Chat with Jim Spear, co-founder of China Countryside Hotels

The Grameen Foundation field trip has been a boon in more ways than one. On the trip, I met JS and JH. JS, from Beijing, told me about her country home by the Great Wall that also gets let to visitors. I was immediately interested to find out more about the project in Mutianyu Village. As promised, when she got back to Beijing, I got an email from last week with links to China Countryside Hotels, founded by husband-and-wife team Jim Spear and Tang Liang. As for JH, we instantly hit it off when we found out our common interests in developing a social enterprise combining good design, sustainable development and luxury travel. That's how JH and I ended up on an hour-long skype conference chat at 7am this morning with Jim to learn more about his sustainable tourism projects in and around Mutianyu village in addition to setting up luxury guesthouses such The Pavilion:
The Schoolhouse, a restaurant and glass-blowing workshop in a renovated schoolhouse
The Roadhouse, a restaurant
Xiaolumian, a farmhouse restaurant serving noodles


LCL: i'm always looking out for cool places in china like mutianyu, wishing there were more
JS (Jim Spear): Actually, we're just starting out on these village enterprises though I have had a weekend home in Mutianyu (mty) for 15 years

LCL: before we start, let's do brief intros...JH?
JH: i've always been deeply interested in the field of development, and i guess part of that interest stems from having grown up all over the world, thus having this incessant traveller's itch

and the more places i experience (either as a resident or as a traveller) the more i become interested in issues of sustainable development -- preservation of the uniqueness of 'local' whilst benefitting from the advantages of the global, i guess

it was quite by chance that i got to join the grameen foundation sichuan trip, which was a very inspiring trip in many respects
LCL: JH is echoing all my sentiments
JH: and dialogues, experiences, personal reflections etc. that came out of that trip in a way articulated a lot of the ideas that were already floating around in my head, and then i read what you established with the mutianyu project, which seems to be the materialization of everything in a very real way!

two of my passions, travelling and design, that desire to do my bit for the collective, and that dilemma of trying to compromise between the luxury world and the awareness of the real world etc.

so i've always been interested in ways of bridging and bringing together sort of non-profit and for-profit businesses together

LCL: JH is speaking for me as well...and she's doing a great job at it. So Jim, your turn...
JS: we're just taking little steps -- far from perfect. but i think we're on the right track re: sustainability in the village context: local people, local companies, local food, homemade, existing footprints, sensitivity to environment. I am delighted to have the chance to chat with both of you.

i have been living here 23 years -- from the usa -- where i was a phd student at berkeley
LCL: phd in?
JS: political economy re: china/japan but i didn't finish thesis, i took a consulting job in Beijing because i wanted to be where the action was

[consulting on] early jvs in a variety of industries and high tech sales, i started my own trding company that eventually morphed into a wine importer (ASC) and later I worked for many years in the medical field for a NASDAQ company

when i was getting close to 50 and my kids were in college i had a mid-life crisis and chucked everything to move out to our weekend house in mutianyu

JH: haha
LCL: hahaha...jungha and i joke that we are in third-life crisis...hahaha
JH: i was about to say that, haha
LCL: and no regrets?
JS: yeah, haha...life is too short to spend on regrets. of course i have no regrets. i feel i am one of the luckiest people in the world. i have now designed and built 19 houses, made new friends, helped our village, time of my life

when i moved out to the village and re-did my own house a friend asked me to build him a house and the housing part started there. about the same time the mayor sat me down and said: look spear, in case you hadn't noticed, we're having a hard time, you're a rich american and you should give something back, after all we let you live in our village and you should make an investment here to help us

