Though she does not have a traditional kitchen in her new house, Huang Jing, a resident in Nanning, capital city of southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, treated her visitors to delicious food.
Her kitchen, or "parlor-kitchen" as the hostess calls it, is hidden in the living room with its air extractor and cookers tucked out of sight.
A growing number of families in China have been fitting out their homes to their own special tastes like Wang since China launched its market-oriented housing reform in 1998, ending its long-practised welfare housing distribution system.
To most Chinese families, beautifying their houses means spending thousands or tens of thousands of Renminbi yuan.
However, many people love to pay that much for a snug and more comfortable home.
Wang is one of them. She started decorating her home immediately after she bought the house.
"We want to enjoy a more relaxed living environment," she explained.
According to the China Association of Building Decoration, the people in China spent nearly 360 billion yuan (about US$44 billion) on home interior decorations last year.
"The added value of the interior design industry was more than 180 billion yuan (about US$22 billion) nationwide in 2001,outdoing the automotive sector," said Xu Peng, association vice president.
The trend for home decorating means a mushrooming of decorationand building material businesses in this southern city.
"There are more than 400 decorating firms in the city of Nanning alone," said Xu, who works for a local construction company.
The upsurge in home decoration also benefits the media, advertising and consulting companies.
A lot of real estate and decorating firms "rush to advertise inlocal press," said a local advertising company owner.
(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2002)
