scene always popped up in my mind: in front of the counter, a depositor took out his passbook in confusion, trying to withdraw the money he saved in another savings bank, staring at the huge computer monitor; in the counter, employees stared at the screen and operated carefully until relevant information was displayed on the screen. When the depositor got the money, everyone breathed a sigh of relief...
When this workflow that seemed common today happened in the savings bank for the first time, and the first time in Beijing, people's applause and cheers were boiling! has won praises from the first prize of Beijing Science and Technology Progress to the third prize of National Science and Technology Progress.
Abacus account book work method was broken by our ICBC technicians in the 1980s. At that time, our savings office was growing a stove, a pen, an abacus, a book, a household and an account page. Employees had to receive customers during the day and count the accounts one by one. After the business ends, the lights are turned off and the lights are gone when they go home. If you are negligent during the day, you often review and check all night...
The 1980s were in the early stage of reform and opening up. With the increasing development of the economy, people's requirements for convenient and fast services for banks are becoming increasingly urgent, and it is imperative to realize the networking between outlets. At that time, the Beijing branch had begun to use the M-150 dual-machine banking business online system. This was the first local computer network in the country that we built on our own. The use of "her" made 15 outlets including Wangfujing, Xidan, Xinjiekou, Sanlihe, etc. take the lead in realizing open deposit and redeem in Beijing.
On September 30, 1986, our bank held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the establishment of five new businesses (current savings, direct wire transfers, personal remittances, savings traveler checks, and fixed-quota bills).
Electronic computers were a new thing at the time. Many colleagues could not believe in these "iron guys" at first. They calculated the machine and then used it manually, but the result was that people could not calculate the machine. At that time, the continuous upgrade of technology always made us in surprise and excitement, and a little worried: what was excited was that the equipment was getting better and better, faster and smaller; what was worried was that we must continue to learn and become familiar with the various performances of new equipment as soon as possible, for fear of falling behind technological changes.
In this case, I got to know the IBM-4381 system. With "her", a larger-scale Internet connection is no longer a dream. How to use "her" has become an important task for us to overcome difficulties at that time. The first problem is to find a "home" for "her", the area should be large enough to keep up with the power supply, and the future development of outlets should also be considered.
With these actual needs, we began to inspect and select locations at various outlets of the Beijing branch. During the inspection, I experienced disappointment again and again. The suitable area is often not good, and the location is good but not suitable for the computer operating environment. When the inspection team came to an outlet on Wangfujing Street, the conditions here made everyone's eyes shine: the core area, the outlets have a wide radiation range, sufficient backup power, and there is also a large conference room. After renovation, it seems that it can set up a home for the new machine!
We wrote a report overnight that day. After obtaining approval, the eastern center of the Beijing branch’s network was officially settled on Wangfujing Street, and the initial battle of computer room selection was won.
didn't even have time to take a breath, and we encountered the most difficult and critical juncture in the entire "Internet war" - no telephone line. Our goal is to be the first among banks to use telephone lines to connect to the Internet. However, Wangfujing underground communication cables are old and are mostly wrapped by tree roots and are tangled. The communication capabilities cannot meet the networking requirements between IBM-4381 hosts and terminals at all. To solve this problem, there is no other way to break the road and dig the ditches and rebuilt the lines.
If you want to open the road in the downtown area of Wangfujing, it is a big deal and requires approval from multiple competent departments. During that time, our main job was to run errands and contact. After many efforts and approval from the municipal government, the project was finally ready to start.
In order to minimize the inconvenience caused to citizens' lives and to achieve the strategic goal of the eastern network of Beijing Branch as soon as possible, we conduct office inspections at the construction site every day to supervise the construction progress. From the south entrance of Wangfujing to the foreign bookstore, and then to the Dengshikou, we spent 14 sleepless nights with construction workers, and finally restored the road smoothness one week ahead of schedule. The Eastern Network Battle has achieved a decisive victory at this point.
After the construction of external line channels is completed, internal construction is also a meticulous job. Computer circuits are very complex and have strict requirements on the materials of floors and walls. Overall, constant temperature, humidity and dust protection must be achieved. Any slight negligence in decoration may become a killer to destroy computer systems in the future. At that time, there were not many decent computer rooms in the country, and there were even fewer professional decoration companies. We traveled all over the huge capital city and could not find a competent company. We had to turn our attention to outside Beijing.
