In the southeastern corner of Beijing, there is a village where merchants sell old furniture.

I went there and saw the owner of an antique shop busy unloading a wooden archway from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), shipped there from Shanxi Province. He said he made money by his brains but felt distressed because quality goods are now hard to come by.

Lining the street were courtyard houses stacked with furniture of every kind, including square tables, long tables, chairs, screens, and cupboards along with archways, door leaves, oil lamps, and chopstick holders.

The village leader said that in 1992, the low rent in the village struck the fancy of antique furniture dealers. They rented 70 houses and turned them into warehouses. Most of the dealers are from Shanxi Province, so the village is now called Shanxi Village. All the furniture is purchased in Shanxi Province and transported to the village to be made over, repainted with lacquer, and polished before being sold either at markets in Beijing or to customers who come directly to the village.

Shanxi was once the richest province in China, and large quantities of high-grade furniture from the past dynasties remain there.

Each dealer claims his goods are the best, but the dealers have found that quality furniture is becoming scarce, and some prefer to hold out for good offers before they sell their best items. The price of some furniture is as dear as gold. Merchants dealing in items of red-veined pear wood from the houses of once-wealthy families have become rich bosses in the village.

(China Pictorial 04/13/2001)