Art Galleries in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong
 

Hello,

Planning a trip to Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Guilin 4/28/06-5/13/06.

We are trying to decide which city we should allocate the most time for:

1)Art galleries: contemporary or otherwise. Mainly looking for either contemporary artists or more traditional landscape scrolls and screens (new or antique does not matter as long as we like them)

2) Rug stores for either chinese or persian

3)Furniture

Also, can anyone comment on prices? Are these items about the same as if you found similar in US or are they less? I assume Hong Kong will be more expensive than the others but was not sure.

How much time do you recommend to allot for looking for these types of items in each city?

Lastly, as far as the "dirt market" in Beijing. If you go Sun morning are most interesting items gone or are new items brought in for Sun?

Could you do the market justice on a Sat if your plane leaves PEK at 345PM?

Thank you in advance for any suggestions!

Aaron

we went to China three years ago. as we collect contemporary art, we spoke to our guide and asked to see and meet artists. He arranged it through a galerry owner , but when talking to the artists they suggested that next time we go to them directly--at the East Beijing Artists Village. The work was extraordinary, very avant garde--and reasonable by western standards. There are several hundred web-sites which you could visit to help with your choice. Hope you enjoy the trip--the highlight of ours was the evening we spent with the artists!

Thank you for your response. Did you spend any time in Hong Kong or Shanghai?

In Beijing, the most well-known galleries are in a district called 798 Dashanzi. As you probably know, Chinese contemporary art is hot right now with pieces fetching thousands of dollars in a recent Sotheby's auction. If you are a serious collector, I suggest doing lots of research. A local guide book called "The Insider's Guide to Beijing" (available on Amazon) has a good primer on the current art scene. If you're just collecting for fun, 798 is still interesting; also, there are rows and rows of traditional artists who display at the Dirt Market.

I have seen both your posts. I can only speak with some knowledge about Hong Kong, as I live here and have done a good bit of furniture and rug shopping, and a browsed through some of the contemporary art galleries, although I only am beginning to appreciate some of the artists and their art. I have some specific recommendations below. Some general comments first:

May 1 is a public holiday in Hong Kong (Labor Day, as in organized labor, i.e. the Communist Party kind). This is a fairly major holiday . For the most part shops will be open, but some smaller shops and galleries may be closed. There may be fireworks in the harbour on the night of 1 May or 30 April, check with your hotel, I have not heard a definite word yet on this. May 5 is a public holiday in Hong Kong (Buddha's birthday). It is unlikely to be a public holiday in the PRC, although you may see people celebrating it these days at temples, hard to tell.

Many antique shops and galleries in the Hollywood Road area in Hong Kong are closed on Sundays, which is unusual as most stores in Hong Kong are open on Sundays, so plan your shopping accordingly.

You could literally spend days looking at rugs, furniture and art so I can't really give you any guidance on your itinerary; I don't know how you are going to fit in any sightseeing if you want to spend time shopping for serious items like furniture, rugs and artwork as well. Hong Kong has an unbelievable amount of rug and furniture shops, and dozens of art galleries. The number of rugs in any rug shop is amazing and you could spend several hours in each one. I think you will find much the same in Beijing and Shanghai, although probably more spread out so it will take you more time to shop.

As you seem to understand, trying to find "antique" scrolls and furniture could be difficult, and you will probably end up not buying anything genuine, so you should buy what you like and not focus on whether it is antique. Reproductions are not really any cheaper anyway, so go for the best quality you can afford whether new or old. That being said, if you want antiques, I would feel more comfortable buying from a reputable dealer in Hong Kong than in the PRC, but that is just a gut feeling.

It used to be that rugs made in Iran (i.e., Persia) could not be imported into the US. It appears that this ban has been lifted, see http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/va...lesandClothing. I am not sure how long the new rule will last given current events. If you buy a rug that is from Iran, you might want the seller should make out a sales slip that indicates that the rug is from another country, like Pakistan or Afghanistan.

For any purchase of a rug or furniture, do a LOT of comparison shopping at home first, as this is the only way to ensure you are getting a bargain. One my trips home I can see that finding Asian furniture in the US is so easy now, and stores buy and ship in bulk and so get better prices than you could. IMO with the time to look and judicious bargaining, prices are lower here, at least by 30% and probably more, but if you have to pay for shipping, then you are going to be losing the savings. Figure on paying at least 60% of the cost of the item to ship it. Don’t forget about customs duties, as items you do not carry with you are NOT included in your duty-free allowance of US$800 per person. If you ship, have the store arrange it and insure it and always pay by credit card. Arranging commercial shipping yourself is generally more expensive and definitely more time consuming. Be very sure that shipping is to your door, and not to the nearest port or airport, or consider the time, trouble and possible extra cost of a port or airport pick up when tallying up shipping costs. Try to avoid shipping if you can, a rug that is 9 by 12 or less can actually be folded into a square (albeit a heavy one) and wrapped, and you can check it with your luggage. (Check the weight restrictions on your airline; you may have to pay excess baggage, but this should be cheaper than shipping..)

