An Unusual and Costly Route to China
The toll on the Silk Road to China can be steep for U.S. investors.
The Market Vectors China exchange-traded fund from Van Eck Global, launched in October, has traded at prices as much as 20% above its net asset value, or the per-share value of its holdings─a clear risk to buyers. (The premium was 5.2% Friday.) By comparison, the oldest and largest U.S.-listed China ETF, iShares FTSE China 25 Index, trades close to its NAV. (The iShares ETF has $6.5 billion in assets, versus just $22 million for the Market Vectors ETF.)
The Van Eck fund fetches a premium because it is the only U.S.-listed ETF that offers investors a way to play the largest and most liquid Chinese stocks. These so-called A shares are traded only within China and by a limited number of non-Chinese companies deemed Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors by the Chinese government. Other China-focused ETFs invest in Chinese companies that are listed in Hong Kong or other markets.
One wrinkle: Van Eck is not a qualified foreign investor in China, though it has applied for that status.
Instead, Market Vectors China tracks an index of A shares by using swaps─private arrangements in which a financial institution agrees to deliver a return based on that of a security or index. So far, the Van Eck ETF has entered into swaps only with Credit Suisse Group, which is a qualified foreign investor.
Market Vectors China is the only nonleveraged, noninverse stock ETF trading in the U.S. using only swaps for returns, according to IndexUniverse. It was approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2009, months before the SEC put a moratorium on new derivative-based ETFs from companies that haven't previously offered them.
While trading with just one counterparty can be a red flag for some investors─because the ETF's investors are dependent on that counterparty living up to its obligations─Van Eck Managing Director Adam Phillips says the fund will look to add counterparties as its assets grow.
The Market Vectors China exchange-traded fund from Van Eck Global, launched in October, has traded at prices as much as 20% above its net asset value, or the per-share value of its holdings─a clear risk to buyers. (The premium was 5.2% Friday.) By comparison, the oldest and largest U.S.-listed China ETF, iShares FTSE China 25 Index, trades close to its NAV. (The iShares ETF has $6.5 billion in assets, versus just $22 million for the Market Vectors ETF.)
The Van Eck fund fetches a premium because it is the only U.S.-listed ETF that offers investors a way to play the largest and most liquid Chinese stocks. These so-called A shares are traded only within China and by a limited number of non-Chinese companies deemed Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors by the Chinese government. Other China-focused ETFs invest in Chinese companies that are listed in Hong Kong or other markets.
One wrinkle: Van Eck is not a qualified foreign investor in China, though it has applied for that status.
Instead, Market Vectors China tracks an index of A shares by using swaps─private arrangements in which a financial institution agrees to deliver a return based on that of a security or index. So far, the Van Eck ETF has entered into swaps only with Credit Suisse Group, which is a qualified foreign investor.
Market Vectors China is the only nonleveraged, noninverse stock ETF trading in the U.S. using only swaps for returns, according to IndexUniverse. It was approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2009, months before the SEC put a moratorium on new derivative-based ETFs from companies that haven't previously offered them.
While trading with just one counterparty can be a red flag for some investors─because the ETF's investors are dependent on that counterparty living up to its obligations─Van Eck Managing Director Adam Phillips says the fund will look to add counterparties as its assets grow.
Chinese antique furniture collection: market warming up
By Chu Zhiying & Huang Saihua
Among the immense Chinese historical and cultural treasures, antique furniture is a special flower. With the development of social economy, the original practical function of antique furniture is getting unimportant, while the cultural relic characteristic is getting more and more notable, and they have become the object that many collectors chase after. However, when antique furniture becomes art collection and fashion consumable, how should we collect antique furniture? How should we understand the collection value of antique furniture? How big is the appreciation space? Such problems are getting more and more attention.
In recent years, both the folk collection market and the auction market of antique furniture have been steadily growing. Among the major curio markets in Beijing, stores dealing in antique furniture can be seen here and there, and have large shop fronts. However, people who are always hanging around the curio market say that it's hard to find a collection that can be really called antique furniture.
As practical appliance, the real antique furniture can seldom be saved in good condition. Plus, more and more buyers in recent years have boosted the development of antique furniture market. According to industry insiders, new imitated antique furniture made of redwood is appreciating at a rate of 25 percent per year.
What brought the appreciation of antique furniture? On the one hand, with the increasing enhancement of people's living level, the antique furniture carrying the traditional culture meanings prevails as a symbol of life quality. On the other hand, the combination of practicability and investment value of antique furniture is an important reason why it is so popular. Not to speak of the rare high-class antique furniture made of rosewood and Huanghuali wood, the prices of old Redwood furniture made from Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China period are being doubled almost every year. Even the old cork wood furniture, to which collectors didn't pay much attention in the past, has now become a kind of key collection. Among investment areas today, the investment to antique furniture has become an investment type of comparatively low risk and high value maintenance and appreciation capacity.
In auction market, antique furniture belongs to sundries. Comparing with such antique arts as calligraphy, painting and porcelain, it is in an apparently disadvantaged condition. The reasons lie in the difficulties in operation and the search of elaborate works. But as long as a piece of antique furniture is launched for auction, it will be the focus of the auction house. In the auctions of 2007, antique furniture showed several highlights. On the autumn action in Beijing Poly Theatre at the end of 2007, a pair of large rosewood square-angled four-piece wardrobes made in Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty was auctioned off at the price of RMB28 million yuan.
Before this, records were made every year in antique furniture auctions. At the Chinese antique furniture auction in Chiristie's, New York in 1996, a Ming-style Huanghuali folding screen was auctioned off at a price equal to RMB10 million yuan. As to the market appreciation of antique furniture, a convictive case happened in China Jiade 2004 Autumn Auction. A large square Huanghuali table carved with dragon patterns made in Ming Dynasty and auctioned off at RMB8.8 million yuan in 1996, was auctioned off again at RMB4.29 million yuan, increasing near five times in 8 years.
However, comparing with its behavior in the hot folk collection market, the antique furniture is playing a less active role in the auction sector than the calligraphy, painting art and porcelain. Regarding this, Kou Qin, Board Director and Vice President of Jiade Company, said, "It's because we didn't develop enough good things in this area, and we need to popularize more things." He believed that furniture was different from traditional auction items like China, calligraphy and painting. For collectors, paintings made by Qi Baishi and a contemporary unknown painter both have their market value, but furniture collectors only want rare varieties like those made in Ming or Qing Dynasty, or made of rosewood. "Actually, many good things are not included in the collection scope yet." It looks as if that both auction businesses and folk collectors should bear a comparatively unified understanding of collection scope and value identification of Chinese antique furniture.
It seems to echo the demands of market. Not long ago, "Elegant Gathering in the Flourishing Age-2008 Chinese Antique Furniture Collection Expo & International Seminar" was held at the China Millennium Monument in Beijing. The expo gathered near 60 pieces of valuable and rare Ming-Qing furniture belonging to famous private collectors at home and abroad, and held high-level seminars, which invited many Chinese and overseas experts. Tian Jiaqing, the curator of the expo and an antique furniture expert said, "The expo directly conveyed the profound meanings and connotation of Chinese antique furniture to the audience via the exhibits."
At the same time, some experts don't agree with the trend of investment-oriented collection in the society. Ye Chengyao, the owner of Hong Kong's "Gongyu Shanfang" and an antique furniture collector, believes that it's against the collection spirit to buy antique furniture with a goal of investment. Jin Bohong, the identification expert, thinks that only finding, gathering, sorting, research and spread and inheriting can be called collection. The basic meaning of collection is a kind of culture and shouldn't be equal to investment.
Whatever, the presently emerging antique furniture collection fervor has an active meaning for the protection and research of antique furniture. In the long past, the value and position of antique furniture were not paid much attention to. In the 1920s~1930s, people like Liang Sicheng began to research on Chinese architecture, thus drove the research on Chinese antique furniture. People began to know the value of Chinese antique furniture gradually, and the fact common people attached great importance to collection happened only in the recent 2 or 3 decades. Comparing to the research on those traditional cultures and arts like Chinese calligraphy, painting and porcelain, the research on antique furniture is just beginning.
Tian Jiaqing thinks that the research and understanding on Chinese antique furniture is of great practical meaning for our society. Hu Desheng believes that though the prices in the antique furniture market is rising steadily, the attention paid to antique furniture is far from enough comparing with the traditional artwork like Chinese calligraphy, painting and Guanyao porcelain, an the prices have a large rising space. Zhang Dexiang showed the same opinion. He said, "I can predict that the spring of Chinese antique furniture collection has arrived."
By Chu Zhiying & Huang Saihua
Among the immense Chinese historical and cultural treasures, antique furniture is a special flower. With the development of social economy, the original practical function of antique furniture is getting unimportant, while the cultural relic characteristic is getting more and more notable, and they have become the object that many collectors chase after. However, when antique furniture becomes art collection and fashion consumable, how should we collect antique furniture? How should we understand the collection value of antique furniture? How big is the appreciation space? Such problems are getting more and more attention.
In recent years, both the folk collection market and the auction market of antique furniture have been steadily growing. Among the major curio markets in Beijing, stores dealing in antique furniture can be seen here and there, and have large shop fronts. However, people who are always hanging around the curio market say that it's hard to find a collection that can be really called antique furniture.
As practical appliance, the real antique furniture can seldom be saved in good condition. Plus, more and more buyers in recent years have boosted the development of antique furniture market. According to industry insiders, new imitated antique furniture made of redwood is appreciating at a rate of 25 percent per year.
