The treasure of Galdan

by Andrej Andrejew

  “I know where it is”

  “Really? Please tell me”

  “Paul Vornov's father had sold it in Lanzhou in 1938. He had no choice because he had to travel virtually penniless.”

  “Oh, that's sounds interesting! Anyway, only the weight of gold makes about 305.000 pounds. Add to this the gems and the antique value the basis price of 4.000.000 US dollars is not too much.”

  “What about the script rolls?”

  “Well unfortunately unlike the gold the paper is less sustainable and Vornov senior was not aware about the storage requirements for such objects. The humid air is not good for them. When we unrolled this sample it got a lot of cracks and we had to involve a specialist to prevent further damage. By the way this did cost us another 1700 pounds. Just that you know.”

  “And what is written on them?”

  “This exceeds my knowledge. Must be some religious texts in Ranjana script which was in use since the eleventh century between Northern India and Tibet. The script on the stone plates is Tocharian and probably dates from the second century.”

  “My I ask what is the total estimated price of all the objects?”

  “We were thinking to put the objects to the auction separately, but calculating altogether I would assume something about 5.2 million US dollars”

  “Wow, beyond my means!”

  “Beyond my means too my dear!”

  “Sir, I would like to help Paul Vornov. Do you have any suggestion how to solve this problem?”

  “If you ask me I think the best solution would be if he finds a museum willing to host these objects till the legal status is ultimately clarified. Victoria and Albert museum perhaps.”

  “I really appreciate this, sir. Will certainly remind Mr. Vornov of the ten days deadline.”

  “That would be very kind. And please also remind him that the storage fee for two weeks and expertise fee will apply even if we disregard the cancellation fee. He should settle the bill within two weeks after he picks up the objects.”

  Thomas tried to call the Victoria and Albert museum in the afternoon but this is where he had his first setback. The director's secretary firmly said that the earliest possible appointment would be not before next week. Was there any other option?

  Why not to try the British Museum? He called the number. To his surprise the switchboard transferred him straight to the deputy director. He offered Thomas a brief meeting at 04:30 in the afternoon.

  After listening to the story the deputy director Mr. Higgins has put a concerned expression on his face.

  “You see Mister van de Waal, all the exhibitions are planned months in advance and we cannot squeeze one in-between. Taking valuable property for storage is against our regulations. The banks can offer their vaults for that. Thus unfortunately I cannot give you a positive answer. By the way, what does the owner plan to do with all this? Looks like selling via the auction is out of the question.”

  “He is actually not interested in selling for the whole real price. But I believe that a reasonable compensation for him would be a fair solution.”

  “How many days is the auction willing to keep the objects did you say? Ten?”

  “Yes sir, not free of charge but as an interim solution there is no other choice.”

  “So, if I got it right the owner is willing to hand over his property for a reasonable compensation. In view of the Chinese claims he could make an offer to them. However I can tell you that going through the official channels will take ages. But I have an idea. In China there is a very big company called Bai Ma. The owner and general manager Mr. Wei is a known patron of the arts. He did already help us to organize some exhibitions in China and we have hosted some from China with his help. I will give you his contact details. Hope he will be able to advise.”

  Thomas has called Paul Vornov again and asked about the amount for which he would be willing to hand over his property. Vornov suggested 80.000 Pounds but Thomas advised him to go for 130.000. After all there were the storage fees to be paid and perhaps some taxes also.

  Next morning he called the number in Fuzhou where Bai Ma company had it's headquarters.

  An automatic system has asked to press one for Chinese and two for English. After having pressed “two” Thomas waited in the queue for two minutes and then a soft female voice said:

  “Bai Ma incorporated. I am Tracy Lee how can I help you?”

  “My name is Thomas van de Waal. I would like to talk to the general manager Mister Wei.”

  “You would like to talk to Mister Wei, is this correct?”

  “Correct.”

  “Please hold on.”

  After few seconds another female voice picked up the phone.

  “Good afternoon, I am Jenny Qiao the head of PR department. You want to talk to Mister Wei, right?”

  “Right.”

  “In which matter please?”

  “If possible I would prefer to explain it to Mr. Wei personally.”

