After the three of them finished eating at noon, Zhai Jianmin took them to Hong Kong's most famous antique street, Hollywood Road, which is also where he is Yongbao Zhai.

Hollywood Road, located in Sheung Wan, was the first street to be built in Hong Kong after the opening of the port. The name Hollywood Road has nothing to do with Hollywood in the United States, but it comes from the holly trees in the area of Hollywood Road in the early years.

"Hong Kong has three antique streets, the most famous of which is Hollywood Road, which was once listed by a foreign magazine as one of the top 10 most popular tourist attractions in the world."

Zhai Jianmin introduced as he walked: "Look at this ancient street on Hong Kong Island, which is curved and long, stretching from Central to Shanghuan and Xihuan, there are more than 100 antique shops large and small. There are many fine Chinese antiquities, and there are many kinds of ceramics, jade, stone carvings, ivory carvings, bronze ware, silverware, lacquerware, furniture, screens, calligraphy and paintings, ancient books, and even rare ancient Chinese wedding costumes. ”

The three of them came to Yongbao Zhai, the area is not large, and there are all kinds of antiques, mostly the Qing Dynasty, and the treasures are in the safe.

"When I was 12 years old, my family was in the middle of the road and my father started to get sick again. Whenever the family was short of money, he saw his mother go out with the porcelain that his father had collected in his early years, bringing back a few hundred yuan to support the family. At that time, I realized for the first time that these seemingly ordinary bottles and cans could be turned into money. ”

Zhai Jianmin chatted while making tea: "When I was 15 years old, because of the compulsion of life, I started to work to earn money to maintain my family's livelihood. At first, he sold raffia in a shop, starting as an apprentice. At that time, he was not very good at English, and he was afraid to communicate with foreign customers whenever he came to the store, but the proprietress spoke English very well, so I paid attention to it. ”

"After only half a year, I was able to communicate with foreign guests more easily. Next door to the raffle shop is an antique shop, I got acquainted with the master of the antique shop at that time, Huang Yinghao, who asked Zhai Jianmin if he could help deliver goods to customers after work, and of course I would not refuse, so I helped Master Huang deliver the goods to customers' homes after work at 6 o'clock every night. ”

Zhai Jianmin recalled: "A year later, Master Huang told me that he wanted to open his own antique shop, and asked me to do it together. At this time, I realized that Master Huang had spent this year to test his patience and examine my personality. ”

Wu Tianyuan sighed that Hong Kong still retains the oldest tradition of masters taking apprentices, and after three years of entering the door, the master raises the apprentices as children, manages food and housing, and teaches skills. Three years after leaving the school, the apprentice worked for the master for three years, even if he was still gracious. Then you can set up your own portal and have your own store.

The antique shop is more complicated, in addition to having the luck to meet a Master, you also need to have the spirit of understanding and hard work, and your vision and luck are the difference between life and death.

"In 1973, I joined Fu Shing Hong, which was owned by Master Wong, and I started to get into antiques. When I first got started, I was ignorant, and I didn't know how to distinguish the dynasty from porcelain with and without a bottom, so I could only work hard to learn porcelain knowledge and gradually become an expert. ”

"When I first visited the British Museum, the Davide Foundation and the Victoria Museum in 1976, I was struck by the dazzling array of Chinese artifacts inside. In Hong Kong at that time, only some "licensed goods" could be seen, and some small official kilns and old kilns could occasionally be seen. Seeing such a vast European market, I realised the importance of the European market for Hong Kong antique dealers. ”

Wu Tianyuan listened carefully to Zhai Jianmin's life experience, their generation happened to be in the golden age, and many big collectors seized the opportunity to establish a collection system, which is very valuable for investigation.

"In 1981, I decided to leave Fu Shing Hong, which had a certain scale, but I already had a deep friendship with Master Wong. In order to repay the master's cultivation, he would return to Fuk Shing Hong every day for a year after leaving Fu Shing Hong to teach the business to his junior disciples, and this lasted for more than a year before leaving. ”

"From 1982 to 1987, I did some regular business at home, and it wasn't until 1988 that I finally opened my own shop on Hollywood Road, Yongbao Zhai, which was named by my wife, which means that every customer who comes here will always buy treasures."