"Studying around in the iron shoes" and finally discovered a computer room decoration company in the neighboring Tianjin. After on-site inspection of its computer room model, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief. This meticulous work was hopeful!
starts work immediately after confirmation and keeps moving forward. For a whole month, the decoration company worked day and night, and we also worked overtime every day to keep an eye on the construction site. In order to be able to effectively supervise the decoration of the computer room in real time, we searched through the "Decoration Code Manual" and looked at it. When the project was successfully accepted, the tattered outer skin and grinded handwriting became the most unique gift.
Host room operation table
After that, we established a western networking center in Beitaipingzhuang, connecting the entire Beijing city. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Beijing Branch realized networking operations for the first time at that time. Chen Muhua, then vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, attended our opening ceremony. As an ordinary member of ICBC's scientific and technological work, a sense of pride arises naturally.
On April 28, 1990, Vice Chairman Chen Muhua launched ribbon cutting for the computer network.
I remember when the science and technology work was just starting, I got up early and went to bed late when I was busy. The work was more specific and trivial. Either the space was too small and it was not suitable for the machine to be placed, or the transformer was reinstalled too close, or the line faults were checked and repaired immediately... There was no earth-shaking achievement, but this was done.
Using current technology, it is no longer a rare thing to connect a city’s banking network. But for us, the huge machine back then recorded the youth story of a generation, leaving behind the sweat of the hard work of the old ICBC and realized the simple and simple "Chinese Dream".
If you want to open the road in the downtown area of Wangfujing, it is a big deal and requires approval from multiple competent departments. During that time, our main job was to run errands and contact. After many efforts and approval from the municipal government, the project was finally ready to start.
In order to minimize the inconvenience caused to citizens' lives and to achieve the strategic goal of the eastern network of Beijing Branch as soon as possible, we conduct office inspections at the construction site every day to supervise the construction progress. From the south entrance of Wangfujing to the foreign bookstore, and then to the Dengshikou, we spent 14 sleepless nights with construction workers, and finally restored the road smoothness one week ahead of schedule. The Eastern Network Battle has achieved a decisive victory at this point.
After the construction of external line channels is completed, internal construction is also a meticulous job. Computer circuits are very complex and have strict requirements on the materials of floors and walls. Overall, constant temperature, humidity and dust protection must be achieved. Any slight negligence in decoration may become a killer to destroy computer systems in the future. At that time, there were not many decent computer rooms in the country, and there were even fewer professional decoration companies. We traveled all over the huge capital city and could not find a competent company. We had to turn our attention to outside Beijing.
"Studying around in the iron shoes" and finally discovered a computer room decoration company in the neighboring Tianjin. After on-site inspection of its computer room model, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief. This meticulous work was hopeful!
starts work immediately after confirmation and keeps moving forward. For a whole month, the decoration company worked day and night, and we also worked overtime every day to keep an eye on the construction site. In order to be able to effectively supervise the decoration of the computer room in real time, we searched through the "Decoration Code Manual" and looked at it. When the project was successfully accepted, the tattered outer skin and grinded handwriting became the most unique gift.
Host room operation table
After that, we established a western networking center in Beitaipingzhuang, connecting the entire Beijing city. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Beijing Branch realized networking operations for the first time at that time. Chen Muhua, then vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, attended our opening ceremony. As an ordinary member of ICBC's scientific and technological work, a sense of pride arises naturally.
On April 28, 1990, Vice Chairman Chen Muhua launched ribbon cutting for the computer network.
I remember when the science and technology work was just starting, I got up early and went to bed late when I was busy. The work was more specific and trivial. Either the space was too small and it was not suitable for the machine to be placed, or the transformer was reinstalled too close, or the line faults were checked and repaired immediately... There was no earth-shaking achievement, but this was done.
Using current technology, it is no longer a rare thing to connect a city’s banking network. But for us, the huge machine back then recorded the youth story of a generation, leaving behind the sweat of the hard work of the old ICBC and realized the simple and simple "Chinese Dream".
