Few Chinese have ever walked into a French house, but now they have a chance to see it with their own eyes in Beijing -- the beauty of artistic homes by the romantic people.

At the China World Trade Tower, landmark of Beijing's economic development, some 100 pieces of decoration by French businesses or artists are on exhibition, ranging from furniture, kitchen decoration, wallpaper to art ware and vanguard computers, all you want in your house.

French housing decoration businesses saw the exhibition as a very good opportunity to show their techniques and creative thinking, said Philipple Guelluy, French ambassador to China.

The July 5 to 9 exposition animated a space dedicated to most well-known French "masters of arts", who won the title for very high professional techniques from the French Ministry of Culture and Communication.

Lison de Caunes, a master at wheat straw weaving, carved patterns with a knife on a cake-like mat made of straw at the exhibition. She also brought many small gadgets, a table and screen weaved out of straw.

As the only one who knew the technique other than her three disciples in France, she said many people came to her for the artistic technique once popular in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Ma Tinggui, director of the China Building Decoration Association, said that "the exposition is like a golden bridge connecting the two countries' decoration industries and forecasts a bright future for cooperation, development and common prosperity."

At present, China is the world's largest market for construction. In 2004, the total output of building decoration reached 850 billion yuan (US$102.4 million), over half of which went to housing decoration.

Some 11 million people are working in the industry and 800,000 are for indoor decoration design.
 
(Xinhua News Agency July 6, 2005)