LCL: first Q...how did you pull off buying your first house to begin with? i assume it's not that straight-forward with deeds and stuff
JS: absolutely right. actually we lease peasant residence plots with existing houses on them. not purchase as in freehold.
JH & LCL (at the same time): how long is the lease?
JS: this is also complicated. ranging from 10 to 50 years
LCL: only 10 years??!! and then lease WITH property converts back?
JS: sure, if you don't put a lot into the house it can make sense. we use short term leases for staff housing, for example. the real houses i have done range from 100-900 sqm

market prices have increased dramatically as we have created the demand. so shorter lease costs less money. clients amortize lease improvement over life of lease. not necessarily a good financial investment. BUT that depends. and one client told me recently their mty house was their best invesment (in light of the crisis)

JH: and the range (10-50 yrs) depends on what qualification? and as a foreigner, is it still possible without a local connection somehow to still qualify for a long lease?
JS: period of lease not dependent on citizenship. actual law may limit real estate leases to 20 years. but we have a lot of lawyers who have helped us write what seem to be enforceable leases for longer periods.

LCL: being near the great wall, which is protected...are the laws stricter for such developments as well as building/renovation permits?
JS: it's very complicated and highly political. regulation -- many, many and sometimes competing authorties. this stifles creativity and leads to other issues. i am not against development, just want to help channel it in sustaianble ways that preserve real communities. LCL: were u aware of all the red tape before you started?
JS: red tape? haha. i have been doing business here for decades. my little stuff in the village every bit as complictaed as anything i ever did

LCL: what do you think of Commune?
JS: Commune is very interesting but not for me. I find the houses plopped there - starchitect syndrome. they failed as an enterprise and very poor service/business model. and then brought in kempinski. last time i stayed there was last month. great spa. poor room. they more or less copied the houses to get to 380 rooms. a walled valley. no connection to community. it makes me cry. but there is room in the market for them as well as us.

lots of our customers have been to virtually every five-star hotel and resort. they literally ache for something real

LCL: yes, absolutely...i prefer your model. so you started off helping other people find and build their dream country home by the Great Wall, and then added the F&B and craft components to the village, and now i see you are starting inns?
JS: we have 6 rental houses www.chinacountrysidehotels.com and 3 or 4 more about to come on line. inns -- we have 2 under construction

LCL: what is the cost of buying, say 50-year lease
JS: location key. in mty and nearby yingbeigou a peasant house as is for 30 years now runs about rmb 450-900k

if you go a few km away can get an existing ouse for rmb 150-200k and even less as you go more distant in the hills

LCL: wow! you've added lots of value!
JS: yes -- the peasants now sit on a previously worthless asset. they take the money to start businesses, educate their kids, provide better old age living, etc

JH: are you looking to expand the model onto other parts of china? or continue expanding this region?
JS: i am very intrerested in first expanding in other nearby villages. but i do think that in areas 1-3 hours from major cities in china and perhaps eleswhere this is replicable

remote is harder -- have you seen naked retreats 3 hours from shangai?
LCL: no! wow, i'm soo glad i'm having this conversation...keep finding out more!
JS: naked retreats took missionary houses from pre-liberation and made them into nice weekend places. issue is (to me) maybe not focused on helping community today.

LCL: just one last question...your businesses are set up as businesses, correct?
JS: yes -- for profit businesses. to me that is part of being sustainable. we have been approached by 1 person who is starting a social investment fund to loan funds or take equity in for-profit businesses that have a commitment to sustainable social development

LCL: thank you so much for your time...i'm going to chew on our conversation a little bit
JH: thanks so much for letting me in on your conversation! and you have a very inspiring life! we drool at what you have achieved!
JS: i enjoyed meeting you via this chat, have a great day!
LCL: have a great weekend in the country! ahhh...that clean, crisp air
JS: i will!

