LILY WANG SHE HAS BUILT A GROUP OF COMPANIES AROUND THE CIGAR BUSINESS, BEING THE PRESIDENT OF CHINA CIGAR AMBASSADOR GROUP

practice, practice, practice. I enjoy endless fun about it.

CD: What are the most valuable experiences that this industry has left you?

LW: I am very grateful to all the industry experts and teachers who provided me with knowledge and teachings during this journey. They taught me about tobacco, from a tobacco seed to a cigar, how many people have paid their labor and sweat, and injected all their emotions into this industry! I also learned from these tobacco people how to realistically run a tobacco business and how to be a tobacco person.

CD: What lessons has the Dominican Republic left you in this business? What do you appreciate most about this country?

LW: I especially want to thank the Dominican Republic, the kingdom of tobacco in the world, whether it is a large cigar factory, a family workshop or a tobacco grower, they trust in the experience that the family transmits to them and their own efforts to continue the culture of high-quality cigar. I admire you! I also want to thank you on behalf of Chinese cigar smokers!

CD: We know you work and travel a lot, how many tobacco-related businesses do you currently have?

We met Lily Wang at the Procigar Festival many years ago. We have traveled to her events in China, both the Cigar Festival in Shanghai, and the International Cigar Expo (ICE) in 2019, held in Shenzhen, and we have accompanied Lily in her cigar ventures in the Dominican Republic, observing in her a tireless hardworking, eager to learn more and more about the world of cigars. That passion that she transmits when she talks about the cigar has captivated us all, which is why we want to introduce you to this formidable Chinese woman with a Dominican soul.

CIGARRO DOMINICANO: How and when did you start your path in the tobacco world?

LILY WANG: I started working in the tobacco industry in 2005 when I left the financial sector. The reason for changing careers was simple, because I fell in love with cigars.

CD: How does a woman from China get to do business with tobacco in the Dominican Republic?

LW: In 2005, I founded China’s first cigar culture magazine “CIGAR AMBASSADOR”, which is a magazine on the dissemination of cigar culture. That is, since that year, I went to Cuba and the Dominican Republic, participated in and reported on cigar festivals, visited and interviewed various cigar factories, and brought the world’s cigar culture to China. At that time, China’s cigar culture was still in its begining, the number of cigar consumers was less than 2,000 smokers, but by 2022, the number of cigar customers in China reached more than 20 million.

CD: You have been involved in this industry for many years, if you look back, how do you see this path?

LW: This is an interesting industry, but you have to work a lot. I’m still full of love and passion for this career. Although in the past 20 years, I have missed spending Chinese New Year with my family (Chinese New Year is when PROCIGAR Festival takes place), but I don’t want to miss the wonderful cigar festival, which features the newest in the cigar world. Every passing year makes me feel like my understanding of tobacco is far from enough, I study, I study, I study,

LW: Starting from “CIGAR AMBASSADOR”, we have opened cigar retail stores and Chinese cigar clubs in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Macao and other places according to the requirements of Chinese cigar consumers. I have contributed to carry out the Chinese Cigar Culture Festival, also to start the international tobacco trade. I have been helping cigar brands from the Dominican Republic to be distributed in China.

CD: Is it normal for a Chinese woman to get involved in the cigar world? How big is the female participation in the tobacco sector in China, either as workers or as consumers?

LW: At the Procigar festival charity auction in 2023, I won two works of art, one of which is a sculpture of a tobacco worker, combining a red love heart with tobacco leaves. Whether in Cuba, the Dominican Republic or China, there are many women in the tobacco industry, and some of them have become tobacco masters. In the tobacco fields and cigar factories of China, there are also a large number of women. Among Chinese cigar smokers, 17% are women.

CD: With what new things will Lily surprise us with in the near future?

LW: Doing my job well with my feet on the ground, learning non-stop, and pursuing professionalism and perfection are my eternal goals.