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Asian goods gain Western fans
BY CHRISTINE JUNGE
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Though the SARS scare earlier this year may have deterred travel to China, it certainly hasn’t kept Chinese style from hitting the Boston consumer circuit. Lanterns, kitchen goods, decorations, and satin purses can be found not only in Chinatown, but everywhere from Harvard Square to the Back Bay. Two booths at the Shops at the Prudential Center trade in Far Eastern elegance. Lislaz carries satin purses with chopsticks for handles ($40) in a few shapes and colors. One’s even modeled after a Chinese-food take-out container. Others are shaped more like average purses, but with a bit of flair — like the blue round-edged bag in a flower pattern. Lislaz also sells Asian-inspired bracelets and necklaces made of replica mahjong tiles ($20). The plastic and bamboo tiles, which are strung together between wooden and stone beads, have Chinese characters etched into them. Nearby, All the Tea in China concentrates on goods more useful in the kitchen than for a night on the town, like a set of two pairs of chopsticks ($15.75) painted with leaf designs in various colors. And as the store’s name implies, it also sells leaves to make China’s famous warm beverage. A wide variety, including ginger, oolong, chamomile, and a green tea called Dragon Well ($3–$7/ounce), line a shelf in the booth. Tealuxe also sells Chinese culinary wares, like trivets ($4.95–$18) designed in the shape of Chinese characters and clay tea pots ($34.95) with dragon tails as handles and heads as spouts. Of course, no discussion of shopping for Asian products in Boston would be complete without mentioning a store in Chinatown. Vinh Kan carries everything from Chinese herbs to foodstuffs to decorations. Chinese paper lanterns ($6.50–$15) of different sizes hang from the ceiling — some plain white, others sporting Chinese symbols or drawings. The crowded store also carries paper and bamboo fans ($1.95) decorated with sketches of Asian women or animals, and a wide array of clay dishes and cups. Dipping bowls ($2.50), soup bowls ($6.50), and plates, both square ($15.50) and round ($8.50), come in a variety of patterns. Accessories similar to those you find in Chinese restaurants — like porcelain soup spoons (75 cents) and handle-less tea cups ($1.25) — could accent any of the sets. To help you fill those plates with food as authentic as the dishes, Harvard Square’s Black Ink sells Dim Sum: Delicious Finger Food for Parties (Ryland Peters & Small, 2001), a cookbook by Fiona Smith ($12.95). It boasts recipes for 30 easy appetizers, like egg rolls with chili tofu and sticky rice in banana leaves. The store also sells satin eyeglass cases ($5) and Asian-patterned change purses ($3–$4) in bright colors like red, pink, and gold. Where to find it: • All the Tea in China, Shops at the Prudential Center, 800 Boylston Street, Boston. • Black Ink, 5 Brattle Street, Cambridge, (617) 497-1221. • Lislaz, Shops at the Prudential Center, 800 Boylston Street, Boston. • Tealuxe, 0 Brattle Street, Cambridge, (617) 441-0077; 108 Newbury Street, Boston, (617) 927-0400. • Vinh Kan, 675 Washington Street, Boston, (617) 338-9028.
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