Jason and Annie put in the most amazing looking Zen Garden today!  It makes the front of the store look fantastic–and zenful!

We are all moved in and OPEN!

After a couple weeks of hard work, we have the whole store moved now and it looks great.  This is a picture of the outside of the store and I’ll get a picture on the inside posted soon!

Yeah!!!  Fred is home to Greenville today from “home” in Beijing!  Finally!  It has been over 5 years now he has been living and working in China.  He is going to miss living there, but we are going to be very happy to have him here in Greenville and at the store AND living on this side of the world now!   Lets see if his Retirement really works this time!  There will always be buying trips for Trade Route to Asia and he already has a trip to Tibet planned for October!  I think travel will be at the top of his list now!  I guess we won’t be getting as much work out of him at the store as I’d like!  I know lots of our customers have not met Fred yet, so when you get a chance, please come in to the store and say hello!  Welcome home Freddy!

Hi, Freddy here. I just went to woodcarver Mr. Zhu’s today and purchased some wooden statues. A few should go in the next container; the remainder in the one after that. Mr Zhu, the one on the picture who looks like he would be Mr Zhu, is a woodcarver who is moving up in the world. He is closing his business because he has been discovered by people making TV shows and movies. They have hired him to carve statues and other set items for movies. They need to film a scene in the Forbidden City perhaps they can’t go to the real Forbidden City to film. So they create the rooms. All the old period statues etc., have to be created. Mr Zhu is now doing that. Showed his portfolio of a hundred or so statues, wall pieces, etc.  The pieces look fantastic and Mr Zhu says the work is easier, can use softer woods which are easier to carve (since the pieces don’t have to have a long life), and since it is China - the money is better - and that’s what it’s about. Good luck to him. I had a good time dealing with him and his wife. Look forward to some of the pieces getting to Greenville.