Buying, restoring old house become hobby of rich

Qin Tongqian

An oft quoted statistic provided by Feng Jicai, chairman of the Chinese Folk Literature and Art Society states that 300 villages are dying everyday in China because of urbanization. A total of 900,000 villages were destroyed over the past decade, the majority of which were ancient villages.

Ancient villages are widely classified as one or a cluster of hamlets that boast a minimum of 10 Chinese typical residences, temples of other types of architecture, and were naturally formed before 1911.

For many years, a lack of money has been the most common excuse used by local administrations, especially township governments, for the mishandling of antique houses.

Zhang Zhu'an is a trader who created a market and consequently, made a windfall, from the expensive hobby of collectors of ancient houses.

The former carpenter from Dongyang, Zhejiang province, where the largest quantity and highest quality of rosewood furniture in China is made, spotted the trend of antique house collecting about 10 years ago and established a business based upon it.