Urbanespaces dig up designer diggs in Singapore

It's always fascinating and inspiring to come across other people who merge their passions with their work. Hajar's email introduction of urbanespaces, a "boutique real estate firm in Singapore specializing in architecturally distinguised, unique properties", landed in my inbox this weekend. I clicked on the link and was intrigued by this very trendy-feeling site (Mercan Dede's music paired with a series of very arty photos). Then I started going through the site and came across a lot of beautiful properties in Singapore for sale and for lease. I like this one in East Coat, whose asking price is S$2 milliion, but if you go through the listings, they're all pretty nice. And then it made me wonder why a company such as this took so long to appear (Hajar says the company's only slightly over a year old). How did it all start? Hajar wrote: "Generic real estate depresses me and I realized this when I first saw a truly well-designed house that was up for rent." And so urbanespaces was born. But what really got me interested in the company was not just their focus on beautiful properties (a lot of companies do that elsewhere in the world), but also their desire to do good and be an active participant in the creative community (for example, organizing an architectural tour for the Singapore Design Festival and an exhibition having to do with critical theory in architecture). In the works now is a charity flipbook project to educate Lebanese children on the dangers of cluster bombs (Hajar's all-time favourite city is Beirut). Am looking forward to hearing more about this project.

Singapore: homes and shops

I love Sunday brunches; it's the most laid-back, relaxing meal one can have in a week. Best enjoyed with a group of family or friends. Had booked Au Jardin, another one of Les Amis Group's restaurants. The setting is charming and idyllic, in a little, old house set amidst the Singapore Botanic Gardens. As we were shown to our table upstairs, who should be sitting at the table next to us? It was none other than Chubby Hubby and his S! "I see you're really enjoying all the best that Singapore has to offer!" greeted CH. Suffice it to say, Au Jardin is the most civilised place to spend 3 hours of any Sunday afternoon filling stomachs with great food and drink while catching up on all sorts of gossip (intrigues within the Thai Royal family, for example).

Stomachs filled, we headed over to check out DH's new pad at Robertson Blue along Robertson Quay, situated along the Singapore River front in between Zouk and Butter Factory and a 5-minute walk to great lifestyle shops and restaurants such as Sage (another CH fave, DH agrees that it's great food at great prices), La Maison du Whiskey, The Chocolate Factory, Canelé pastry and chocolate shop etc. This whole neighborhood is really going to take off in terms of it being a young, vibrant residential area, a bit like Yaletown. People walking their dogs or going for a morning jog along the riverfront before they pop into one of the posh cafes for breakfast. Wonder if we'll see any punters or rowers soon?

Robertson Blue is beautifully-designed. It has 36 units with the Penthouse units having their own rooftop jacuzzis. DH's is a ground floor unit and his patio steps right onto the pool/jacuzzi area. In Hong Kong, I've not come across a new, boutique development as well built and designed as this. But then, I was told who the developer is -- HPL (Hotel Properties Limited; i.e. owner of Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay, Four Seasons Sayan, Four Seasons Kuda Huraa, Metropolitan Bangkok, among other properties).



Chocolate Factory is nearby. I had heard lots about this shop. BK, owner of Chocolate Unlimited here in Hong Kong, had raved about the shop's freshly-made truffles (she was also the one who tipped me off on iggy's white truffle white truffles. the night i was at iggy's though, we had yuzu white truffles instead, of which AP asked for and managed to get 3 extra!). S confirmed this, but also mentioned that the French chocolatier has a bit of an attitude. If you want to be well-served, you had better be a fine-looking female without a wedding ring on her finger.

Canelé is at Robertson Walk. The pastries here are amazing. The chocolates are good as well and there isn't the high price and attitude of The Chocolate Factory. Check out the meringues!!

Another great shop along the way, next to The Chocolate Factory was La Maison du Whisky, which stocks around 700 whiskies. RB, who works for Diageo, was amazed that they stocked their own whiskys, which his company did not distribute in Asia! Next stop along this Champagne, chocolate and pastry-filled afternoon was a visit to RB's home on Blair Road, a newly-renovated shophouse. The place is awesome, especially the pool which has panels that can be placed over the pool for dinner parties. I happened to be flipping through the latest issue of ish magazine (7.4) that KC, the editor, had given me at our meeting and lo and behold, RB's home was featured!





Love the "Days of Being Wild" feel of this balcony!