  “Mister van de Waal, I am sorry but general manager is very busy and cannot take the unsolicited calls from outside just like that. You can send me a mail and I will look into it.”

  “Sure, sorry for being so pushy. On which mail address please?”

  “jenny.qiao@baima.com. Please provide some details about yourself and a brief summary of your matter”

  Thomas was in the city when he made the call. He decided to look for some internet café to write a mail. From the previous experience he knew that mails written from a smart phone can be dangerous, contain spelling errors and make sloppy impression on the reader. He has found one and sent the mail off. On this day there was nothing more what he could do. He decided to phone Philip Østergaard one old friend of him. Philip was a Dane but lived in London since 6 years. He was a free-lance photograph and their ways have crossed several years ago in Thailand. Philip was making photos in Karen camps commissioned by a major international non-profit organization.

  Philip suggested to meet at home. He would organize some food and Thomas should bring a 6-pack of lager beer. Based on previous experience Thomas was sure that one 6-pack will be not enough and bought two of them. Philip lived in a small two-room apartment in Ilford and it took quite a while to get there.

  “Great to meet you! How are you doing?” asked Thomas when Philip opened the door.

  “There were better times but the life goes on”

  After a few bottles were emptied he continued:

  “The digital photography was a blessing and a curse at the same time. On the one hand it has increased our possibilities in terms of creativity and time saving but at the same time it reduced the demand for professional photographs. A few colleagues had already to close their studios. Fortunately I have two contracts for industrial monthly magazines otherwise I really would not know how to make the ends meet. Do you remember the Karen camps stuff? Those were the days! And now look what I am doing – only crap!”

  “Yeah, nowadays the cameramen also have tough time. My last big deal was four months ago and since then nothing really worth mentioning.”

  “And what is your story here in London?”

  “It's about an old treasury from China”

  “If only I could find one!” Philip opened another bottle. “Anyway it is definitely more exciting then to cover the 60th birthday of the chairman. This for example will appear in the next issue of the magazine of the Fish Processing Industry Association. Here, have a look. Do you see how he holds this huge tuna fish? I think he has never touched a fish but anyway I have photoshoped this one into his hands.

  As Thomas correctly assumed eventually even two 6-packes were not enough. He returned to the hotel and despite being slightly inebriated has checked his mailbox. There was no reply from Bai Ma. He decided to look at the company's profile. Surprisingly there were several companies and shops with this name which means White Horse but eventually he has found the website of Mr. Wei's company. To his disappointment it was only in Chinese. After some further search
he managed to find an article in China Daily which was dedicated to them. Bai Ma specialized in household and industrial kitchens. With the ongoing construction boom and opening of new restaurants and Cafés the business was growing exponentially. The innovative idea of Bai Ma was the so called self-designer tool. The interested client would receive a brochure with instructions and a 3 meters-band. With the use of a smart phone he had to take the pictures of the kitchen room from different angles and take some basic measurements. If the house or apartment block were still under construction it was enough to send an architect plan. Thereafter the client could design the kitchen himself using the selection of over 400 modules which also could vary in colour and material. When the client was happy with his self designed kitchen then he was told the final price and a local representative paid him a visit taking final measurements. If the final price of the order was at least 21.000 CNY Bai Ma used to send a famous local chef to cook for the “inauguration dinner” for up to nine persons. When the 9999th kitchen (9999 considered being an extremely lucky number) has been installed in a house of one businessman in Tianjin one Swiss Chef has been flown in from Basel as well as two Chines Chefs from the best restaurants in Beijing.

  The net revenue of the company after taxes was estimated to be around 180.000.000 CNY annually.

  In the morning Thomas has checked his mails again but still there was no reply from Bai Ma. Around 11 a.m. he received a call from China. Jenny Qiao was on the phone and asked him how quickly he could get to Fuzhou.

  “In fact I have a fixed dates round-trip ticket but can change the return flight date for 100 pounds however...”

  “Is it British Airways?”

