Jing Daily’s Top Posts for the Week In case you missed them the first time around, here are some of Jing Daily’s top posts for the week of June 13-17: China’s Art Collecting Boom Making Up For Europe’s Decline? MarketWatch writes this week on a topic regularly covered by Jing Daily: the “new Chinese collectors” who have made domestic Chinese auction houses some of the most profitable in the world while playing an instrumental role in Hong Kong’s ascendancy as a key wine and contemporary art auction market. As a result of few alternative investment options, stock market instability, fears about inflation, and a rising yuan, the presence of Chinese collectors at auction, not only in mainland China or Hong Kong but also in New York and London, has risen quickly on a global level. With Chinese collectors only really hitting the world auction market around 2006, and not truly flexing their muscles until 2009, they’re simultaneously the auction world’s new hope and a force to be reckoned with. Interestingly, as MarketWatch notes, the emergence of new Chinese collectors has come at a time when Europe’s much more mature collector base has cut back. From Alley To Airport: Beijing Urban Brand NLGX The Terminal 3 NLGX Design stores, opening at the end of this month, will carry a full line of NGLX t-shirts and recycled bags made from hand-woven newspapers, as well as an all-new collection of gifts and accessories. In celebration of the new stores, this month NLGX is offering a “NLGX PEK Promotion Extravaganza” at its flagship location in Nanluoguxiang. Guests who wear a PEK t-shirt to the store will receive a free P-E-K button, while those who purchase two NLGX t-shirts will receive a free P-E-K tee. The store is also offering its P-E-K keychains at half price, both at its flagship location and its online store. Prices for products sold in the new T3 NLGX Design stores will be consistent with those at the Beijing flagship, ranging from 90-150 yuan (US$14-23) for t-shirts. In addition to a limited-edition tee area and a special children’s section, the stores will include self-serve “vending machines” carrying a selection of items. Interview: South Beauty Paving The Way For High-End Chinese Dining In only 11 years, cook-turned-entrepreneur Zhang Lan has revolutionized Sichuan cuisine, and built a powerful culinary empire, with her ever-growing chain of South Beauty (俏江南) restaurants. Powered by Zhang’s aggressive style of branding and her son Wang Xiaofei’s European-influenced philosophies of food preparation and presentation, South Beauty currently operates around 50 restaurants in 15 Chinese cities, and looks to prove that Sichuan food can occupy the same upscale surroundings as French or Japanese cuisine. Recently, Jing Daily exchanged a Q&A with a South Beauty rep via email, covering the company’s positioning in the Chinese cuisine market and its plans for the future. Montblanc’s “Art Of Writing” Exhibition, Arts Patronage Awards To Hit Beijing Running this month, Montblanc’s “Art of Writing” exhibition at Beijing’s Oriental Plaza mall marks the China debut of the 2011 Patron of Art fountain pen, released in conjunction with the 20th anniversary of the Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award. The globe-trotting exhibition, which takes place this year in places like Japan, Italy, France, Spain, the UK and United States, will hit three cities in China in all; Following its 10-day run in Beijing, Montblanc will present the exhibition in Hong Kong (July 8-14) and Shanghai (July 16-24). Included in the exhibition are the 20 Montblanc Patron of Art Limited Edition fountain pens that Montblanc has unveiled every year since 1992. These pens, which find inspiration in historical patrons of the arts like Emperor Octavian, Louis XIV, and Gaius Maecenas, are designed and crafted in Montblanc’s Artisan Studio and limited to only 4,810 pieces or, in some cases, only 888 pieces. Boutique Supermarkets Flourishing In China, But Is The Demand There? One trend that has picked up steam in China over the past couple of years has been the proliferation of high-end grocery stores, first in cities like Shanghai and Shenzhen and now in second-tier cities like Shenyang and Xi’an. Though supermarkets specializing in imported foreign items have been around in China for years, it’s only in the last few years that these stores have progressed beyond a niche market of foreign expats, Chinese “returnees” and the ultra-wealthy. Owing to recent food safety concerns, and despite rising food prices, even the Chinese middle class is doing more of their shopping at “boutique supermarkets” (精品超市). A possible sign of the contention we could see in the boutique grocery market in coming years is unfolding now in Shanghai.