Although most of us, in the West, have heard of Feng Shui, the proper placement of elements of a room or garden, according to ancient Chinese philosophy, as it turns out, most people, in present-day China, do not even decorate their homes, at least not like we do, in the West.  The social context explains the situation and the mentality.  For example, during dynastic times, palaces were highly decorated, while commoners were forbidden to even possess certain images or items (like art).  Mid-century, China was still an agrarian society, and during the Maoist regime, people were encouraged to be common.  Only in the past several decades has the population been moving to urban areas and people have been allowed to run their own businesses.

The priority list, in present day China, runs: own a house, then, own a car.  That is even immortalized in an oil painting called "House and Car", by Guang Zhi Zhang, which we discuss, in our Leona Craig Art Blog and can be seen in the Leona Craig Art Gallery.  There is a reason that it is in reverse order from priorities in the us: own a car, then, own a house.  Because of the low price of the Yuan, imported cars are quite expensive, usually in the neighborhood of several hundred thousand Yuan.  Compare that to a salary of one to two thousand Yuan per month.  Housing can be as inexpensive as fifty thousand Yuan.  Even to have a Japanese-made Honda, here, is a status symbol.

In China, one Yuan has about as much local buying power as a dollar does, in the U.S.  Thus, to have achieved house and car, you have already accumulated several hundred thousand, in wealth.  People just have not had time to catch on to the whole home decoration thing.  Even in the 1950's when I was growing up, even though we were poor, my mom spent a lot of time deciding how to furnish the house.  We had wall art, even though it was framed pictures of Jesus and the saints, we had rugs on the hardwood floors, and we even had a nicely-done fake fireplace in the living room, all to make the place feel like a home.  To us a house is not a home.  This mentality just has not set in, as yet, in China.  That is actually one of the reasons that Red Hill Capital has decided that one of the best markets in China is art: it is undiscovered and undervalued. 

You can read more about life, in present-day China on the In Country Tips portion of our website.  You can read more about our thoughts on investment on the In Country Analysis part of our website.  You can view art from modern China on the Leona Craig portion of our site.