There is a shortage of artisans of excellence. To meet current market demand and improve production efficiency, some enterprises use computer-controlled machines to do the carving. However, compared with hand carving, automatic carving looks formulaic and cut-and-dried. The care of hand carving is irreplaceable, which also explains the exorbitant price of classical furniture.

More and more hand-carved reproductions of "red wood" period furniture are setting price records, with some hitting sums higher than real antiques. At first, Zhang Dexiang was perplexed, but later, as he witnessed more and more excellent workmanship, he began to regard the high price of archaized furniture a good thing. "As works of art, classical Chinese furniture in ancient times was only available to royalty and high-ranking officials. Nowadays, such pieces are within the reach of common people, which is undoubtedly helpful to the cause of carrying forward traditional Chinese art and culture. Although they are not real antiques, the themes, craftsmanship and methods are old, so the archaized furniture contributes to the inheritance, appreciation and development of Chinese culture," Zhang said.

Rarity of Wood Supply Propelling Prices

Identification with ancient aesthetics is not the only underlying factor in the frantic pursuit of classical "red wood" furniture. "Nowadays, more and more people buy these items as an investment with the hope of buttressing themselves against inflation," Yang said. The timber to make authentic "red wood" furniture is culled from the core part of trees of a particular species that have stood for hundreds to thousands of years, whose number has dwindled sharply, some close to nil, over the past centuries. The non-renewable nature of "red wood" determines its high value.

Among the species used, the scented rosewood fetches the highest price – a dozen times the price of red sandalwood, which itself is at least ten times more expensive than Dalbergia. For scented rosewood, prices for timber of different origins also vary wildly. For instance, a Hainan-produced timber is the most valuable, more than ten times the price of that from Vietnam.

"It is no exaggeration to say the supply of eligible timber for today's 'red wood' furniture industry is virtually non-existent," Yang said. Most experts tend to hold the opinion that as a tree species, Hainan scented rosewood was already close to extinction back in the late Ming (1368-1644) and early Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. In 2000, Yang headed to rural communities of the Yi ethnic group in Hainan Province, ferreting out rosewood pieces among local homes that range from cooking potcovers to old bed boards and house beams. In 2007, as the supply plummeted and the price kept rocketing up, Yang's company publicly solicited Hainan scented rosewood, offering gold bars for timbers according to their quality and size. Yang hoped the campaign could stimulate awareness in people that this valuable tree species needed urgent protection.

Currently, "red wood" timbers used for furniture in China are mainly imported. Restrictions or bans on logging and export are one of many reasons for sharply rising prices; the others are increasing domestic demand and the influx of foreign "hot money."

Now timber of a decent size costs an astronomical sum. For example, the current price of 1.5-1.8-meter-long scented rosewood piece with a diameter of 20-30 cm is RMB 2 million/ton, and that 2.7 meters long is more than RMB 5 million/ton. Top-grade Vietnamese scented rosewood timber can fetch a price of RMB 10 million/ton.

"Scented rosewood and red sandalwood are almost extinct. As long as you have timbers and dare to post the price, there are buyers. Some suppliers even sell it by the jin (1 jin=0.5 kilogram) instead of by the ton," Yang said. "Many small furniture factories have gone bankrupt because the order price they accepted last year is not even enough to buy timbers this year," he added. The woes of manufacturers stand in stark contrast to the zeal of buyers. The rising price of the furniture, driven by soaring timber costs, has stirred up speculation psychology among consumers, and they are rushing to buy as prices rise.

"Currently there are few attractive channels available to hot money. Given the doldrums in the housing market, the depressed stock market and the risky futures market, 'red wood' furniture has quite naturally become the target of many investors allured by its appreciation prospects," Yang explained.

Yang predicted publicly earlier this year that due to the excessive price increase in "red wood" furniture over the first two quarters, the third quarter of the year was expected to see prices stabilizing. However in mid-July, due to a fraud scandal plaguing a big manufacturer of European-style furniture, many potential European-style furniture buyers switched to the "red wood" classical furniture market in China, leading to new records being set for "red wood" furniture prices.

Some economists once defended their prediction of price increases for "red wood" furniture with the theory "the law of value for a specific material is always above the market law." But Yang cautioned that for those buying for investment only the products of reliable manufacturers have the best potential for appreciation, and stand the best chance of finding ready buyers in resale. What's more, collecting and investing in "red wood" pieces requires patience and experience. He suggested the investor begin on a small-scale and then through constant study expand the investment scale, avoiding huge losses due to inadequate experience.

Expanding Timber Choices

Considering the fact that "red wood" resources are in short supply or even extinct, decades ago, forestry departments and scented rosewood lovers began to artificially cultivate the species in several provinces such as Guangxi, Fujian and Hainan. Now, thousands of acres of scented rosewood forests have come into being. Artificial cultivation is a good deed benefiting succeeding generations, not only our own offspring, but generations hundreds of years into the future.

Yang Bo is also executive chairman of the board of the Traditional Chinese Furniture Association. Recently, he has been participating in drafting new national standards for classical "red wood" furniture, aiming to promote the sound development of the industry. The new standards are expected to come out at the end of the year.

In 2000, China issued the first national standards on "red wood," which define the range of "red wood" species. But it also provides that the core timber of other tree varieties with the same specified density, texture and color can also be termed "red wood."

With the explosive growth of the "red wood" market and the increasingly severe shortage of raw materials, people are trying to find substitute for "red wood" timbers, and have discovered some possible alternatives. Some tree species have textures and colors that are on a par with or even superior to those of conventional "red wood," so unsurprisingly the voice demanding additions to the "red wood" list is getting louder.

Experts participating in drafting the new national standards claimed that timbers meeting particular requirements on rigidity, density and lipin content will all be enlisted in the "red wood" category. And some species have already been sanctioned, including Wenge.

To curb cheating and counterfeiting, often driven by the huge benefits accompanying popular industries, the new standards will require manufacturers and dealers to give more detailed description of their "red wood" products, demanding clear information on the pedigree of raw materials, accessory ingredients, impurity rate and the producing area, so as to ensure consumers make informed choices that ultimately promote the sound development of the industry.