AW Artisan Wholesale Giftware

Greetings from Yiwu, China Hope you survived Storm Dave, enjoyed the Heat Wave and are ready for whatever weather comes next. Here in China we are also suffering/enjoying dramatic temperature changes—one day 15°C, today 32°C. But cracking on with work regardless.   Last week I was telling you about my journey here with an unexpected detour in Guangzhou.. our quick trip to Coco's hometown.. if you missed it you can catch up here .. Now we are back in Yiwu..And the thing about Yiwu.. There’s a certain energy here that’s hard to explain unless you’ve been here. Not chaos exactly… more like momentum. Everything always moving, everything possible. No time wasted, competent people - who get things done without fuss.  Bryant and Sandra arrived via Hong Kong a few days ago — It's Bryant’s first time here — and you can see it in his eyes… that mix of curiosity, excitement, and “blimey, this place is big”. And it is. Properly big. But also full of opportunity if you know where to...

Greetings from Dongxiang City, China. Ok… quite a week. Last week I was telling you about two dramatically different lease negotiations..one in Bali one in UK.. If you missed it you can catch up here . I finished up in Bali in that familiar last-minute whirlwind… squeezing in meetings - samples finalised with minutes to spare.. a bit of a creative last few days rush. Bondhan (our man in Bali) insisted on picking me up at 6am to take me to the airport. Not negotiable - and we got to see a beautiful sunrise as we drove over the spectacular road bridge to the airport.. We said our goodbyes there… hugs, and yes, maybe a tear. Bali airport was almost empty.. actually calm and peaceful, I think the Dubai issues are having a dampening effect. . (many flights to Bali connected via the middle east). But my flight from there with China Southern to Guangzhou landed in a massive electric storm with lots of turbulence! … and then a small surprise. I couldn't find my connecting flight...

Greetings from Bali, Last week I was telling you How Strangely Peaceful it was in Bali... and then abruptly not..   If you missed it you can catch up here .. Well the clocks went back this weekend.. SPRING is in the air.. it's time to get your bunny & bounce on! Bondhan and I bounced over to the main wholesale market in Denpasar Bali. See below.. as usual spilling the beans on where to go if you fancy importing yourself from Bali.. this is a good starting point. Meanwhile this week I’ve found myself deep in the world of leases… but in two very different worlds. Back in the UK, we’re in the middle of a rent review on our main warehouse—about 9,000 square metres of it. It’s all surveyors, technical arguments, comparables, yield calculations… the kind of conversations that can go round in circles for weeks or months.. Meanwhile here in Bali, we needed to renew our 2,000 square metre warehouse. A completely different experience. You won't believe the cost compariso...

Greetings from Bali, Indonesia This week has been strangely peaceful in Bali, partly because of a drop in flights from the Middle East, partly because it's almost Eid (they call it Eid al-fitr here) so lots of people left Bali to go back to hometowns on other islands to celebrate the end of Ramadan with family. Also because yesterday was Bali new year and the famous "quiet day" (see below) lots of Gen Z types run away to Lombock or Gili Islands so they can party as normal.   So Bali right now is like the old days, strangely peaceful.. Last week I was telling you about my busy week.. and updates from Nepal.. if you missed you can catch up here . Peaceful.... As promised I finally managed to upload the content we collected in India, on our trip to the gemstone artisan town: Khambhat.. which also holds some other Cricket related surprises.. You can check it out here .. It's a totally Off the Grid - kind of place.. and we met some amazing people and well just ch...

Here in Bali, Raul is visiting and we’ve been working together most days from the AW Advantage office . The pace has been intense. We’re running around like crazy updating websites and systems. The latest to go under the hood is AWArtisan.eu . From the outside it might look like a simple refresh — but behind the scenes the backend work is huge. Cleaning data, restructuring systems and preparing things for the next stage. All the websites including the UK main site will change over the next few weeks. We hope you appreciate the changes.. it should be a better (we hope it is) user experience.. and that you can find ever more Gifting Opportunities at AW. It’s a bit like renovating a house while still living in it. At the same time there’s a real “end of term” feeling around the office. Across Indonesia the big celebration is Idul Fitri , marking the end of Ramadan. Many of our team are heading home this weekend to visit their families — travelling to different islands across the archipe...

From Gujarat to Goa… and back to Bali Before leaving Khambhat , our gemstone friends insisted we visit a nearby Hindu temple — a place filled with enormous Shiva Lingam stones . Inside the temple stands a monumental lingam , the sacred symbol of Lord Shiva. In Hindu tradition the lingam represents the creative force of the universe — the endless cycle of creation, destruction and renewal. Locals were so happy to welcome us, excited even, wanted selfies and thanked us for visiting.  Devotees perform a ritual known as abhishek , gently pouring water, milk or oil over the stone while offering prayers. Watching Mr Chatterjee perform this ancient ritual up close is surprisingly moving. The smooth stone slowly darkens as the liquid flows over it, collecting in channels below — a simple act repeated for centuries. Our friend, the mining guy above right in the picture and his brother took us on a VIP tour.. The temple is full of local agate, many gemstone decor and huge lingam stones. For...