What brought the appreciation of antique furniture? On the one hand, with the increasing enhancement of people's living level, the antique furniture carrying the traditional culture meanings prevails as a symbol of life quality. On the other hand, the combination of practicability and investment value of antique furniture is an important reason why it is so popular. Not to speak of the rare high-class antique furniture made of rosewood and Huanghuali wood, the prices of old Redwood furniture made from Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China period are being doubled almost every year. Even the old cork wood furniture, to which collectors didn't pay much attention in the past, has now become a kind of key collection. Among investment areas today, the investment to antique furniture has become an investment type of comparatively low risk and high value maintenance and appreciation capacity.
In auction market, antique furniture belongs to sundries. Comparing with such antique arts as calligraphy, painting and porcelain, it is in an apparently disadvantaged condition. The reasons lie in the difficulties in operation and the search of elaborate works. But as long as a piece of antique furniture is launched for auction, it will be the focus of the auction house. In the auctions of 2007, antique furniture showed several highlights. On the autumn action in Beijing Poly Theatre at the end of 2007, a pair of large rosewood square-angled four-piece wardrobes made in Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty was auctioned off at the price of RMB28 million yuan.
Before this, records were made every year in antique furniture auctions. At the Chinese antique furniture auction in Chiristie's, New York in 1996, a Ming-style Huanghuali folding screen was auctioned off at a price equal to RMB10 million yuan. As to the market appreciation of antique furniture, a convictive case happened in China Jiade 2004 Autumn Auction. A large square Huanghuali table carved with dragon patterns made in Ming Dynasty and auctioned off at RMB8.8 million yuan in 1996, was auctioned off again at RMB4.29 million yuan, increasing near five times in 8 years.
However, comparing with its behavior in the hot folk collection market, the antique furniture is playing a less active role in the auction sector than the calligraphy, painting art and porcelain. Regarding this, Kou Qin, Board Director and Vice President of Jiade Company, said, "It's because we didn't develop enough good things in this area, and we need to popularize more things." He believed that furniture was different from traditional auction items like China, calligraphy and painting. For collectors, paintings made by Qi Baishi and a contemporary unknown painter both have their market value, but furniture collectors only want rare varieties like those made in Ming or Qing Dynasty, or made of rosewood. "Actually, many good things are not included in the collection scope yet." It looks as if that both auction businesses and folk collectors should bear a comparatively unified understanding of collection scope and value identification of Chinese antique furniture.
It seems to echo the demands of market. Not long ago, "Elegant Gathering in the Flourishing Age-2008 Chinese Antique Furniture Collection Expo & International Seminar" was held at the China Millennium Monument in Beijing. The expo gathered near 60 pieces of valuable and rare Ming-Qing furniture belonging to famous private collectors at home and abroad, and held high-level seminars, which invited many Chinese and overseas experts. Tian Jiaqing, the curator of the expo and an antique furniture expert said, "The expo directly conveyed the profound meanings and connotation of Chinese antique furniture to the audience via the exhibits."
At the same time, some experts don't agree with the trend of investment-oriented collection in the society. Ye Chengyao, the owner of Hong Kong's "Gongyu Shanfang" and an antique furniture collector, believes that it's against the collection spirit to buy antique furniture with a goal of investment. Jin Bohong, the identification expert, thinks that only finding, gathering, sorting, research and spread and inheriting can be called collection. The basic meaning of collection is a kind of culture and shouldn't be equal to investment.
Whatever, the presently emerging antique furniture collection fervor has an active meaning for the protection and research of antique furniture. In the long past, the value and position of antique furniture were not paid much attention to. In the 1920s~1930s, people like Liang Sicheng began to research on Chinese architecture, thus drove the research on Chinese antique furniture. People began to know the value of Chinese antique furniture gradually, and the fact common people attached great importance to collection happened only in the recent 2 or 3 decades. Comparing to the research on those traditional cultures and arts like Chinese calligraphy, painting and porcelain, the research on antique furniture is just beginning.
Tian Jiaqing thinks that the research and understanding on Chinese antique furniture is of great practical meaning for our society. Hu Desheng believes that though the prices in the antique furniture market is rising steadily, the attention paid to antique furniture is far from enough comparing with the traditional artwork like Chinese calligraphy, painting and Guanyao porcelain, an the prices have a large rising space. Zhang Dexiang showed the same opinion. He said, "I can predict that the spring of Chinese antique furniture collection has arrived."
Chinese Jade
The word "jade" communicates a sense of mystery. In Chinese, "jade" (yu) refers to a fine, beautiful stone with a warm color and rich luster, that is skillfully and delicately carved. In Chinese culture, jade symbolizes nobility, perfection, constancy, and immortality. For millennia, jade has been an intimate part of the lives of Chinese of all ranks and classes. It is viewed as the most valuable of all precious stones.
Jade is found in mountains and riverbeds, and Chinese consider jade to be "the essence of heaven and earth." When polished and carved into various articles, jade is attributed with certain cultural characteristics. In ancient Chinese cosmology, the firmament was considered to be round, and the earth square. Thus a round jade ceremonial ornament with a hole in the center, called a pi, was carved to honor the gods of heaven, and a long hollow jade ornament with rectangular sides, called a ts'ung, was made to honor the spirits of earth. According to ancient Chinese legend, the phoenix and the dragon are animal deities that were the life-source of family clans. For this reason, jade was often used as a material for carving phoenixes and dragons worn as ornaments. These ornaments symbolized the noble bearing of a gentleman, and are the origin of the Chinese saying : "The gentleman's morals are like jade."
Sacrificial and auspicious articles were used in ancient institutionalized rites, and are generally referred to as "ritual utensils." Sacrificial utensils were used in offerings to ancestors or in paying ceremonial respect to the gods of heaven and earth. We know from archaeological remains that people of the Neolithic Era carved a great number of round pi and rectangular ts'ung for use as sacrificial utensils. The concept of a round heaven and rectangular earth, which eventually became deeply ingrained in the Chinese mind, may have first emerged around this time. "Auspicious utensils" were carried or worn by the nobility as symbols of their office or authority. For example, jade axes and spades later evolved into kuei, elongated pointed tablets of jade. When the "son of heaven," or emperor, dispatched a duke, prince, or other official for external duty, he would give him a "tablet of authority" to proclaim the task assigned to him by the "son of heaven." The traditional function of ritual jade utensils gradually began to wane after the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. to 220 A.D.), when only a small number of sacrificial jade utensils were used in ceremonial rites led by the emperor.
"The living wear jade as a symbol of their moral integrity, and jade accompanies the deceased to comfort their souls." Over four thousand years ago in China, great quantities of jade utensils were often laid over or around a casket, particularly the pi-representing the round heaven, and the ts'ung signifying the rectangular earth. They were a symbolic link of communication between heaven and earth, of exchange between man and the spiritual world. Later, jade articles were carved specifically for burial with the dead, based on the idea that the jade's qualities of nobility, perfection, constancy, and immortality would prevent the physical body from decay. Examples of jade objects for burial use are a thin, light jade cicada which was placed in the mouth of the dead, and a thick, round jade piglet, which was enclosed in a hand of the deceased. A cicada goes under the ground and is "reborn" after shedding its skin; and a pig breeds quickly, thus increasing wealth. Thus natural motifs are used to express human desires for reincarnation or increased wealth for one's family.
The development of jade utensils after the Sung (960-1279 A.D.) and Yuan (1271-1368 A.D.) dynasties tended more towards pure craftsmanship and artistry. Except for a small number of ritual jade utensils set out by the emperor in sacrificial rites, the carving of large quantities of jade utensils in this era is attributable mainly to their sophisticated aesthetic appeal. The majority of carved jade items were ornamental in nature, including pieces for display and items for personal use. But ornamental jade display pieces were also used for reasons. Such articles included brush holders, brush washers, water cups, armrests, and red ink paste (for name chops) boxes. Fine and exquisite workmanship endowed each piece with richness, luster, and delicacy, reflecting the high quality of life aspired to by the Chinese. Jade items for personal use included combs, hairpins, bracelets, and waist pendants. Jade ornaments were also set in walking sticks, waist sashes, garments, and caps. Jade ornaments have remained popular up until the present day. Today in the Taiwan, the purchase, wearing, and giving of jade items as gifts is still very common. Jade is viewed as an ideal gift for couples making a mutual commitment, and for one's children when they get married. Even now, the Chinese retain the idea that in addition to being beautiful, jade can protect from misfortune and bring good luck.
Jade is an essence produced through the natural forces of rivers and mountains over eons. However, if it is not skillfully cut and polished, there is no way for the potential richness and luster that people prize to be expressed. The Chinese have a saying that goes. "If jade is not properly cut, it cannot be made into a useful utensil." Cutting is an important step in the process of producing jade articles.
The manufacture of Chinese jade articles was already highly developed by the Shang Dynasty (16th to 11th century B.C). The Chinese of this period had the technology to produce jade articles of every imaginable type, shape, and size. By the end of the Chou Dynasty (11th century to 256 B.C.) and the beginning of the Han Dynasty, Chinese jades reached a second peak in their development. Craftsmen had at their disposal more advanced tools and efficient methods of polishing jade and creating unsurpassed masterpieces. One technique involved carving an article with several linked components out of a single piece of jade, demonstrating the high sophistication of the craftsman's mastery. From this point on, jade craftsmen could accommodate practically any and every customer demand in their work.
