China Daily: “Billionaire behind major philanthropic projects says there’s always more to do.
Entrepreneur and philanthropist Chan Laiwa, also known as Chen Lihua, is no stranger to lists of the world’s richest people, from Forbes to Hurun. But the self-made billionaire finds there is “so much” beyond wealth. “While wealth does come through our hard work and efforts, it is not the ultimate goal and is not above everything,” Chan, 71, says in her Manhattan hotel room the day before she was honored at an April gala as one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People for 2012.
Such sentiments might seem standard from any rich person concerned with public image, but Chan in person – sincere, humble and thoughtful – makes people around her feel at ease. She impresses most with her passion for art, particularly of sandalwood, a medium she has loved since she was a girl. Born into a family of Manchu, the ethnic group that led Chinas last imperial dynasty, the Qing 1644-1911, Chan spent most of her childhood in the Summer Palace in Beijing. She is a descendant of a noble Manchu family of the Yellow Banner Clan, some members of which were ministers of state under the Qing emperor.
Chan’s childhood home was furnished with red sandalwood, a material used in the emperors’ palace in bygone times. “As I grew older, I felt the need to preserve this important part of Chinese culture,” recalls Chan, who opened a furniture factory in the 1980s and began making old-style pieces modeled after those from Beijing’s Palace Museum, more widely known as the Forbidden City.
In 1999, Chan fulfilled a childhood dream by investing in a $16 million red sandalwood museum in the capital. The thousands of treasures displayed there include a scale model of a corner tower in the Forbidden City, a reproduction of the memorial gateway carved with 320 dragons from Longquan Temple in Shanxi province, and a number of intricate furniture pieces and sculptures.
She made her fortune in the 1990s through a series of real estate ventures involving her Fu Wah International Group, the Hong Kong company fashioned out of Chan’s furniture store. The businesswoman later moved to Beijing for more opportunities. Chan was recently voted among Time magazines 100 Most Influential People in the World for 2012.
via Rich in kindness|People|chinadaily.com.cn.
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- China Red Sandalwood Museum (hereisbeijing.com)
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