Zhai Jianmin asked Wu Tianyuan and Wang Dagang to go into the inner room and take out their treasures from the safe to share, six or seven pieces of the official kiln of the third dynasty of the Qing Dynasty, and two pieces of blue and white from the Ming Dynasty.

"Just when I was having smooth sailing in my career and was full of confidence in porcelain appraisal, I almost suffered a loss of overconfidence."

Zhai Jianmin picked up a blue and white plate and sighed: "When a person brings a blue and white plate, I feel that this plate is exquisite at first sight, and I even have a determination to jump off the cliff." After bargaining, it was pressed from 2 million yuan to 1.3 million yuan, and the money was paid at 3 p.m. ”

"It was one o'clock in the afternoon, and I walked away with my plate. Perhaps it was providential that I did not take the usual road back to the store, but walked a relatively long road that could pass through Master Huang's shop. The master was not in the shop, so I felt a little sorry that I couldn't let the master see this treasure with his own eyes. ”

"When I got back to the store at half past one, the phone rang, and it was from the master who would never normally call back. At two o'clock, Master Huang came to my shop. Master Huang, who usually wraps up the porcelain as long as he opens it and looks at it, looked at this plate for 15 minutes this time. ”

"At the time, I thought to myself, the master must have never seen such a beautiful plate, right? But then as soon as the master's glasses were released, splitting his head and covering his face was a lesson: You have used so many Yongle plates, but you actually see this really?

Zhai Jianmin said with a wry smile: "After the master pointed out a few mistakes, I also found that the fold edge of this plate is slightly thicker, and the bottom foot is high. Although he was reluctant, based on the principle of selling only the real thing, he returned the plate to the seller before 3 o'clock. ”

"Three months later, there was an influx of high-quality imitations into the Hong Kong market, and when I saw these high-quality imitations, I felt that I had made the right decision. Until now, I have kept a high imitation of that time as a lifelong lesson! ”

Wu Tianyuan nodded, there is no danger of hitting his eyes here, he has a special ability, as long as he doesn't choose the Yuan Dynasty, he can neither listen to the dynasty nor absorb the energy, the Ming and Qing dynasties will definitely not be eye-catching.

"After the return of Hong Kong, I continued to develop in Beijing at the insistence of my wife, and when I was in my 40s, I decided to study at Peking University. Despite the difficulties and concerns, my thirst for knowledge and love for porcelain made me overcome the difficulties and enter the Department of Archaeology of Peking University. ”

"In the first two or three months, because I couldn't understand the teacher's Mandarin and didn't understand some professional vocabulary, I couldn't listen to the class in a daze, and I had to ask my classmates for help after class. In order to overcome this difficulty, I recorded in class, listened to it again and again when I went back, and learned it repeatedly. ”

"Although I only have two classes a week, every time I attend a class, I have to leave early and return late and fly back and forth between the two places. Every time I return to my home in Hong Kong after attending a class, it is more than 10 o'clock in the evening, after eating some food, I review what I have learned that day until the early hours of the morning, and the next day I have to go to work at 10 o'clock in the morning. ”

Wu Tianyuan was really impressed by Zhai Jianmin at this time, and some of the original little mustards had disappeared, and a fifty-year-old man still had such enthusiasm for antiques, which moved him very much.

Wang Dagang also sighed: "Now Lao Zhai has been taking classes at Peking University for five years, and the cost of studying for five years and the fatigue of five years are difficult for ordinary people to bear, but he is still persevering." ”

"It's simple that a person's success is proportional to the effort he puts in, but few people have the same perseverance as he does. The most precious person in the world is as good as time; The most extravagant person in the world is a waste of time. ”

Today is really worth the trip, Wu Tianyuan has seen the demeanor of real Hong Kong connoisseurs, here still retains the most traditional master and apprentice etiquette, there are the most regular connoisseur rules, and a group of collectors who really love antiques, no wonder it can become the Asian art trading center.