In the Taiwan today, the art of jade carving has reached yet another summit in its development. Traditional forms and modern styles are combined into striking new creations, and modern technology has greatly elevated the quality of workmanship. No longer is jade for the exclusive use of emperors and noblemen; just about everyone in the Taiwan has the means to own and wear jade. Beyond maintaining its historical role, jade artistry has been further developed with creativity and skill, and has become an indispensable part of everyday life. Jade remains an eternal symbol of China's magnificent civilization.
The bark was peel off to check the formation of oleoraisin on induced parts of the trunk.
Wescorp Agarwood - History
The “Wood of the Gods” has at least a 3,000 year history in the Middle East, Japan and China. Only Kings and the very wealthy were able to benefit from its powers.
There are references to agarwood in the literature of India. The Indian poet Kalidasa once wrote: “Beautiful ladies, preparing themselves for the feast of pleasures, cleanse themselves with the yellow powder of sandal, clear and pure, freshen their breast with pleasant aromas, and suspended their dark hair in the smoke of burning Aloeswood.”
King Louis XIV of France had his shirts washed in rose water in which Aloeswood had been previously boiled.
There are a total of five places in the Bible where Aloeswood appears. Nicodemus brought it (pounded Aloeswood) to embalm the body of Christ (John 19:39).
It was used by the Egyptians at the time of the pyramids for embalming privileged dead bodies. In Buddhism, the most precious string of beads is made with 108 beads made from agarwood. In ancient China the wealthy chooses Aloeswood to make their coffins. There are many references on other web-sites for further information.
The tragedy of the agarwood industry is that the whole of the tree has to be felled to obtain the valuable inner layers. Not all trees contain the agarwood in the wild and there are occasions where 10 trees will be cut down to find agarwood in only one. Unsustainable Aquilaria harvesting in natural forests has resulted in near extinction in many areas of South East Asia. Many of the species are now listed as a protected tree and are recorded with CITES red data book.
Wescorp Agarwood - History
The “Wood of the Gods” has at least a 3,000 year history in the Middle East, Japan and China. Only Kings and the very wealthy were able to benefit from its powers.
There are references to agarwood in the literature of India. The Indian poet Kalidasa once wrote: “Beautiful ladies, preparing themselves for the feast of pleasures, cleanse themselves with the yellow powder of sandal, clear and pure, freshen their breast with pleasant aromas, and suspended their dark hair in the smoke of burning Aloeswood.”
King Louis XIV of France had his shirts washed in rose water in which Aloeswood had been previously boiled.
There are a total of five places in the Bible where Aloeswood appears. Nicodemus brought it (pounded Aloeswood) to embalm the body of Christ (John 19:39).
It was used by the Egyptians at the time of the pyramids for embalming privileged dead bodies. In Buddhism, the most precious string of beads is made with 108 beads made from agarwood. In ancient China the wealthy chooses Aloeswood to make their coffins. There are many references on other web-sites for further information.
The tragedy of the agarwood industry is that the whole of the tree has to be felled to obtain the valuable inner layers. Not all trees contain the agarwood in the wild and there are occasions where 10 trees will be cut down to find agarwood in only one. Unsustainable Aquilaria harvesting in natural forests has resulted in near extinction in many areas of South East Asia. Many of the species are now listed as a protected tree and are recorded with CITES red data book.
A wine that grip the trunk of the agarwood. A good natural way to induce the oleoraisin.
Agarwood
Fragrant tree extraction process liberates essential oils
Reported by Quang Thuan – Translated by Minh Phat
Vietnamese scientists have single-handedly increased the value of the Eaglewood tree by extracting its essential oils, which can be used in everything form pharmaceutics and medicines to cosmetics.
Scientists at the Ho Chi Minh City Institute of Chemistry Sciences have discovered how to obtain the essential oil by a supercritical fluid CO2 extraction process using the tree, scientific name Aquilaria Agallocha, Aquilaria agallwha Roxb, or Agarwood (or Do Bau in Vietnamese).
It takes around 30-45 minutes to complete extraction of a batch of Do bau essentials oil, which can be sold at a price of US$10,000 – 14,000 per liter.
The process consists of pumping pressurized carbon dioxide into a chamber filled with plant matter. When carbon dioxide is subjected to pressure it becomes ‘supercritical’ and has liquid properties while remaining in a gaseous state.
Because of the liquid properties of the gas, the CO2 functions as a solvent, it pulls the oils and other substances such as pigment and resin from the plant matter. The temperature involved in the supercritical extraction process is around 95 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37 C degrees).
Currently, Vietnam has around 8,000 hectares of eaglewood trees spanning from the north to the south, with the area to be expanded by about 4,000 hectares a year.
The eaglewood tree matures after ten years and during the period, it requires a total investment of VND380 million ($23,750) to take care of one hectare, normally with 1,000 trees.
Besides being used as a herbal treatment, eaglewood essential oil could also be used in processing perfume, and aroma therapy.
Oudh (Aquilaria Agallocha)
INTRODUCTION
Agarwood tree is one of the precious gift of nature to the mankind, its sweet fragnance has no parallel in the world. It belongs to the genus Aquilaria of family Thymeleaceae. The genus Aquilaria agallocha, Aquilaria malaccensis and Aquilaria khasiana in the North East India of which Aquilaria agallocha. The agarwood (black resinous wood) or 'agaru' and agar oil (the essential oil) or agar attar are the most exalted perfumery raw materials obtained from the infected wood of this Aquilaria spp. The agar wood oil or aloe wood oil, known in the east as agar attar is obtained by distilling selected parts of the infected wood of Aquilaria spp. The oil is one of the perfumery's oldest materials used in high-class perfumery and as a fixative, imparting a lasting balasamic odour to the product.
HISTORY OF AGARWOOD
The use of 'agaru' is pre-historic. The Aloe wood as in the Bible was the heartwood of Aquilaria ovata and Aquilaria agallocha. The Aloes referred to in the Bible was evidently a very aromatic plant and most probably the agarwood. There are mentions of the use of Aloe wood (Udul-Hind) in Paradise as incense in the famous Ahadith-Sahi Al-Bukhari. There are mentions of 'agaru' of ancient Kamrup in the report of Chinese Pilgrim Hiuen-Tsang, Abhijnanam Sakuntalam of Kalidas, and Arthosasthra of Koutilya. The first historical biographies in Sanskrit the Harshacharita written by Bana in 652 AD states tha tthe presents sent by Bhaskaravarman to Harsha included among other things, voulmes of fine writings in leaves made of aloe bark (bark of agar plant) and black aloe oil. There is mention in the Sabhaparvan of the Mahabharata that in the course of Digvijaya Bhimsena went to Pragjyotish and recevied sandalwood and aloewood (agaru) as presents. The Nowgong grant of Balavarman gives a graphic description of Pragjyotishanagara where arecanut trees were wrapped in leaves of creeper or betel-plants and Krishnaguru (Telegu or Tamil name of Agarwood) or black aloe-wood trees were surrounded with cardamom creepers.
After Conquering the capital of last king Gaur Govind in 1384 A.D. in Sylhet Saint Fakir Shah Jalal (RA) and his followers found agar wood and agar attar along with many other valuables in the Royal store. This indicates that distillation of agar oil was done during thirteen century or even early in India. Abul Fazal Allami in his Ain-I-Akbari (memoir of Emperor Akbar) written in about 1590 AD. gave a vivid description of agarwood and agar oil along with their manufacturing process and uses. It is also said that Mughal invaded Assam mainly for'agaru'.
From Kamrup 'agaru' had been exported to the Middle East from time immemorial may be by the Chinese traders through the Silk road which extended from China to Middle-East through Kamrup and then India. During those days in Kamrup 'Agaru' and Chandan (Santalum album L.) were the main items of cosmetics as there are mentions of these two articles in different old scriptures of Kamrup like Ramayan translated by Madhava Kandali. The 15th century Saint-Reformer and Literary Giant Sri Sankardev used bark of the tree as 'Sanchipat' for writing religious scripts which is still being preserved in many places. In a devotional verse, he described the 'Agaru' and the Chandan plant as divine, capable of fulfulling human desires. In folk songs also there are mentions of 'agaru'.
During 1900 plentiful extraction of the perfumed wood (agaru) was done in various parts of undivided Assam. Assam 'agaru' used to go to Calcutta and from there to Turkey, Arabia, Parsia and Europe. At present Indian 'agaru' is largely exported to Arab countries where it is used as incense and also in the manufacture of joss sticks.
THE TREE
It is a large to medium evergreen tree 15-20 m high, sometimes grow upto 40 m high as is found in Barak Valley, 1.5-2.5 m girth with a moderately straight and often fluted stem. Leaves 5-9 cm long, thinly cariaceous, oblong lanceolate; floweres white or green to dirty yello in terminal, sessile or shortly peduncled umbellate cymes. The tree regenerates freely by seeds. The fungus infected trees furnish the agarwood or eaglewood of commerce which occurs as dark coloured resinous fragrant masses in the center of the bole and branches. The normal (uninfected) wood is soft, light and elastic. It is white to pale yelloish white and has no particular odour.
HOW THE TREE BECOMES SO VALUABLE
The tree becomes valuable only after getting infected by a particular fungus or group of fungi, ceases to grow and become sick in the population stand. The agar oil or 'Agaru' is thus a product of disease caused by certain fungus. The infection occurs when stem is injured or bored by larvae of a particular stem borer (Zeuzera conferta Walker) belonging to the family Lepidoptera. These borers make vertical tunnels (hollow and zigzag) inside the tree trunk and thus the surface of the tunnels become the initial sites for infections. Later on infections spread on all sides slowly and gradually and ultimately a larger wood volume become infected.
