Shanghai Renaissance man Xing Zheng Wang is a trend setter and an institution of old Shanghai

----By Jody Braverman

Not restaurateur, nor collector, nor artist, nor businessman, Xing Zheng Wang would rather that he be known merely as a man who "pursues beautiful things". Dispersed among his five restaurants and square metres of storage space are the fruits of that labour. From fashion design to interior design, his love of the art of "living" and a healthy appetite for antiques, have led him to be a restaurant proprietor, with well-known hotspots under his belt in Shanghai like the private dining club Yongfoo Elite and The Door in the city's Hongqiao suburb. But Wang says he's in it less for the food and more for the freedom it gives him to show off his flair for design and years of collecting. The ambience is definitely there, but with master-trained chefs cooking away in his kitchens, he's made good food into an art too.

EuroBiz: What was the situation with fashion in China when you got your start in the '80s?

Xing Zheng Wang: It was called the garment industry and had a very strong emphasis on functionality. You wear warm garments when it's cold and little when it's hot.

EB: What aspects of the industry attracted you most?

XZW: At that time it couldn't be considered an industry. The colours of the garments people wore were monotonous - ei?ther blue or grey - and everybody wore the same. We felt that it could have been more colourful and more stylish. The 1980s was the beginning of reform, the industry opened up and lots of information was brought in from the outside. I accepted some of the ideas, as they were fresh, and the fashion apparel was both colourful and beautiful. I had dreamed of doing something different.

EB: Did you succeed in these attempts? Did others accept you?

XZW: In those days you could be successful easily if you had new ideas. Today, there are too many people with new ideas. At that time I was one of the few who dared to think differently, and therefore I was very successful.

EB: What inspired you to enter the interior design industry?

XZW: We had many specialty stores when we were in fashion design. We did the store decorations ourselves and found it interesting and meaningful, more so than fashion design. Fashion design and interior decoration are actually related. The life of a fashion design is very short - a good design would probably last for a season or a few months. Interior design is different; the life cycle is long, whether it is a building or a decoration. You can take your time to admire good ideas or designs as they won't disappear instantly.

EB: What did you study in school?

XZW: I never studied any profession. I was one of the "old three-year" high-school students who graduated in 1966, '67 and '68 [beginning of the Cultural Revolution]. I never went to university. The matriculation exam was only restored in 1978 when universities resumed.

EB: What did you do during the Cultural Revolution?

XZW: All graduates of these three years were sent to villages for farming until 1980 when intellectual youths were returned to the cities.

EB: When did you become successful?

XZW: I created my first design in 1983 and '84. I was very satisfied with it and wanted to see if others would also like it. I brought it to a state-owned store on Huaihai Lu and that was the beginning.

EB: What happened after that?

XZW: I was in fashion garments for more than 10 years. At the beginning, we did the design and let others make the clothes. A few years later we opened a factory, allowing us to choose the material, do the processing and make the clothes ourselves.

EB: Why did you enter the restaurant industry?

XZW: My desire to have something to admire for a longer period of time lead to the decision to open a restaurant. In 1996, we opened the first restaurant on Nanchang Lu. In those days, the focus of restaurants was more on eating, not the atmosphere. There was very little design in restaurants then. When we created an elegant dining atmosphere, people felt that our restaurant was different.

EB: What got you interested in collecting antiques?

XZW: When we started fashion design, the design concepts were from abroad. We paid more attention to foreign fashion designs and magazines to get ideas. Later, I started to think about how I could design something with my characteristics and style, and I paid more attention to things with Chinese cultural flavours, such as antique furniture and historic buildings. For years I used vintage items and items with rich ethnic characteristics. I started collecting as of 1980, and since then I have been collecting furniture and daily folk items such as doors and windows of residential buildings.

EB: What types of antiques do you collect?

XZW: Quite different from the ordinary collector. Chinese collectors usually have particular interest in a certain category or specialty. My collection is more diverse, as I collect from the aesthetics point of view. I pay more attention to an item's uniqueness and personality, and decide if it has special characteristics. Therefore my collection is very diverse: furniture, stone sculptures, brick engravings and bronze ware. I'm interested if I feel that an item possesses something special.