Bargain very hard especially on big-ticket items. Tell them a price they ask is a number that is unlucky for you, make an offer with an 8 (as 8 is an auspicious number, and 4 is generally an unlucky number). Make a game of it, do not become angry, but also be firm. Be prepared to walk away, you can always come back, or the merchant may follow you out of the shop and agree to your price. The first and last sale of the day are generally considered lucky so shop early or late. If you are going to take an item with you, bargain based on paying cash; if you are shipping, bargain based on a credit card. A Visa or MasterCard is preferred to an Amex, as Amex charges the merchant a higher fee.

Framing is very very cheap in Hong Kong, and I would imagine the same would be true in Beijing and Shanghai. If there is any way you have the time to get artwork framed in any place, I would do so. I can recco a frame shop in Hong Kong.

A fixed price store to look for Chinese rugs would be:

China Arts and Crafts Department Store
Star House, 3 Salisbury Rd. (Tsimshatsui)
(at the Star Ferry Pier)

This place might give you a starting point to use when comparing rug prices for Chinese carpets.

For furniture and rugs, one place to definitely consider would be the furniture warehouse out near Aberdeen called Horizon Plaza. Shops are open every day, esp Sundays (lots of expats out on Sundays). You can take a taxi from Central to this area in about 20 minutes, will cost about HK$200-250. (You could take a bus, a change or two would be required, the trip would take about an hour, ask your hotel.) There are about a dozen furniture shops here, and several rugs shops. Get a printed directory from reception on the ground floor, it lists shops by category. The lifts in this building are quite slow, so have some patience. There is only one coffee shop in the building in the Shambala furniture store, so have a good breakfast or lunch before you go. (You could take a taxi to Aberdeen afterwards for a meal, the only restaurant I would recco is the Top Deck, go to http://www.cafedecogroup.com/TOP_DECK/v_TOP_DECK.asp, otherwise the floating restaurants there are pretty average and touristy, but whatever.) All the shops will ship for you.

Horizon Plaza
2 Lee Hing Street
Ap Lei Chau, Hong Kong

Furniture shops I would recommend:

Shambala 2nd floor (good rugs, not a huge selection, but good quality, good Tibetan furniture too)

The Birdcage, 22nd floor, (small selection but excellent, Clarence will also take orders and ship items on to you after he locates them from sources in the PRC, he has very good prices)

Artura (not sure of floor)

Alyssa Liang, 11th floor (simply gorgeous reproduction furniture, she makes to order as well)

Rimba Rhyme, 5th floor (mostly Indonesian but some very interesting pieces)

Dynasty Antiques, 4th and 20th floors (two shops may two names)

Another good place to look are the shops along Hollywood Road, there are many furniture shops and also rug shops. Some reputable shops include Honeychurch Antiques (29 Hollywood Road) Zee Stone Gallery (47 Wyndham Street), Contes D'orient (26 Lyndhurst Terrace), Hobbs & Bishops (28 Hollywood Road), MIR Oriental Carpets at 52 Wyndham Street. For maps and prints, go to Wattis Fine Arts (21 Hollywood Road).

Another good place (albeit quite pricey) for furniture is the Prince's Building in Central at 10 Chater Road, quite near the Star Ferry pier and across the street from the Mandarin Hotel. There are several shops here, a very good one is Altfield Gallery.

Altfield Gallery
248-249 Prince's Bldg.
10 Chater Rd.
Phone: 2537-6370

In the area of the Pacific Place Mall in Central is Tribal Rugs Ltd, Admiralty Centre, 18 Harcourt Road, tel 2529-0576. They have mostly kilms.

Harbour City, the huge mega-mall that spreads along Canton Road in Tsim Sha Tsui (Kowloon), is another good place to browse. The shops here include Carpet World, Shop 271 in Zone C (Ocean Terminal); and Chinese Carpet Centre, in shops 164-168 also in Zone C. A well-known and reputable shop for tribal rugs is Charlotte Horstmann & Gerald Godfrey Ltd at 104 Ocean Terminal.

