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I’m leaving today for another of my regular trips to China, visiting suppliers and sourcing antiques to ship back to the UK. I’ll fly in to Beijing where I’ll stay for a few days, then travel on to Shanghai. I...

The year of the horse is well underway and is expected to bring powerful and dynamic energy. Of course, this power must be harnessed in the right way to bring success, and the year of the horse may bring unpredictable...

This week tools will be downed in our Shanghai and Beijing workshops as our committed team clock-off for the biggest celebration of the year. The festivities start today – the first day of the lunar month – and continue until the...

Christmas is hardly the main event in China – you’ll all know that Chinese New Year is the big one. Only a tiny percentage of China’s population are practicing Christians, and even though Christmas has its roots in the pagan...

This week I wanted to talk about one of my favourite features of antique Chinese furniture – the beautiful decorative paintings often found on pieces from central and western provinces such as Shanxi and Qinghai. Pieces generally have a base coat of...

Each time I go to China to source antiques I find that furniture from particular regions and certain styles are becoming less and less prevalent, and the price of the these pieces is going up and up as they become...

Some of our most popular accessories are the cushions and silver jewellery made by the Miao people of southern China. The culture of this tribe is absolutely fascinating, so I thought it was a worthy subject of this week’s blog. The Miaos are one...

The weather is getting colder and the skies are becoming dull. Winter is the time to cocoon and nest, and at this time of year, our thoughts turn to creating a cosy interior. Perhaps it’s just me, but when the...

I spent Thursday to Saturday here in Beijing visiting various furniture warehouses to select antique pieces for our next container. Over the three days I met up with another four or five suppliers, each one with a varying selection of...