My Family's Story,

My family comes from the rural province of Henan.  It is located in central China.  The people of this region are mostly farmers.  My family lived in the small village of Huasi.  My father was a carpenter.  He worked everyday in a manual form of carpentry, and masonry.  My mother sold fruits and vegetables at a local market and collected scrap metal to sell.  My brother, sister, and I worked in the fields.  I began each day at 5 A.M..  I made breakfast for my family and then headed to the field.  Our day usually ended at about 8 P.M.

Back in 1990, my sister decided to go to Guangzhou to get a job.  She found one washing dishes at a local restauraunt for 12 hours per day.  Soon after, my mother came to Guangzhou to help out my Uncle's family.  She decided that this city might be a good place to do business and to try to create a better life for her family.  With much persuasion, she finally got my father  to come to Guangzhou to try to do business.  With my brother in tow, they came to the city.  My family moved into a small apartment on the other side of Shamian island.  Starting with a total savings of 4000 renminbi ($500 USD), and my mother's keen sense of business, they began.  Soon after, they started to sell teapots on a cloth on the ground of one of the side streets of Guangzhou's famous Qing Ping Market.  They were making a marginal living.

In 1993, I joined my family in Guangzhou.  We continued to set up our teapots  in Qing Ping everyday.  One day in 1996, local inspectors came to the island to do a census.  When they came to our house they noticed our supply of high quality teapots, the same as those now sold in my brother, Benjamin's Place.  They told us we should have a better location to do business and that such items would be very attractive to tourists and business people visiting the island.   With a little searching we found the place now known as Jennifer's Place.  We set up here in a small room and began to do business.  As we became more successful, we expanded and aquired more of the building.  The space that is now Jennifer's Place was once housing for the Shamian street cleaners.  By 1997 we had the small room in front with the traditional Chinese clothing, and one large adjoining room.  By the following year we expanded to one side room.  In the spring of 2000 we began our latest and largest expansion.  This included the three large rooms in the back where you can find the toys, children's clothing, and other gifts.  At about the same time we began work on my brother Benjamin's Place located just down the street.  Both stores feature a wide variety and full price range of Chinese gifts.  Both stores are still open and are being run by my family.  So if you are in Guangzhou stop by and find incredible values and a wide selection of great gifts.

I have now moved to Seattle, Washington, USA with my husband, Lee.  I have started this website and ran a a kiosk in the Alderwood Mall, Lynnwood, Washington until April 2002 to bring you many of the wonderful items sold in our Guangzhou stores.

We opened a temporary 1500 square foot store in Redmond, Washington offering close to all that is available in our Guangzhou stores.  We now operate this internet business and appear at festivals, and fairs around the northwest.

We try our best to find the traditional items that you will find the most desirable. Our family has a tradition of hard work and commitment.  With this we have created these places and oportunities in China and the U.S. to provide you with a great shopping experience.  Thank you for visiting our stores.

Jennifer.