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Traditional Chinese Culture Shines in Guangzhou Trade Fair
Overseas merchants participating China's Export Commodities Fair were greeted not only by first-class China-made commodities but also by the country's fabulous traditional culture.
In the exhibition hall highlighting chinaware, a blond, blue-eyed Italian merchant jokingly called himself a modern-day Marco Polo as he worked his way along cases of ceramics painted with Chinese dragons, characters and Beijing Opera masks.
"The only difference between Marco Polo and me is that I have orders for goods rather than the map of China in my pockets," he said.
Zheng Ali, general manager of a handicraft company in Ningbo city of east China's Zhejiang Province, said, "the more national features your products have, the larger the market will be."
According to Zheng, every month, her company exports as many as six containers of furniture of ancient Chinese styles, most of which are wardrobes or desks carved with Chinese characters, flowers or birds.
Lu Jianjun, chairman of a company handling paintings in Chengdu, the capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, echoed Zheng by saying that the transaction volume of his company witnessed a remarkable boost at this trade fair, even though a general decline in many other products resulted in the September 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S.
Du said his products are so popular because they reflect the
best in traditional Chinese culture.
Another product snapped by people of all nationalities at the fair was Chinese tea, which has been exported since ancient times.
After inking a business agreement with Chinese tea merchants, Shinji Totsune, a Japanese businessman, had endless questions for his Chinese partners about tea collecting and processing techniques.
"More and more tea shops are being launched in Japan, so we want to spread the tea culture of China to attract more customers," he said.
Another hot spot at the fair was the hall of ivory and jade carvings which looked more like a museum than an exhibition venue.
Standing alongside overseas merchants who marveled at the miniature ivory carvings some no more than a dozen centimeters long, artist Shi Zhifeng said he came to the trade fair because it is a money-maker for him and spreads Chinese culture and art.
The 90th China Export Commodities Fair is being held in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province.
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