Roberto, you would love the museums they have in Shanghai. They have huge buidlings filled with traditional chinese designs and details of their origins, as well as the materials that went into making them. i'll see if i can dig up some pics later.

however on my last trip to shanghai. few locals -mostly the older crowd- there actually like the traditional designs that have been around for centuries, most of the newly wealthy residents there seemed to prefer the latest designs from europe and japan. i had one encounter with a self proclaimed "investment guru" who decided to decorate his entire house in Armani Casa. when i asked him why, his rough translation was: with the name Armani, how can you go wrong?