Infection may also occur due to mechanical or natural injuries on the stem or branches. Due ot infections oleoresins are accumulated in the infected wood and later become odoriferous. At the inital stage infection appears as brown streaks in the tissue. Accumulation of oleoresin goes on increasing with the increase of infection area, as well as aging of infection. More oleoresin deposits which results increase in the depth of colour of infected wood and finally it become brown to black. Heavy and old age infection may lead to death of the plant. thus, the yield of 'agaru' depends on insect-fungal interaction on the host plant since there is no special cells or glands to synthesize the oil, as found in other essential oil bearing plants.
The Hidden History of Scented Wood Written by Eric Hansen
Several years ago, in the perfume and incense market in the old city of Sana'a in Yemen, I caught sight of a large apothecary jar full of wood chips. The jar sat on a dusty shelf, tucked away in a dark corner of the stall owned by Mohammed Hamoud al-Kalagi. When I asked him to show me its contents, he placed the jar on the front counter and pulled out a chip of wood. Mohammed called the wood 'ud (pronounced ood), a name I did not recognize, but it looked very familiar. I could hardly contain my growing sense of excitement as I examined it closely.
Mohammed placed a tiny sliver of the wood on the end of a lit cigarette. Within moments we were inhaling a rich, sweet, woody fragrance that I had first smelled in the Borneo rain forest 15 years earlier. At that time, I was traveling with a group of nomadic hunter-gatherers known as Penan. We were looking for herbs used in traditional medicine, but one day the Penan cut down a tree and collected pockets of fragrant wood from within the trunk and branches. They called these dark patches of wood gaharu. I rubbed a small piece of gaharu between my palms to warm it, and it smelled like cedar and sandalwood, but with subtle fragrance notes of roses and balsam. For years I had wondered what the wood was used for and where it was sent after leaving Borneo. The Penan thought gaharu might be used in Chinese medicine, because it was the upriver Chinese traders that bought it, but apart from that, they were mystified as to why anyone would want to buy those gnarly bits of wood.
Mohammed al-Kalagi, who thought that 'ud came only from India, was the first person to help me begin to unravel the long and convoluted history of this scented wood. He told me it was burned as incense throughout the Islamic world, and an oil was extracted from it that retailed for nearly $20 a gram ($500 an ounce) as a perfume.
When I told Mohammed that the gaharu collectors in Borneo considered the wood to have only a modest barter value, he laughed and recited lines that he attributed to the eighth-century Egyptian jurist and poet Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i:
Gold is just dust when still in the ground.
And 'ud, in its country of origin,
Is just another kind of firewood.
A few days after my visit, I walked through the narrow streets of old Sana'a to the home of Yemeni friends. The family lived in a tastefully restored stone tower house in the Turkish Quarter, and during the meal that night I discovered that 'ud has domestic uses beyond simple incense: A small chip placed amid the tobacco in the bowl of the mada'ah, or water pipe, sweetens the smoke and keeps the pipe fresh. And although 'ud is generally considered more of a man's scent, it is also used by women who place bits of the wood in a mabkharah, a small, hand-held charcoal brazier used to scent clothes; it is also used to perfume hair and skin. My host explained that at women's get-togethers it would be considered strange not to pass around a mabkharah of smoldering 'ud or other incense so the female guests could perfume themselves.
"When you walk by a woman on the street and you smell 'ud, you know that she is from a good family," the husband told me. "It is a sign of wealth, good breeding, refinement and status."
Similarly, when Yemeni men congregate, it is customary for them to pass around a mabkharah of 'ud. Each man opens his jacket and censes his shirt and underarms, then his face and his mashedah, or head scarf, if he is wearing one. The mabkharah is always passed counter-clockwise, and each man wafts the smoke onto himself and says, "God's blessings and peace on the Prophet Muhammad." 'Ud is burned ceremonially at weddings, too, and the oil is sometimes used to perfume the body of the dead before burial.
In Yemen, the price and quality of 'ud varies considerably: At an average wedding party in Sana'a it is considered appropriate to spend about $30 to $50 by burning 50 or 100 grams (two or three ounces) of one of the less expensive grades of 'ud, but for the well-heeled, 30 grams (a single ounce) of a superior grade can set one back $250 to $300.
Before I left the dinner party that night, my host placed a tiny drop of 'ud oil on the front of my shirt and explained that the fragrance would survive several washings—which it did. 'Ud oil is often placed on older men's beards or younger men's jacket lapels so that during the traditional cheek-to-cheek greetings its sweet, woody scent dominates.
Although the southern Arabian Peninsula has been long identified with aromatics, few Westerners are familiar with 'ud, a word that means simply "wood" in Arabic. This obscurity is partly due to 'ud rarity and cost, but it is also a matter of varying taste and differing cultural traditions. During the Hajj, for example, Muslim pilgrims from around the world come to Makkah and Madinah, where many are introduced to the scent of 'ud, which is burned in the Great Mosque as well as in many other mosques throughout Saudi Arabia. 'Ud produces a fragrance that is not soon forgotten, and for this reason small packets of 'ud chips are a common souvenir to take home from the Hajj.
In various other places in the Islamic world, 'ud is burned to help celebrate the important events of everyday life. In Tunisia, for example, 'ud is burned on the third, seventh and 40th days following the birth of a child, a time when the mother traditionally remains at home while female relatives and friends come to visit.
Throughout Malaysia and Indonesia, 'ud is called by the name I first heard in Borneo, gaharu, a Malay word derived from the much older Sanskrit term agaru, meaning "heavy." The scented wood was given that name because, indeed, a high-quality piece of gaharu will sink in water. The Susruta Samhita, one of the "great three" texts of Ayurvedic medicine, describes how people of the Ganges plain used smoldering agaru for worship, as perfume and to fumigate surgical wounds. In those times, agaru came largely from the tree Aquilaria agallocha, which was found in the foothills of Assam.
In the 16th century, the Portuguese, who were actively trading in Goa, Malacca and Macao, adapted the word agaru to pao d'aguila, or "eagle wood"—which at least had a meaning in Portuguese, though there is no connection between eagles and 'ud. In the English-speaking world today, the most common terms for 'ud are aloeswood or agarswood; this last word preserves a clear link to the original Sanskrit.
The best grade of 'ud is hard, nearly black and very heavy. In general, 'ud becomes inferior as it appears lighter in tone, flecked with diminishing amounts of resin. The only truly reliable way to test for quality, however, is to burn a small bit and evaluate the complexity and richness of the smoldering wood. 'Ud oil can be taste-tested: Touch a bit to your tongue, and a bitter taste points to high quality.
Historians are uncertain when 'ud first reached the Middle East. There are several references to "aloes" in the Old Testament, and estimates by historians of China Friedrich Hirth and W.W. Rockhill put the date as far back as the 10th century BC. This was when King Solomon began trade with the south Arabian Sabaean kingdom, which was already trading with merchants on the Malabar (western) coast of India. (See Aramco World, March/April 1998.) Written accounts of Arab and Chinese travelers and merchants that mention it date to more recent times, approximately the first century of our era, a time of accelerating trade among the Arabian Peninsula, the Malabar coast and China that was made possible by the exploitation of the seasonal monsoon winds across the Indian Ocean. At this time, frankincense and myrrh from Oman and the Hadhramaut region of southern Arabia were being traded in the Far East, so it seems reasonable to assume that a reciprocal trade in 'ud would have traveled on the same maritime routes.
The Chinese role in the 'ud trade has been significant since the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), when Imperial perfume blenders used it along with cloves, musk, costus-root oil and camphor. Like the Indians, the Chinese named the wood for its density, calling it cb'en hsiang, "the incense that sinks in water." In those days, 'ud was sorted into as many as 20 different grades. Responding to the increasing domestic and international demand for 'ud, Chinese traders ventured into Annam, now part of Vietnam, where they found top-quality trees in abundance. This new source of supply allowed them to become wholesale dealers and middlemen, and to this day they retain this position worldwide.
Arab and Persian traders had established settlements on the outskirts of Canton as early as 300, and a Chinese traveler named Fa-Hien noted the riches of the Arab 'ud traders from the Hadhramaut and Oman who lived comfortably in Ceylon. The Greek geographer Cosmas Indicopleustes, writing in the sixth century, also noted that the China-Ceylon-Middle East trade included large shipments of 'ud.
In his book Silsilat al-Tawarikh (Chain of Chronicles), Zayd ibn Hassan of Siraf (now in Iran) tells of the experiences of two mnth-century traders, one Ibn Wahab of Basra and another named Suleyman. Although they traveled at slightly different times, both reported that the price and availability of 'ud in both Basra and Baghdad was much affected by frequent shipwrecks and by pirate attacks on trading ships. Their roughly similar routes went from the Arabian Gulf to the Maldives, Ceylon, the Nicobar Islands and then on to Canton by way of the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea. At the time, the round-trip took at least two years, for the traders had to wait for seasonal winds, and customs formalities and the complexities of doing business in China consumed a good deal of time. Hassan relates that in Canton, Suleyman saw Arab and Persian traders playing a board game that appears to have been similar to backgammon: Occasionally the playing pieces were made of rhinoceros horn or ivory, but most commonly they were carved from fragrant 'ud.
Reading up on the history of the 12th- and 13th-century Arab-Chinese sea trade, I also came upon the Chu-fan-chi, a trade manual written by Chau Ju-kua, who was a customs official in the southern Chinese province of Kwangtung in the mid-13th century. In the text he mentions that the search for 'ud had intensified to the point that it was being collected from Hainan Island, parts of present-day Vietnam, lands about the Malay Peninsula, Cambodia and the islands of Sumatra and Java. By this time, he observed, it had become an established custom for well-to-do Muslims to wake up, bathe and perfume themselves with 'ud smoke before going to the mosque for the morning prayer.