Hamptons Weekend

"I'll be going to the country on Wednesday," said JK as we were trying to fix a day for dinner. "The country" evoked images of the Cotswolds, English manor houses and the like, but she was talking about the Hamptons, the eastern end of Long Island, consisting of Southhampton, Bridgehampton, East Hampton and neighboring towns. Hampton snobs don't really consider West Hampton to be of the same standards as the other Hampton towns and there is this "south of the highway" snobbery as well (the highway in question, really a two-lane road, is Montauk Highway, Hwy 27). So my image of the Hamptons was very country clubby complete with garden parties and white dresses. When A&C extended an invitation to join that at their summer share in Wainscott with K&M, I jumped at the chance to see what all the fuss was about.

As it turns out, it is true that tout-New York is in "the country" or "by the beach" over the summer weekends (which pretty much extend from Thursday to Monday for many). However, it's less country club in feel than I expected. A 2-2.5 hour drive from Manhattan, it does really feel like New England countryside (think Cape Cod). With the exception of East Hampton, which has big brand shops such as Gucci, Tiffany & Co. etc., the rest of the villages are quite quaint and charming. On a beautiful, sunny day, driving along Hwy 27 with the top down, life is pretty sweet.

I caught a ride out with AD, who was excited that he and CS's feature in the Sunday New York Times was already out. Sunday stories actually appear online by Friday evening, so we printed copies of the article. By the time we got in the car, it was nearly 8pm. We were hoping to miss the traffic for the Friday night exodus. We got to Almond, which was packed, in Bridgehampton before 10:15pm, so traffic wasn't too bad. We met up with C, K and M for a drink before heading to their house in Wainscott. The 3-bedroom house, owned by a dentist, was simple, but comfortable. There was a pool and deck where we ended up lazing away most of the weekend -- we pretty much had all our meals there. They were all great in the kitchen, baking blueberry muffins and a killer carrot cake, making pasta salads, seafood bakes, hamburgers and hot dogs on the Weber grill etc. The only local restaurant I got to try out was Nichols in East Hampton, which served up home-style, American food in a pub atmosphere. Apparently, it's also a good spot for celebrity sightings.

I spent Saturday morning in Sag Harbour, a little town with cute shops and stunning yachts. Sunday morning, after reading the Times, we headed out to Montauk, all the way out to the lighthouse. Montauk has much more of the secluded beach feel, because it is at the most eastern tip of Long Island, which is a very long island. There were hardly any people at the beach, and unlike the other beaches in the Hamptons that require permits for parking in the beach parking lots, Montauk's lot offered free parking. It also had a very charmingly done up shack selling refreshements and snacks, which the other beaches did not seem to have. The beach was a little more cluttered with pebbles and shells, but the quiet was very soothing and it's fun watching all the boats come and go from the inlet.

Andre Balazs' Sunset Beach is out on Shelter Island (you can drive from Sag Harbour, but you need to get on a ferry). Apparently, it's quite a happening beach from which to watch the sun set on a Sunday evening. If I weren't staying with friends, I would probably stay there or The American Hotel in Sag Harbour.

Dream houses

Villa Malaparte 2
Originally uploaded by picacch.

I came across this beautiful picture of Casa Malaparte while finalizing Little Cream Book: Architecture. I still remember the first time I saw a picture of this house in the 16 July, 2002 Sunday New York Times Magazine (it was an article by Herbert Muschamp). I was absolutely stunned by its beauty. And even today, after having seen many different versions of this picture, it still takes my breath away each time. But funnily enough, BKS was just telling me on Saturday that she has bad memories from staying at the house during her AA (Architectural Association) student days. Apparently, her tutor locked her and her other classmates in the house for days to measure each part of the house for her tutor's research. I thought it ironic since Malaparte actually means "he of the bad place". So it was fitting that BKS should have memories of Casa Malaparte as a "bad place".

Another dream house is Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye, which unfortunately, did not make it into this edition of LCB: Architecture. I spent a whole afternoon absolutely entranced as I walked from room to room of this amazing house set in the absolutely unexceptional suburb of Paris.