EB: How big is your collection?

XZW: Quite big, several rooms.

EB: Where do you store your collection?

XZW: In a big storage facility.

EB: Do your restaurants feature your collectibles?

XZW: I pick from the storage based on the needs of the restaurant.

EB: Are all your collectibles very expensive?

XZW: Price has nothing to do with valuation. The uniqueness makes it special.

EB: What characteristics do you think are the most special? What attracts your attention the most?

XZW: That's a good question. There are many criteria to consider. Colour is one of them, and design is another. The feel of the material used is another criterion. The last one is craftsmanship, which relates to production. Craftsmanship is the quality of production. An item is a good item if it has a strong presence of any of these elements, much better if it has all four of them.

EB: Where do you normally get your pieces?

XZW: From merchants who specialize in this business. They contact me when they come across a good item.

EB: Only in China?

XZW: Both in China and abroad.

EB: What is your view on the many Chinese relics that have been exported out of China?

XZW: I don't think there are any issues regarding the losses of the old days. We lost them when we were unable to protect them. When we are able to bring back and protect these items we will do good job. These items belong to the human race and therefore there is nothing bad about them.

EB: What is your view on Shanghai's modernization in the past 20 years?

XZW: I hope city construction will slow down. It's too fast. Historical and cultural items could be destroyed if it is too fast. Many old houses have been torn down. I think some old houses and buildings with architectural characteristics of the city should be preserved. Years later, people may have this feeling, though they may not feel it now.

EB: Can you give an example?

XZW: There are too many to name.

EB: Just one example.

XZW: I can't comment on the houses that have been demolished. They might not be the best or they might not belong to the category protected by the state, but they might have the most characteristics of the city. There are houses in the Taipingqiao area that are not yet demolished but will soon be. Recently, I went to look at some of them in the modern alleys and realized that they in fact reflect the characteristics of the city. They were built in the '50s and are very pretty. They are in the Dongtai Lu area and are included in the demolition plan.

EB: What do you think about the Westernization of Shanghai?

XZW: I don't feel there is any Westernization. Shanghai is only pursuing the manifestation of modern materialism. Have you seen any Westernized buildings in Shanghai?



EB: Sure. Most modern buildings in Shanghai are similar to those in the United States or Europe.

XZW: These are modern buildings; they do not have cultural characteristics of traditional Western architecture.

EB: What do you think is traditional Western architecture?

XZW: The really old ones, the ones that reflect the style of traditional architecture such as those of Baroque and ancient Rome. I think the new buildings do not have or truly express the traditional architectural styles; they are just modern buildings.

EB: Among the places you have travelled, which ones do you like most, and why?

XZW: For cities, I like London and Barcelona. I think London has preserved its history very well. Most of the buildings I saw are passed down from history. I think people have good consciousness for protection. Apart from this, the city is vibrant and has absorbed many cultural ideas of the modern era, including the harmonious existence of fashion and art.

EB: Why did you want to run a restaurant?

EB: Business is only a format. In reality, the restaurant is used as a means to showcase my way of articulating an environment. When I try to articulate an environment, I consider human nature and the needs of people. I hope to arrive at the point where I can understand people from different places and cultural backgrounds, and help them come to a consensus. I want people with different cultural backgrounds to appreciate and consider their commonality.

EB: What is your next step?

XZW: An idea struck me when I was restoring the stage in one of the restaurants. It occurred to me that Chinese opera does not have a position in the market, even though traditional Chinese opera culture has a very long history. Many local opera titles have been lost. I sincerely hope that we can preserve as many as possible. I'm now trying to popularize Chinese opera because I believe it is a national gem and should be preserved for performance at specific venues. It does not yet have a market and people do not pay attention to it today, but I hope to reignite their interest.

EB: How do you think the design industries in China, including interior decoration and architectural design, will develop in the future?

XZW: I'm not optimistic from what I see today. There are few people producing designs with ideas of their own. Few designs have character and they are mostly commercialized. Commercialization means the design is more geared towards the needs of the stakeholders. The common trend is to design to meet the business requirements and not to express the character and viewpoint of the designer.