In the early 14th century, Ibn Battuta described a visit to Ceylon where during a visit to Sultan Ayri Shakarwati he was shown "a bowl as large as a man's hand, made of rubies, containing oil of aloes." Ibn Battuta also mentioned that in Muslim lands every 'ud tree was private property, and that the best trees grew in Qamara, or Cambodia. (See Saudi Aramco World, July/August 2000.) In Saudi Arabia today, 'ud kambudi—Cambodian aloeswood—is still usually the most treasured and costly variety.
Isaac H. Burkill, in his 1935 Dictionary of the Economic Products of the Malay Peninsula, described 'ud in scientific terms. It is an aromatic resin deposit found in certain species of Aquilaria trees, especially Aquilaria malaccensis, whose species name recalls the days when the 'ud trade was centered in Malacca and dominated by the Portuguese. Burkill explains that the resin is produced by the tree as an immune response to a fungus (Phialophora parasitica) that invades the tree and, over many years, spreads through it. It is these diseased sections of the tree that are collected by people in the jungles of Southeast Asia.
To better understand the modern trade cycle from Southeast Asia to Middle Eastern homes and mosques, I returned to Borneo and traveled upriver to talk again with the Penan tribesmen who make their living collecting 'ud, which they call gaharu.
The Penan, I learned, recognize seven types of gaharu. To collect it they paddle up small tributaries by dugout canoe, and then climb the slopes of remote mountains to locate the best trees. A gathering journey can take a week or more. Once a likely looking pohon kayu gaharu (a "gaharu-wood tree") has been found, they make a series of shallow, exploratory cuts into its trunk, branches and roots; they cut it down only when they are persuaded the tree has the fungus and will yield a reasonable amount of good gaharu. If the tree contains only low grades of gaharu, they will often let it grow for another few years before retesting it. If they do decide to cut it down, they will spend days extracting the gaharu and cleaning it with smaller knives. Traditionally, the Penan used gaharu themselves to treat stomach aches and fevers, and as an insect repellent, but now they sell or trade all they find.
In the backwaters of Borneo, the Penan sell the very best gaharu for about $400 a kilogram, or approximately $12 an ounce. They usually sell to local Chinese traders who stockpile it until they have enough to send to wholesalers and bigger middlemen in Singapore. The Penan claim that gaharu is getting more difficult to find because large-scale logging operations have destroyed many of the hill forests where the gaharu trees are found. If a Penan group has good luck, it might collect a kilo (35 oz) of average-quality gaharu in three or four days—but it is increasingly common for them to return with nothing, or with only the lowest grades.
Thirty years ago Hong Kong played an important role in the 'ud trade, but today the international hub is Singapore. There, the wholesale business is dominated by Chinese traders who receive 'ud from agents scattered across Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand, Borneo, Hainan Island and, most recently, Irian Jaya, Indonesia. C. P. Ng, owner of Buan Mong Heng, a emporium on North Bridge Road, is Singapore's undisputed 'ud king. He tells me that his best 'ud sells for $5000 to $10,000 per kilogram ($2275-$4545/lb). At present, the rarest and most expensive type, known as Keenam, comes from Vietnam; it must be stored in a cool place to keep its scent from deteriorating. In Irian Jaya alone, he says, more than 50,000 part-time collectors supply some 30 collection centers. Throughout the Chinese community in Singapore, he says, people use 'ud as incense in the home, for worship and during marriage ceremonies. He also explains that it can be taken with herbs to cure a stomach ache, and that the sweet smell is a cure for insomnia. "A tea made from 'ud will warm the body and restore youthful vigor to older men," he says.
In Singapore, 'ud is graded in descending quality from Super AA, which is weighed out on a jeweler's scale, to Super A, Super, and lesser grades numbered 1 through 8. The lowest quality, called kandulam in Malay, is used to make incense sticks; it sells for roughly three cents a gram ($1 per oz). The value of 'ud shipped out of Singapore each year has been estimated to exceed $1.2 billion.
In the Middle East and in Borneo I never saw more than small amounts of 'ud, amounting to a few pounds at most, but Singapore was different. There I visited the Nk Kittai warehouse, where cardboard boxes packed with 'ud reached tall ceilings and wheelbarrows and shovels were the tools of choice to move quantities that perfumed the entire surrounding neighborhood. The owner, C. F. Chong, waited on buyers from India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and even Japan. In Japan, 'ud is used in a complex fragrance guessing game called koh-do, part of the ceremonial appreciation of incense adopted from the Chinese, who still use the expression wenxiang, "listening to the incense."
The fragrance in the hot warehouse was overpowering, and as I wandered the narrow aisles surrounded by a fortune in scented wood, I saw 'ud logs as thick as my thigh and nearly three meters (10') long. Workers sat on the floor cleaning up pieces of 'ud with modified rubber-tapping knives. When I remarked that it must be a risk to store so much 'ud in one place, Chong replied that he, like other dealers, kept his very best 'ud locked up in vaults.
Out on the warehouse floor, buyers specified the type of 'ud they wanted by region and quality, and then a worker would dump a pile at the buyer's feet so that he could hand-select the individual pieces. "This is an on-the-spot business," said Chong. "Each piece has to be evaluated."
Each buyer's selection was weighed, and as all of the buyers that morning were old customers, only a minimal amount of haggling led to an agreement on a price. Nobody, it seemed, bought more than he could easily carry by hand, and each parcel was tied up for stowage as in-flight baggage. The visits concluded with tea and soft drinks in Chong's air-conditioned office.
Before leaving Singapore, I went to visit Haji V. Syed Mohammed. His shop, V. S. S. Varusai Mohamed & Sons, is just across the street from the Sultan Mosque. The store sells 'ud, perfume, money belts, cassette tapes, shawls, skull caps and highly decorative incense burners made in Bangladesh. While we were talking, he told me of one of the most renowned 'ud dealers in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates: Ajmal's Perfume Manufacturing & Oudh Processing Industry. It was a fortuitous meeting, for Dubai was my next stop.
In Dubai, there are entire streets lined with shops selling 'ud. Among them, the family-run Ajmal company is one of the largest dealers in pure and blended 'ud perfumes in all of the Middle East. From their 22 shops throughout the Arabian Peninsula, they sell 'ud oils from Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, and their most extravagant creation is a blend of aged 'ud oils called Dahnal Oudh al-Moattaq. The price: $850 for a 30-gram (1-oz) bottle. This is out of the reach of all but the most affluent, but nearly everyone can afford to buy modest amounts of 'ud chips for daily use, rituals and ceremonies—which might include driving, for Dubai automotive shops sell clip-on electric braziers that plug into a car's cigarette lighter.
Because of the popularity of 'ud, its high price and the difficulty of collecting it from the wild, several companies in peninsular Malaysia and India have begun to look into the possibility of artificially introducing the 'ud fungus into Aquilaria trees in hopes of creating commercial 'ud plantations. Thousands of trees have been inoculated with the fungus and people are waiting to see if the 'ud will start to grow, and if perhaps they can even harvest it without cutting down the tree.
Nearly a year after my visits to Singapore and Dubai, another trip took me back to Borneo. I ran into a group of Penan friends at the riverside shop of Towkay Yong Khi Liang, a Hakka Chinese trader on the upper Limbang River in Sarawak. The Penan had just traded a kilo of low-quality 'ud for a few sacks of sago flour, a replacement part for a chainsaw, some cartons of tinned food, some rolling tobacco, several pairs of cheap tennis shoes and soft drinks for everyone present.
As we stood on the dock, the Penan asked me if I had ever found out what the people in the Middle East did with the gaharu. I told them what I had discovered about the history of its trade, and then I explained the long and complicated journey it makes before arriving on the other side of the world. I described the networks of middlemen, the refined grading techniques and the marketing efforts that multiplied the price 25 times or more before it reached the final customer. They listened patiently to these facts, but what they really wanted to find out was what people did with the wood after spending so much money on it.
I suspected that they wouldn't believe me, but I had to reveal the astonishing truth: I told them people buy 'ud so that they can take it home and burn it.
China guardian huanghuali furniture
Feast March 30 opening of Prince Gong Mansion read to smile companion
out Tibetan huanghuali furniture fair
Recently, this reporter learned from the China jiade international auction limited, the company will be between March 30 and Prince Gong Mansion in Beijing Jia Le Tang (sea before West Street, Xicheng District, 17th) organized “ read to smile ”—— companion out Tibetan huanghuali furniture fair. It is learnt that the 70 pieces will be displayed at the exhibition of Ming furniture, covered table, chair stool, bed, shelves, such as things for play with this furniture has been in the forbidden city, Nanjing Museum, Paris, France, Kyrgyzstan and the United States Museum of Oriental art on display, has attracted extensive attention, renowned world. One of heavyweight quality: fragrant, yellow four early chairs of huanghua pear and huanghua PEAR exhibition-leg table, ice split sheath of huanghua PEAR square corner cabinets rare furniture, such as this will be unveiled. Quality of huanghua PEAR of the exhibitors will also be the full 16, 17th century Ming dynasty furniture style.
Ancient Chinese furniture, especially since the Ming and Qing dynasty furniture, with its exquisite craft value, highly appreciate the value and historical value have had far-reaching effects on many countries in East and West. 18th century started flowing to the countries of Europe and the United States, though only painted furniture and bamboo and rattan furniture, but have had a considerable role in the development of Western furniture. In 1944, the Germans IKE has published the first part describes the writings of classical Chinese furniture of the China flower graphic study of PEAR, let the world know the beauty of Chinese classical furniture.
