In November, I went on an exciting journey with my husband to Shanghai in China. I accepted the invitation from Vivian, my gallery owner in the heart of Shanghai. For a long time we had planned an exhibition and now it was time! Shanghai, I’m coming!
Vivians unconventional store Hey!Jewel is located in the French Quarter and is well known in Shanghai and beyond its borders as a trendy jewellery store with selected designer labels. Four years ago Hey!Jewel introduced my jewellery collection, which now has a large fan base in China. In addition to our exhibition in the 2-storey jewellery house, 400 interested people took part in our live broadcast! During the event in the store I met enthusiastic customers who wanted to take selfies with me and whom I was allowed to sign autographs.
Shanghai gave me the impression of a cosmopolitan metropolis between tradition and modernity: historic buildings and a lot of culture with theaters, museums and gardens. At the same time, Shanghai, with its 24 million inhabitants, is an international mega-city and the most important industrial city in China with the largest container port in the world. It is also a city of contrasts: here are the chic stores of the designer labels and there the traditional food stalls, where you can – it’s hard to believe – pay with your mobile phone.
On a day trip to Suzhou, we were able to experience a “real” Chinese city, the way one imagines it as a tourist. Nine of the most beautiful gardens in the city are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites – as well as the Textile Museum, which documents the successful history of silk production in Suzhou since the 14th century. The city is criss-crossed by canals and is located on a huge lake, where intensive pearl farming is operated. The freshwater pearls I use are also cultivated there!
Vivian and her husband Young gave us an unforgettable stay. The hospitality of the Chinese is commonly known and thanks to our warm hosts we were able to immerse ourselves a bit in the culture of China. For example, we tried many exotic dishes that we would hardly have been able to order because of the language barrier – dog and cat excluded …
Last but not least, it was a great pleasure to see that my jewellery design is so popular in such a different culture.
Impressions from Shanghai
