It’s easy to read the words, “Made in China”, and dismiss it immediately. Actually going there, as I did recently, gives you a whole new perspective.
I think there is a feeling that products made in China are cheap – that products made in Italy or Japan are higher quality, more desirable but while I was walking through one of the worlds largest furniture trade shows in the world, held in Guangzhou, China (formerly Canton) I came to find that the quality available is very high and very competitive and actually, quite a lot of the furniture that used to be made in the design capital of Europe, Milan – is now made in China.
China is nothing if not mind-boggling ENORMOUS and until you go there (WARNING: this involves a 15 hour non-stop flight) you just can’t FEEL it. It must be how a European feels when they go to Texas, except China makes Texas feel like a manageable city.
I found China to be confusing, surprising and exhausting and in the end, I came home with some beautiful quality furniture and a new respect for truly handmade products.