Belgium Philip ·, debagai that is a long-term commitment to China's furniture collection of foreign friends, its collection of large amounts of fine hardwood furniture is unique in China. Among them, Ming furniture is the most important part of its collection, and some are works of the early Qing dynasty, the works continued the style of Ming-style furniture, in a sense still belong to the category of Ming-style furniture. Debagai number of collections, which not only rich, but work fine, excellent material, most of them are of high quality of huanghua PEAR, their structure is quite reasonable, and work well, list of years time still seamless, be strong.
A long time, debagai has been extremely pure eyes read traditional Chinese culture, collection of Chinese furniture with a near-religious attitude, with the growing collections, he will increase the construction of new wing of the House to place the Chinese Ming furniture also sprouted “ lives in Ming ” thoughts, so some companion collection of birth. As early as 2003, companion out room that is held in Paris, France, Kyrgyzstan and beauty of Oriental Art Museum “ Ming —— the golden age of Chinese furniture ” special exhibitions. The spring of 2006, China and Belgium under the joint efforts of the Crown, held in Beijing Palace Museum Yongshou Palace “ eternal Ming furniture —— companion out room collection exhibition of Ming furniture ”. Lapse of five years, after a long period of preparation, China guardian tries their best to render its collection feast again.
There are three of the most interesting exhibits in the. First, the stool of huanghua PEAR —— stool also known as Hu bed, Li Bai in the In The Silence Of Night “ bed the Moon light ” “ ” meaning stool, is a very rare variety of furniture. Second, four early round-backed armchair armchairs of huanghua PEAR —— four early chairs are high level of variety in the Ming-style furniture Chair class, rarely handed down in pairs. The Chair size large, exquisite workmanship, Dragon positions, very rare. Third, the ice split sheath square corner cabinets of huanghua PEAR —— the square corner cabinet door pierced by very few, especially large cabinets and even more so. Scholars in this cabinet only smell strong, perfect, materials research, is a rare artistic authenticity.
Believes that the exhibition will be the China jiade 2010 launch “ simple and meaningful – exhibition of Ming and Qing dynasty huanghuali furniture ” after another feast of classical furniture, worth the wait!
Exhibits focus on specific information:
Wooden Stool of huanghua PEAR Cross seat wood engrave alley inside Palace door curve and Yang line along the edge, elevation relief volume Grain. Original for the fabric soft seat 屜 are using ropes made 屜 in place. Roundwood stool foot tongue and cross into the stool through material and cross stool foot wood woodworking mortise, axial nail through two feet, brass Chrysanthemum pattern, and the d pad headdress strengthening firm. Riding under the bed and two small foot alley inside Palace incisor, cross under the tongue and two stool foot into front end and their material. Tap bed inlay in the Centre PartyWinning brass ornaments, inlaid with four heads. Four foot and foot stool horizontal material flow, wrapped head brass accessories to enhance stability.
Round-backed armchair four early armchair pairs of huanghua PEAR: Huanghuali wood nailed tongue and five round-backed armchair handrails to wedge, early ending into a circle of rotary knob-shaped at both ends, flapping above. A back plate bending arms carved Interior clouds towards the surface of the Central two hornless Dragon Tiger Dragon. Cut out the tongue and on its hind legs into the ring-shaped bent arm arc, through the chair under a leg and foot. Three-bend below the goose neck Tenon into handrails and Chair head, handrails and goose neck slot embedded small-angle between teeth. Handrails around to three light down on bend roundwood Federal stick. Chairs save game is a standard angle, see tongue, four box edge steps on edge Hole drilling in soft 屜, old 蓆 is a replacement for now, there are two threading support. Front leg foot double tongue and into the bottom border. 窪 Hall stomach under Juan tooth along the boundary line, side by side above touch under the Chair, two-side embedded in the leg and foot, bottom out tongue and into stepping Cheng. Left and right sides for similar teeth, for the effect of short section in the rear. Under the front leg stepping Cheng Shi, left and right sides and the rear square mixed surface step by step driving Cheng, projection. About stepping and PIN Cheng on both sides of the tooth under.
Ice split sheath of huanghua PEAR square corner cabinet: Huanghuali wood ice split sheath Cabinet to Cabinet top corner tongue and play slots saved panels, installed two shoots under Strip. Four square columns to zongzi angle projection and Cabinet on top border junction, a projection. Upper and lower part of this cabinet, to layer on, next to the movable Rod latch two removable doors and Cabinet are in short of material saved into ice split sheath. Cabinet body with nickel Silver rectangular hinge and the surface of leaves, three square Niu Tou and tags. Lower cabinets, next to the movable Rod latch two removable door to Cape Reinga tongue and play slots saved flat panels, cabinets to help construct similar. Central has a grating in the Cabinet with two drawers. Door for shoulder Cheng alley inside Palace incisor under section at the end. Similar teeth on both sides. Cabinet body with nickel Silver hinges and begonia leaves, three square Niu Tou and tags. Hinge with carved cloud pattern on the surface. The whole body with yellow.
Recently, this reporter learned from the China jiade international auction limited, the company will be between March 30 and Prince Gong Mansion in Beijing Jia Le Tang (sea before West Street, Xicheng District, 17th) organized “ read to smile ”—— companion out Tibetan huanghuali furniture fair. It is learnt that the 70 pieces will be displayed at the exhibition of Ming furniture, covered table, chair stool, bed, shelves, such as things for play with this furniture has been in the forbidden city, Nanjing Museum, Paris, France, Kyrgyzstan and the United States Museum of Oriental art on display, has attracted extensive attention, renowned world. One of heavyweight quality: fragrant, yellow four early chairs of huanghua pear and huanghua PEAR exhibition-leg table, ice split sheath of huanghua PEAR square corner cabinets rare furniture, such as this will be unveiled. Quality of huanghua PEAR of the exhibitors will also be the full 16, 17th century Ming dynasty furniture style.
Ancient Chinese furniture, especially since the Ming and Qing dynasty furniture, with its exquisite craft value, highly appreciate the value and historical value have had far-reaching effects on many countries in East and West. 18th century started flowing to the countries of Europe and the United States, though only painted furniture and bamboo and rattan furniture, but have had a considerable role in the development of Western furniture. In 1944, the Germans IKE has published the first part describes the writings of classical Chinese furniture of the China flower graphic study of PEAR, let the world know the beauty of Chinese classical furniture.
Belgium Philip ·, debagai that is a long-term commitment to China's furniture collection of foreign friends, its collection of large amounts of fine hardwood furniture is unique in China. Among them, Ming furniture is the most important part of its collection, and some are works of the early Qing dynasty, the works continued the style of Ming-style furniture, in a sense still belong to the category of Ming-style furniture. Debagai number of collections, which not only rich, but work fine, excellent material, most of them are of high quality of huanghua PEAR, their structure is quite reasonable, and work well, list of years time still seamless, be strong.
A long time, debagai has been extremely pure eyes read traditional Chinese culture, collection of Chinese furniture with a near-religious attitude, with the growing collections, he will increase the construction of new wing of the House to place the Chinese Ming furniture also sprouted “ lives in Ming ” thoughts, so some companion collection of birth. As early as 2003, companion out room that is held in Paris, France, Kyrgyzstan and beauty of Oriental Art Museum “ Ming —— the golden age of Chinese furniture ” special exhibitions. The spring of 2006, China and Belgium under the joint efforts of the Crown, held in Beijing Palace Museum Yongshou Palace “ eternal Ming furniture —— companion out room collection exhibition of Ming furniture ”. Lapse of five years, after a long period of preparation, China guardian tries their best to render its collection feast again.
There are three of the most interesting exhibits in the. First, the stool of huanghua PEAR —— stool also known as Hu bed, Li Bai in the In The Silence Of Night “ bed the Moon light ” “ ” meaning stool, is a very rare variety of furniture. Second, four early round-backed armchair armchairs of huanghua PEAR —— four early chairs are high level of variety in the Ming-style furniture Chair class, rarely handed down in pairs. The Chair size large, exquisite workmanship, Dragon positions, very rare. Third, the ice split sheath square corner cabinets of huanghua PEAR —— the square corner cabinet door pierced by very few, especially large cabinets and even more so. Scholars in this cabinet only smell strong, perfect, materials research, is a rare artistic authenticity.
Believes that the exhibition will be the China jiade 2010 launch “ simple and meaningful – exhibition of Ming and Qing dynasty huanghuali furniture ” after another feast of classical furniture, worth the wait!
Exhibits focus on specific information:
Wooden Stool of huanghua PEAR Cross seat wood engrave alley inside Palace door curve and Yang line along the edge, elevation relief volume Grain. Original for the fabric soft seat 屜 are using ropes made 屜 in place. Roundwood stool foot tongue and cross into the stool through material and cross stool foot wood woodworking mortise, axial nail through two feet, brass Chrysanthemum pattern, and the d pad headdress strengthening firm. Riding under the bed and two small foot alley inside Palace incisor, cross under the tongue and two stool foot into front end and their material. Tap bed inlay in the Centre PartyWinning brass ornaments, inlaid with four heads. Four foot and foot stool horizontal material flow, wrapped head brass accessories to enhance stability.