I will post on art galleries tomorrow, as I have some shops cards at home, but have not bought anything yet in Hong Kong. Most galleries can be found in the Hollywood Road and Soho area, although a few are now coming up in the Star Street area in Wan Chai.

The first week of May - May 1-7 - is a holiday in the PRC. It is one of three "golden weeks" that Chinese nationals get as holiday, which means that many will be traveling home during this time, or traveling as tourists throughout China. Your dates seem set, but try to avoid the PRC during this week, if you can. In Beijing, Panjianyuan (dirt market) will be quiet the weekend of May 6-7. April 29-30 is considered a working weekend in China, so the markets will be busier then, with people trying hard to sell things before they go on holiday.

I forgot about Golden Week! ( I was thinking only about the one in October...) Wow, things will be very crowded in Beijing, like the Forbidden City, etc. At least avoid these on the weekends, and go early in the day. You might want to spend more time in Hong Kong the first week in May and maybe skip Guilin if you can as airports, etc may be very crowded.

Major sites in Hong Kong may be crowded as well the first week in May as PRC visitors will come. The worst may be Victoria Peak, but you can avoid this by just geting away from the peak tram exit area and walking along Lugard Road, there is a loop that is flat and gives great views and takes about an hour to walk, it will bring you back tot the peak tram area. If the tram lines going up or down look long, take the #15 bus, the ride is almost as good as the peak tram and there are no lines, also only costs about US$2. (Going down from the Peak the #15 is easy to find from the bus terminal in the Galleria shopping center, if the lines at the bottom of the Peak Tram station in Central look long, the best way to do the bus is to take a taxi to the Central bus terminal (5 minutes less than HK$20) and take the #15 bus from there.)

Well, I didn't want to be too gloom and doom about it, but Beijing, Shanghai and Guilin will all be VERY busy - thronged with tourists - during Golden Week. If you can change your plans at all, I would strongly suggest it. If not, just be prepared for lots of crowds - not the worst thing that's ever happened to a tourist in China. On a brighter note, the galleries in Beijing will be open during Golden Week - pick up a free local English-language magazine (that's Beijing or Time Out Beijing) for listings of art galleries, shows, and info about the Dashanzi International Art Festival, which I believe is opening in May.

I was in Hong Kong during Golden Week last year and it wasn't too busy - I took the walk around Peak and enjoyed a lemonade at the Peak restaurant and Hong Kong was as gorgeous and glamorous as ever... and not overly crowded.

For contemporary art in Hong Kong, the first place you might want to go is the Fringe Club, which usually has exhibits, take a look at http://www.hkfringe.com.hk/english/index_eng.asp. You may see PRC and Hong Kong artists on show and get some names and ideas. The club is located near the top of Hollywood Road and Whyndham Street, and near to Soho, you will find many galleries in both areas.

Some galleries you might want to look at are below. Most of these are closed on Sundays or have limited opening hours:

Grotto Fine Art
Second Floor
31 C-D Wyndham Street
Central
Tel: 852-2121-2270
http://www.grottofineart.com

Schoeni At Gallery
21-31 Old Bailey Street
Central
Tel: 852-2869-8802
http://www.schoeni.com.hk

Karin Weber Gallery
20 Aberdeen Street
Central, Hong Kong
Tel: 852-2544-5005
http://www.karinwebergallery.com/home

The Zee Stone Gallery I mentioned in my first post is another place to look for contemporary art. Take a look at http://www.zeestone.com/index.php

Finally, as if you don't have enough to do, the Hong Kong Museum of Art is running a Rothko exhibition which started on March 31 and goes through June 4. I have not been yet, but it is supposed to be very good, in includes his early work and not just his famous later block color paintings. The museum is located on the waterfront in Kowloon (in the pink building) It is 10-6 every day except Thursday. Go to http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/Art...0060101_5.html

Some corrections/additions to my post on shops in the Horizon Plaza:

Alyssa Liang is located on the 10th Floor, not the 11th.

Another good furniture shop is Old Shanghai on the 15th Floor. Matahari on the 11th also has some interesting stuff, quite a jumble of furniture and artifacts, you need to hunt around. Their prices are a bit high, IMO.

I have to tell you this - in Guilin there is a hotel called the "Waterfall" hotel - right near the city square & Li river. Every evening it has the most astonishing event - somehow they pump hundreds of tons of water over the roof of the hotel & down the glass sides to the accompaniement of typical tacky Chinese coloured lights & music. A Chinese friend told me about it and I really loved it. I hope if I ever get back to Guilin, it still happens. I have never read of anybody else viewing it - and it is a must. BTW, the Hotel is a beauty - really 1st class.