High End In China: Visiting This Summer

There is an article written by Robert Harley in TAS that you can find with a search on their website, it's titled, "The World's Number One Audiophile?".

It's about a Chinese gentleman in the city of Yang Jiang who undoubtedly is number one. The article is worth reading even if you're not going to China.

Here's an excerpt from the article after the unbelievable collection of gear and music Mr. Ji Hui Li owns is partially described:

"All this gear is put to good use; Mr. Li opens his house to anyone who wants to come and hear music. He's extraordinarily passionate about music and high-end equipment, and shares that enthusiasm with anyone who's interested. Similarly, the club is open to the public so that ordinary people can come and hear great music wonderfully reproduced. What a wonderful gift to the people of Yang Jiang."

If you're anywhere near Yang Jiang, you really should look up Mr. Li.

You'll be missing the biggest show in town by about 2 months:

http://www.my-hiend.com/vbb/showthread.php?6697-2013年-上海國際高級HI-FI演示會

From previous show reports I've read, the attendance reaches CES level.

In response to the post above that there are no Audiophiles in China, here's my take. And this, of course, is an over-generalization. The Asians approach this hobby much differently than their western counterparts. Most people feel that "music appreciation" is part of being "culturally educated". So, you find many educated people very interested in learning to appreciate music, especially classical music. And you have teens and early twenty-something generation that try to express themselves through music just like kids everywhere. Then you have a very small percentage of music lovers that enjoy exploring all kinds of music without the pretense.

Hi-End Audio is also perceived as a status symbol. Besides a house, a nice car, and women with their expensive purse collection, a HT system is a must have, but a two-channel system gives the impression that the owner is sophisticated. And if you play vinyl, super-sophisticated.

Most Hi End Manufacturer had figured out 20 years ago that the real market was in Asia. The customers there got the dough and are willing to spend. For every unit they sell in North America, they can sell at least 50 in Asia.

There are also many Hi-End start-ups in China. Sure, there are many opportunists looking to make quick money selling junks to anyone willing to pay, but there are many companies, like Opera-Consonance, that are run by people who are passionate about audio. Most of them just haven't figured out a way to expand business overseas. Or in the case of Opera, got taken advantages of by some sleazy US importers. But Opera was fortunate to have found Grant Audio, some of the nicest people in this business. (Not associated with either, but I have several Opera products and have dealt with Grant Audio on several occasions).

Asians have this negative bias towards domestically made products, so even thou the market is big, most people would prefer to buy foreign products.

FrankC

Really helpful--thanks everyone. Please keep your suggestions coming. I've got several months before I leave so will do some research around your ideas. I think it will be interesting to get a different perspective on the hobby and the business side of things while overseas.

Send a proxy.;-)