Round-backed armchair four early armchair pairs of huanghua PEAR: Huanghuali wood nailed tongue and five round-backed armchair handrails to wedge, early ending into a circle of rotary knob-shaped at both ends, flapping above. A back plate bending arms carved Interior clouds towards the surface of the Central two hornless Dragon Tiger Dragon. Cut out the tongue and on its hind legs into the ring-shaped bent arm arc, through the chair under a leg and foot. Three-bend below the goose neck Tenon into handrails and Chair head, handrails and goose neck slot embedded small-angle between teeth. Handrails around to three light down on bend roundwood Federal stick. Chairs save game is a standard angle, see tongue, four box edge steps on edge Hole drilling in soft 屜, old 蓆 is a replacement for now, there are two threading support. Front leg foot double tongue and into the bottom border. 窪 Hall stomach under Juan tooth along the boundary line, side by side above touch under the Chair, two-side embedded in the leg and foot, bottom out tongue and into stepping Cheng. Left and right sides for similar teeth, for the effect of short section in the rear. Under the front leg stepping Cheng Shi, left and right sides and the rear square mixed surface step by step driving Cheng, projection. About stepping and PIN Cheng on both sides of the tooth under.
Ice split sheath of huanghua PEAR square corner cabinet: Huanghuali wood ice split sheath Cabinet to Cabinet top corner tongue and play slots saved panels, installed two shoots under Strip. Four square columns to zongzi angle projection and Cabinet on top border junction, a projection. Upper and lower part of this cabinet, to layer on, next to the movable Rod latch two removable doors and Cabinet are in short of material saved into ice split sheath. Cabinet body with nickel Silver rectangular hinge and the surface of leaves, three square Niu Tou and tags. Lower cabinets, next to the movable Rod latch two removable door to Cape Reinga tongue and play slots saved flat panels, cabinets to help construct similar. Central has a grating in the Cabinet with two drawers. Door for shoulder Cheng alley inside Palace incisor under section at the end. Similar teeth on both sides. Cabinet body with nickel Silver hinges and begonia leaves, three square Niu Tou and tags. Hinge with carved cloud pattern on the surface. The whole body with yellow.
The finest private collection of Chinese porcelain in the West is about to be sold
ON APRIL 7th, as part of its spring season in Hong Kong, Sotheby’s will be selling 77 lots of imperial Chinese porcelain from the Meiyintang collection. The announcement, made last month on the day that the auction house held a record-breaking modernist art sale in London, has attracted little public attention. But to those who follow the market in Chinese artworks, news of the Hong Kong auction was nothing short of a thunderbolt. For Meiyintang is regarded as the greatest collection of Chinese treasures still in private hands in the West, a name ranked alongside Alfred Clark and Sir Percival David, passionate scholars whose collections were among the most important ever made outside the great museums of Beijing and Taipei.
Not so long ago the Chinese were prevented by the Communist Party from celebrating the achievements of their forebears. But with new fortunes being created all the time now in China, dealers and collectors from Hong Kong and the mainland have become enthusiastic buyers. They have a thirst for their own history, especially for anything that connects modern China with the glories of its imperial past. For the first time last year, according to a report released on March 14th, China overtook Britain to become the biggest art market in the world after America.
Demand for Chinese artworks has driven up prices, which in turn is drawing fresh treasures on to the market. The traffic is almost entirely one way. Chinese fine art from America and Europe is moving back to China in the biggest migration of culture since European masterpieces travelled inexorably westward to America in the 19th century. Buyers prize rarity, quality and provenance above all.
The Meiyintang collection will generate considerable Chinese interest because of its quality and the secrecy surrounding its creation. Despite its fame, the 2,000-piece collection has rarely been seen in its entirety, and then only in private. A few works were exhibited at the British Museum in 1994 and in Monte Carlo two years later. The only public record is a monumental catalogue by a German scholar, Regina Krahl. Though it runs to seven volumes, the catalogue says nothing about who put the collection together.
Sotheby’s, Ms Krahl and Giuseppe Eskenazi, the London-based dealer who serves as Meiyintang’s chief adviser, refuse to identify those behind it. But The Economist has learned that the guiding hand is that of a 93-year-old Swiss businessman, Stephen Zuellig. Born in the Philippines, Mr Zuellig and his younger brother, Gilbert, who died in 2009, spent 60 years building up their father’s small Manila-based trading house. Today the Zuellig Group is a leading provider of health-care services and pharmaceuticals in Asia and one of the region’s biggest agribusinesses, with an annual turnover of around $12 billion. The group, which is still largely owned by the family, has created a sizeable fortune for the brothers.
The Zuelligs began buying Chinese artworks in the early 1950s through Helen Ling, the American wife of their Singapore associate, who traded Chinese porcelain in Shanghai. It was she who introduced them to Edward Chow, the dominant Chinese collector-dealer of the post-war years who was based in Hong Kong and later in Switzerland. From an early stage the brothers were interested in the whole range of Chinese art, from archaic bronzes to late imperial porcelain. But they divided their specialities by date: Gilbert focused on early ceramics from the Neolithic period to the Song dynasty and Stephen the porcelain of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.
They chose the name Meiyintang, which means “hall among rosebeds” in Mandarin, but it is also a play on the Meienberg at Rapperswil, the Swiss estate south-east of Zurich that their grandfather bought in 1912, where both brothers maintained a home and where Stephen Zuellig displays his treasures in a long underground gallery.
The Zuelligs sought out the best specialist dealers, among them Priestley and Ferraro for early works. Mr Eskenazi focused on the later periods and, over a quarter-century, sold them (or acquired on their behalf) more than 160 pieces. But it was Chow, a collector who inspired affection combined with a degree of awe, who influenced the Zuelligs the most.
Three fundamental criteria guided their buying: a work’s rarity, the quality of its decoration and the condition of the piece. As a general rule, particularly with the Qing dynasty treasures, complex three- dimensional pieces, such as vases, took precedence over more utilitarian cups and bowls, with flat plates being the least important and least desirable objects. The Zuelligs were, of course, not the only collectors to apply these general principles, but they are said to have been particularly rigorous in applying them. It was not enough that a work should be rare or important; each piece they bought also had to have a personal aesthetic appeal. “They bought as much with the heart as the head,” says Nicolas Chow, the Sotheby’s director in charge of the sale, who happens also to be Edward Chow’s grandson.
Next month’s auction is expected to be the first of several which will concentrate, at least for the moment, on the Yuan, Ming and Qing ware collected by Stephen Zuellig. In picking out what to include in this initial sale, Mr Zuellig has chosen pieces that represent a microcosm of the entire collection, ranging from the Yuan dynasty that began in the late 13th century to the glories of Emperor Qianlong’s reign and that of his son, Jiaqing, who died in 1820.
Most important are the cobalt-blue and copper-red early Ming wares that are decorated under the glaze, the monochrome Ming and Qing pieces, and early Qing enamelled porcelain whether famille-verte or famille-rose. Many of the works are unique. When Mr Eskenazi held an exhibition of seven Qing dynasty “peachbloom” vessels in 2006, Mr Zuellig bought the two rarest pieces, a waterpot and a “three-string vase”. He already had examples of the others. The Meiyintang group (pictured previous page) is estimated to sell next month for HK$50m-70m ($6.4m-9m). Mr Zuellig’s blue-and-white Chenghua “palace bowl” may have a plain white interior, but the exterior decoration, with its large clusters of melon vine, all painted in a watery blue and each subtly different, is Chenghua painting at its best. Little surprise that Sotheby’s estimates the bowl will sell for HK$80m-120m.
Similarly, the eight-inch (20cm) vase painted with pheasants looks ordinary enough until you compare it with others of a similar kind. Each example is different, but only in Mr Zuellig’s pheasant vase do you see the combination of creamy glaze, the birds positioned looking away from one another and yet very much part of a whole landscape, and the subtle colouring as if the painting had been done on silk rather than porcelain. Bought in Hong Kong at the height of the Asian crisis in 1997 for HK$9.9m, then a record for Qing porcelain, the Meiyintang pheasant vase is now estimated to fetch HK$180m-300m.
Every major auction starts a new collection. With rare exceptions, Chinese purchasing over the past decade has been a case of buying what is fashionable and expensive rather than collecting out of aesthetic passion and scholarly knowledge. The Zuelligs’ Meiyintang porcelain is very much a European collection of a particular taste. China has some extraordinary museums, but no old collectors for the new buyers to emulate. That will change with time, and the new private collections in China may soon be as unique in their way as the Meiyintang is now.
ON APRIL 7th, as part of its spring season in Hong Kong, Sotheby’s will be selling 77 lots of imperial Chinese porcelain from the Meiyintang collection. The announcement, made last month on the day that the auction house held a record-breaking modernist art sale in London, has attracted little public attention. But to those who follow the market in Chinese artworks, news of the Hong Kong auction was nothing short of a thunderbolt. For Meiyintang is regarded as the greatest collection of Chinese treasures still in private hands in the West, a name ranked alongside Alfred Clark and Sir Percival David, passionate scholars whose collections were among the most important ever made outside the great museums of Beijing and Taipei.
Not so long ago the Chinese were prevented by the Communist Party from celebrating the achievements of their forebears. But with new fortunes being created all the time now in China, dealers and collectors from Hong Kong and the mainland have become enthusiastic buyers. They have a thirst for their own history, especially for anything that connects modern China with the glories of its imperial past. For the first time last year, according to a report released on March 14th, China overtook Britain to become the biggest art market in the world after America.
Demand for Chinese artworks has driven up prices, which in turn is drawing fresh treasures on to the market. The traffic is almost entirely one way. Chinese fine art from America and Europe is moving back to China in the biggest migration of culture since European masterpieces travelled inexorably westward to America in the 19th century. Buyers prize rarity, quality and provenance above all.
