Traveling frequently  from the United States to Beijing, China on business,  I became amazed with how many unique pieces of art were there. I began buying these things for my own collection.

Here I am in Tiananmen Square posing with Mao in front of the Forbidden City.

I couldn't get enough and quickly realized other people would probably share the same passion for them as me.

With the good fortune of having associates who love these as much as me and can negotiate and buy them, I was able to begin collecting on a larger scale.

Haru and Shizue are amazing friends who share the same passion for beautiful objects as me. They are the ones who make this website and the "Elegant Imports" in it possible.

Shizue drives a hard bargain, making her point crystal clear, as she negotiates with a shopkeeper.

Chinese love to negotiate. I think  it is engrained in their culture. It's not uncommon to here "I say 100, now you say how much".

With the way she negotiates you would think Shizue is Chinese, but she is not. She and Haru are both from Japan.

Open only on the weekends, the "Stone Market" is an excellent source of truly unique elegant items.

It is a "Flea Market" of sorts where vendors from all over the area come to display their wares.

After each deal is consummated, the business of paying and record keeping takes place.

With the largest denomination bill being 100 RenMinBi (RMB), a lot of cash typically changes hands.

Each buying session can be extremely strenuous work. Imagine having to negotiate the price of everything you purchase! It can be draining.

At the end of a long day Shizue finally enjoys a relaxing ride out on a hired 3 wheeler bicycle, with some of the collection.

Haru is pretty wiped out too. After a long day of haggling and moving van load after van load of pieces to the warehouse, it's time to relax.

Items wait in the warehouse, ready for packaging. This is just the "tip of the iceberg". Although there are many, many more items, this grouping illustrates the variety of items available.

Product Update:

 The container finally arrived on October 9, 2006. It departed  Xingang port, Tianjing, China on Aug. 26, 2006 and arrived in Florida, New York  today as scheduled. It took 44 days after leaving China, to cross the Pacific, go through the Panama Canal, up the Atlantic to New York and through US Customs and the Dept. of Homeland Security.

Call or e-mail to arrange for an appointment to visit our showroom and see these "Exquisite Creations From The Far East".

Last modified: 04/01/2008

Contact me for information on our crystalline ceramic, marble, porcelain, wood and stone objects

Send mail to phil@elegantimports.us  with questions or comments about this web site.