Dear readers
Nicely Made in China was Monday morning on the front page of the South China Morning Post business section!
Following that article more than 700 visitors came to the site to discover what NMiC has to offer.
Readers who are interested can also become fans of NMiC on our Facebook page:<http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nicely-Made-in-China/134454679901330> and follow us on our Twitter page @NclyMdinChina
NMiC wishes you all a nice week!
At an altitude of 3200m in Gansu province, the company Norlha produces the most exquisite shawls. These shawls, made mainly of yak wool (khullu), have become much sought after in shops from Paris to Shanghai. Nicely Made in China spoke to the owner, Kim Sciaky-Yeshi, to find out what makes them so special and successful.
Kim, when and how did you start this adventure?
I’ve always loved beautifully woven things and had once worked with someone who was making products out of camel’s wool. In my opinion the 3 most beautiful types of wool are that of goats, yaks and camels. I had heard that yak wool was a rare and noble material but nowadays almost forgotten. So in 2005 I decided to send my daughter Dechen and her brother Genam to Gannan Prefecture in Gansu to see what could be done there with yak wool. They bought over a ton of the raw fiber, which they had cleaned and sent by truck to Katmandu, via Lhasa. There, in my friend Christopher Giercke’s workshop, we had it spun and woven, to test the quality. It turned out that we had a wonderful product. Norlha was started in 2007.
This week Nicely Made in China takes a look at one particular sector of the service industry. With roughly 150 million dogs in China and at least as many cats the need for veterinary services has never been so great. Vetinchina started by an Anglo-Chinese team has opened a couple of clinics in Beijing, including a brand new one in Shunyi. NMiC talked to Dr Stone and Dr Anthony Beck about pets and pet lovers in China.
Dr Stone, Dr Beck what are your respective background?
Dr Stone: I have been a veterinarian for 10 years and I graduated from the China Agricultural University in Beijing in 2001. I come from Jianxi province in the South of China where I grew up on my parents’ farm. We had 40 cows and as many pigs. My parents wanted me to become a vet so that I could work on the farm with them later. But I realized it was more interesting to care for city pets. Yesterday I adopted a dog, Stella, from a family which was going back to the US. Here I can have a close relationship with animals.
Dr Beck: I am British and I graduated from the London veterinary college in 1998 and came to China in 2006 working as a consultant for the Beijing quarantine bureau where I stayed for two years. With Dr Stone, we met a year ago and opened the practice in 2009.
Dear readers
Nicely Made in China is That’s Shanghai magazine editor’s choice to be website of the month. You can read the article on their website urbanatomy.com!
A nice reward for all the people who’ve accepted to be featured: Adam Healy at Ark Surfboards, Liu Hongyan and David Winter at Red Dragon Yacht Building, Alia and Safi Malik at Shangrila Farms, Nicolas Favard the goldsmith, the double-bass maker Gao Zhenmin, Marianne Friese and her company Malilian, Virginie Fournier, Carole Beaucour and Shanghai Trio, Elisabeth Koch the milliner, the jewellery designers Ariel Welby-Everard and Wang Lei, Hai Chen at Blue Shanghai White, the cheese maker Liu Yang, Dominic Johnson-Hill of Plastered 8, Valérie Nomain at Chocolate Design, Lisa Minder-Wu at The Orchard, Pierre-Olivier Le Magnan at Chiru Bikes, Sarah Keenlyside and Tom Pattinson at Bespoke-Beijing, the fashion designer Huang Yue, and every one at Time Machine Image Center.
A big thank you to the 7300 readers who’ve visited the website since the start of Nicely Made in China!
I also would like to particularly thank all the people who have supported Nicely Made in China and who have been generous with their time, efforts and ideas.
After the coast of Fujian, Nicely Made in China takes you to the South China Sea to meet Adam Healy one of the two owners of Benpat International. Based in Shek-O on the South-East coast of Hong Kong Island, Benpat makes high-end surfboards -as well as kiteboards, skateboards, nipper boards and stand-up paddle boards- and sells them all over the world. Adam, 26, is Australian and was raised in Hong Kong. He sat with NMiC and explained how surfboards are made.
Adam, can you give us some information about your company?
Benpat International was created in 1990 by John Patkin and I came onboard in 2008. Most of our production is for exports, mainly to Australia, the UK and the US.
It’s summer, and to get away from the heat in Beijing, Nicely Made in China felt like dipping a toe in the sea. That’s how NMiC landed in Xiamen, Fujian province, to interview Ms Liu Hongyan, Red Dragon Yacht Building general manager, to discuss sails, carbon fiber rudders and the new Chinese consumers who are boosting the recreational marine economy.
Ms Liu, when was the company created?
The company was created in 2003 by Mr David Winter who had long experience in the marine industry working for Taiwanese shipyards. When he arrived in Xiamen in 2001 he was surprised to see no recreational boats at all. That’s why he decided to build a small sailing boat for the Chinese market. A few months later the D5.8 – a reference to the boat’s length – was born. He found a shipyard to build it and when that shipyard did not want to build it anymore, David decided to make it himself, creating Red Dragon Yacht Building. We are today what is called a contract builder or an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer). Clients from all over the world, like Scandinavian Cruisers, come to us with their design and we build the boats.
This week, Nicely Made in China goes green and meets with Alia Malik, Shangrila Farms managing director in her Beijing office. Alia, a half-American, half-Pakistani New-Yorker is a development economist. She talks about fair-trade and helping Yunnan farmers grow coffee and raise bees.
Alia, how did you start Shangrila Farms?
I had visited China a few times and in 2003 I came back and spent a lot of time in Yunnan. I felt inclined to do something useful for the community. Read the rest of this entry »
Nicolas Favard, a 30-year old Frenchman and an extremely gifted craftsman, has lived in China since 2004. He opened recently a new shop in a quiet street just on the West side of Sanlitun North Village. Nicely Made in China had a conversation with him on how he became a jeweller, what inspires him and the meaning of jewels.
Nicolas, when did you decide to become a jeweller?
I got the bug when I was 12. Our teacher told us it was time for us to think about what we wanted to do later in life and I found an article about becoming a jeweller in a book. The bug hasn’t left me since. Read the rest of this entry »
This week Nicely Made in China gives centre stage to Mr Gao ZhenMin, a luthier, owner of Huaming Bass. Mr Gao Zhenmin lives in Hebei and makes his speciality to build and repair double-basses and cellos with his wife, Ms Wen YaXia. NMiC paid him a call in his Hebei workshop where a collection of stringed instruments await his attention between fragrant Sichuan maple and alcohol-based home-made varnish.
When did you open your workshop?
In 2004, after working for 7 years at the oldest Beijing instruments-making factory where I was assembling, adjusting and testing the instruments. While working there I met a lot of music professors who told me there was a niche market in making instruments for high-end classical and jazz musicians. That’s how it started.
Nicely Made in China today presents a non-traditional furniture designer: Marianne Friese, owner and designer of Malilian. German by birth Marianne arrived in China in 2001. Since 1988 she has been leading two lives: consultant and communications specialist 12 hours a day she turns into a sofa designer the other 12. NMiC caught her in the sweltering warehouse of the Beijing master upholsterer she works with where she was checking the quality of her latest creations before delivering them personally to their new homes.
Marianne, how did this all begin?
My first sofa was made in 1988 in Los Angeles where I was living. I wanted to buy one for my home and could not find anything I liked. A friend introduced me to a Mexican Read the rest of this entry »
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