The Meiyintang collection will generate considerable Chinese interest because of its quality and the secrecy surrounding its creation. Despite its fame, the 2,000-piece collection has rarely been seen in its entirety, and then only in private. A few works were exhibited at the British Museum in 1994 and in Monte Carlo two years later. The only public record is a monumental catalogue by a German scholar, Regina Krahl. Though it runs to seven volumes, the catalogue says nothing about who put the collection together.
Sotheby’s, Ms Krahl and Giuseppe Eskenazi, the London-based dealer who serves as Meiyintang’s chief adviser, refuse to identify those behind it. But The Economist has learned that the guiding hand is that of a 93-year-old Swiss businessman, Stephen Zuellig. Born in the Philippines, Mr Zuellig and his younger brother, Gilbert, who died in 2009, spent 60 years building up their father’s small Manila-based trading house. Today the Zuellig Group is a leading provider of health-care services and pharmaceuticals in Asia and one of the region’s biggest agribusinesses, with an annual turnover of around $12 billion. The group, which is still largely owned by the family, has created a sizeable fortune for the brothers.
The Zuelligs began buying Chinese artworks in the early 1950s through Helen Ling, the American wife of their Singapore associate, who traded Chinese porcelain in Shanghai. It was she who introduced them to Edward Chow, the dominant Chinese collector-dealer of the post-war years who was based in Hong Kong and later in Switzerland. From an early stage the brothers were interested in the whole range of Chinese art, from archaic bronzes to late imperial porcelain. But they divided their specialities by date: Gilbert focused on early ceramics from the Neolithic period to the Song dynasty and Stephen the porcelain of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.
They chose the name Meiyintang, which means “hall among rosebeds” in Mandarin, but it is also a play on the Meienberg at Rapperswil, the Swiss estate south-east of Zurich that their grandfather bought in 1912, where both brothers maintained a home and where Stephen Zuellig displays his treasures in a long underground gallery.
The Zuelligs sought out the best specialist dealers, among them Priestley and Ferraro for early works. Mr Eskenazi focused on the later periods and, over a quarter-century, sold them (or acquired on their behalf) more than 160 pieces. But it was Chow, a collector who inspired affection combined with a degree of awe, who influenced the Zuelligs the most.
Three fundamental criteria guided their buying: a work’s rarity, the quality of its decoration and the condition of the piece. As a general rule, particularly with the Qing dynasty treasures, complex three- dimensional pieces, such as vases, took precedence over more utilitarian cups and bowls, with flat plates being the least important and least desirable objects. The Zuelligs were, of course, not the only collectors to apply these general principles, but they are said to have been particularly rigorous in applying them. It was not enough that a work should be rare or important; each piece they bought also had to have a personal aesthetic appeal. “They bought as much with the heart as the head,” says Nicolas Chow, the Sotheby’s director in charge of the sale, who happens also to be Edward Chow’s grandson.
Next month’s auction is expected to be the first of several which will concentrate, at least for the moment, on the Yuan, Ming and Qing ware collected by Stephen Zuellig. In picking out what to include in this initial sale, Mr Zuellig has chosen pieces that represent a microcosm of the entire collection, ranging from the Yuan dynasty that began in the late 13th century to the glories of Emperor Qianlong’s reign and that of his son, Jiaqing, who died in 1820.
Most important are the cobalt-blue and copper-red early Ming wares that are decorated under the glaze, the monochrome Ming and Qing pieces, and early Qing enamelled porcelain whether famille-verte or famille-rose. Many of the works are unique. When Mr Eskenazi held an exhibition of seven Qing dynasty “peachbloom” vessels in 2006, Mr Zuellig bought the two rarest pieces, a waterpot and a “three-string vase”. He already had examples of the others. The Meiyintang group (pictured previous page) is estimated to sell next month for HK$50m-70m ($6.4m-9m). Mr Zuellig’s blue-and-white Chenghua “palace bowl” may have a plain white interior, but the exterior decoration, with its large clusters of melon vine, all painted in a watery blue and each subtly different, is Chenghua painting at its best. Little surprise that Sotheby’s estimates the bowl will sell for HK$80m-120m.
Similarly, the eight-inch (20cm) vase painted with pheasants looks ordinary enough until you compare it with others of a similar kind. Each example is different, but only in Mr Zuellig’s pheasant vase do you see the combination of creamy glaze, the birds positioned looking away from one another and yet very much part of a whole landscape, and the subtle colouring as if the painting had been done on silk rather than porcelain. Bought in Hong Kong at the height of the Asian crisis in 1997 for HK$9.9m, then a record for Qing porcelain, the Meiyintang pheasant vase is now estimated to fetch HK$180m-300m.
Every major auction starts a new collection. With rare exceptions, Chinese purchasing over the past decade has been a case of buying what is fashionable and expensive rather than collecting out of aesthetic passion and scholarly knowledge. The Zuelligs’ Meiyintang porcelain is very much a European collection of a particular taste. China has some extraordinary museums, but no old collectors for the new buyers to emulate. That will change with time, and the new private collections in China may soon be as unique in their way as the Meiyintang is now.
Should investors buy the China story?
20 years ago Japan seemed unstoppable, too – so is China different
China's economic miracle has propelled it past Japan – its output is now second only to America. But 20 years ago Japan seemed unstoppable, too – just before seemingly incurable stagnation set in. So is China different, and should private investors keep pumping their money into the country?
China last week overtook Japan as the world's second largest economy. While it still lags behind America, its rapid growth and sheer size continue to encourage expectations that it will offer some of the best investment opportunities of the 21st century.
As a result, many investors continue to pump money into the region, through specialist funds and wider emerging market funds.
The received wisdom among investment professionals is that, over the long term, China's potential is second to none, although most say it will be a bumpy ride along the way.
But this consensus is causing some to strike a note of caution. Tim Cockerill, the head of fund research at Ashcourt Rowan, the wealth manager, said: "There seems to be the view in the market that China is all-conquering and can do nothing wrong. This, in itself, makes me slightly nervous. There was the same bullish optimism about Japan 20 years ago, and that didn't pan out as expected."
He said he did not expect China to experience the same problems as Japan, but remained cautious about its short-term prospects. He isn't the only one. Thomas Becket, the chief investment officer of Psigma Investment Management, said there were a "lot of warning flags" at present and as a result he was "slightly more cynical about the whole China story" than others.
"It certainly has long-term prospects, but the Chinese authorities and banks have their work cut out if the economy is going to get to where people expect it to be in 10 to 15 years," he said.
An immediate problem is inflation – and how the economy can continue to expand without prices overheating.
As Mr Cockerill pointed out, most regional governments in China awarded double-digit pay rises last year. Rupert Foster, the manager of the Matrix Asia fund, said this could potentially have serious consequences, with China becoming more expensive than countries such as Vietnam for low-end factory work. "Unless Chinese productivity rises quickly, businesses will start moving their factories out, which could derail the China story," he said.
Mr Becket said China's official inflation figure of 4.9pc did not seem "credible" given that food, oil and property prices – particularly in the big cities – are rising at a far faster rate.
The Chinese government has also pumped money into the banking system to boost liquidity and keep the engines of growth turning. This has resulted in some lax lending, which has affected the share price of banks and slowed stock market growth. Mr Cockerill said many "China watchers" concentrated on growth figures. But much of the growth in GDP has been in large government-funded infrastructure schemes, which don't always translate into positive stock market performance.
Inflation isn't the only problem. There is also the issue of pollution and access to water sources, particularly in the northern regions, as well as the growing divide between rich and poor, which could provoke wider political problems.
Balanced against this are the strong fundamentals that make China such an exciting – if risky – prospect. The key is its sheer size. With a population of 1.3bn, the creation of a growing middle class has driven domestic consumption. Mr Foster said: "Unlike the West, this is a country with no debt, just assets.
The Chinese government owns 50pc of all Chinese equities and 50pc of undeveloped land. They are also looking to spend aggressively to create a health-care safety net, social housing and transportation." The government is looking to build 10 million houses for low-income families this year alone.
Kathryn Langridge, the manager of Jupiter's Global Emerging Markets fund, said China's detractors and supporters often exaggerated their case. She said: "There are some short-term inflationary concerns but the region isn't overheating completely."
As she pointed out, the government has tightened fiscal policy and raised interest rates. "The situation isn't out of control, but it may have to be seen to be more under control before stock markets pick up. Hopefully we will see that start to happen this year."
But investors expecting the growth seen in previous years may be disappointed, she said. "There will be substantial investment opportunities, but on a more realistic level."
China's long-term success will depend on whether it can rebalance its current economy. The government has started to develop the centre and west of the country, so it isn't as dependent on its major cities.
Ms Langridge said: "China has more than 150 cities that have a population of one million or more - but most people outside China have never heard of them." She added that China should be considered more like a continent than a single country, with regional economies and provinces, most of which are bigger than many European countries.
Mr Becket said China needed to shift its focus from exports to domestic consumption. Until now it has relied primarily on exporting cheap goods worldwide, but this strategy has been hit by rising commodity prices.
"It will be interesting to see whether China will learn from the example of Japan, and be prepared to take the short-term pain in order to deliver better long-term results," he said. To achieve this, demand from China's burgeoning middle classes needed to be developed. Mr Becket said the many Western firms trying to capitalise on this were doing so "more in hope than in expectation".
"There are some pretty empty shops in the Chinese hinterland selling Western luxury goods," he added. But if the Chinese authorities manage to steer the economy through the current choppy waters, it could come out stronger on the other side, he said.
