Settling In 93yours, there are a few routes to follow. For an instant solution
on a budget, IKEA is the tried and true standby. If you want
to dig into the community a bit more, each city has a few
concentrated blocks of local furniture and home decoration
stores. In this respect, China is logical; stores tend to collect
in areas so you can wander from one to the other selecting
light bulbs, appliances and sofas all in one go. Even IKEA has
become a nucleus: paint shops, kitchen stores and drapery
shops seem to spring up in a four radius block around it a
few months after opening.
If you are the type that religiously subscribes to Wallpaper
and Interior Design and wouldn’t imagine touching your
home without consulting a designer, there are a number
of individuals and companies that offer the service. A
good resource for the best of these is high-end hotels and
restaurants as they typically scour the market when setting
up to find accent pieces and often use local celebrity
designers. Some of the boutique lifestyle shops also have
solid connections into the design community. Have a quick
chat with the manager for a referral.
Fusion Pieces and Antiques
If you were clever when negotiating your contract, you have
a very comfortable budget for repatriation. One of the best
ways to add value to that homebound container is to collect
beautifully crafted pieces of antique Chinese or Tibetan
furniture. After ten years, there are far fewer originals to
select from, but you can still purchase in China for a fraction
of the price you would pay in the US, Europe, Hong Kong
or Singapore.
Chinese and foreign perception
of antique furniture is completely
different. To them, the old pieces
were what you were stuck with
when you couldn’t afford to
buy anything better. On the
whole, Chinese tastes run to the
new, modern and elaborate. In
the last five years, a group of
The search for antiques can
become a wonderful hobby
during your China stay. Some of
the best antique pieces I have
seen have been negotiated
away from 70-year-old mahjong
players in a small alley who are
thrilled that a foreigner wants
that old piece of junk sitting in
the corner.