  “Yes”

  “Please mail to me your booking number. I will be back to you approximately in one hour”

  “Wow” thought Thomas “Little wonder that the company is so successful” He could not see Ms. Qiao but her voice betrayed a person with strong aversion to listening about problems and challenges for longer than one minute and strong determination to get things done.

  The phone rung 50 minutes later.

  “Listen Mr. van de Waal, tomorrow evening 21:55 you will take the flight BA27 to Hong Kong. It will arrive at 16:40 local time. The next flight is at 22:05 to Fuzhou with Hong Kong Airlines. On arrival you will be picked up and spend a night at the Best Western Premier Hotel. Next morning our driver will pick you up at 08:30 and bring to our office. We will have a tour of the company and lunch there. Mr. Wei will wait for you at 13:30 and has reserved a 45 minutes slot for talking with you.

  Your flight back to Beijing is the same day at 20:00 with Xiamen Airlines. Do you have any questions?”

  “Not really, I appreciate all your help and looking forward to meet Mr. Wei”

  “Than it is all settled. My assistant will mail to you the agenda and all booking details. I wish you a pleasant trip and see you soon.”

  Thomas has suddenly realized that for the meeting with a CEO he was a little bit under-dressed. On the other hand buying something like a dark suit here in London was far above the budget. His jacket looked in fact quite acceptable but the jeans and shoes which definitely saw better days were out of the question. He went to the House of Fraser and bought dark blue trousers which perfectly suited his grey jacket, a white shirt and a pair of black Budapester shoes. He was not willing to pay a whooping price of 32 Pounds for a tie and bought one for 12 in a small Tie Rack shop near the subway station.

  In the evening he had a long call with Paul Vornov. They had to agree on the details upfront should Mr. Wei be interested to assist.. Vornov insisted that Thomas will get 3000 Pounds to cover the expenses of his trip to London and agreed to engage a lawyer and a tax advisor to care for all legal formalities. If the Mr. Wei would agree to pay 130.000 pounds, deducting 3000 for Thomas, the auction fees and legal fees it would leave Vornov with approximately 115.000. The main question was whether the Tax Department would levy any taxes.

  Thomas had to check out at 12:00 and kill some seven hours prior to going to Heathrow. The weather was not good for a walking tour. Then he has remembered his visit to the British Museum. It was a shame that while having the appointment there he did not have time to look around. Previously while working on the Silk Road documentary he remembered having heard about the collection of Aurel Stein displayed at British Museum. The dispute around this collection was comparable to that around Galdan's treasure. For the Chinese it was a clear case of theft or at least illegal export however they have never officially asked to return it.

  Thomas had spent about three hours exploring the museum then returned to the hotel to collect his luggage. Thereafter he went to Heathrow using the subway. At the check-in counter he was surprised being informed that on the London-Hong Kong segment he is booked in the business class. It has been at least 11 years since he was travelling in business class last time.

  The comfort of the business class has meaningfully changed over the years. The seat could be converted to a real bed and a thin wall separated the passenger from the neighbour. In view of the late hour the dinner was served already in the lounge prior to departure. One hour after the departure the cabin attendants started to serve beverages and snacks. Thomas opted for mixed nuts bowl and a glass of South-African red wine. The strain of the last day and the wine took their toll and he promptly went asleep.

  Fuzhou – Beijing April / May 2013

  1

  He arrived at Fuzhou at midnight of the following day. The hotel was very good. While checking-in the receptionist has handed over a big envelope to him. It contained a glossy brochure about Bai Ma company in English and a brief letter signed by Ms. Qiao welcoming him in Fuzhou. He didn't sleep well and took a cold shower in the morning in order to look refreshed.

  The driver met him in the lobby sharp at 08:30 and it them a good hour to get to the office which was located in the outskirts of the city. The 5 storey office building was located behind a park with a pond. In the middle of the pond a real size horse made of white marble was apparently trying to jump from the pedestal.

  Ms. Qiao met him at the reception and led to the “visitors suite”. There a man in his late forties was already waiting.

  “Mr. Ma, this is our guest Mr. Thomas van de Waal. May I introduce, Mr. Ma is our head of staff. After the introduction about some basic facts about the company Mr. Ma will make a brief presentation about the employment, welfare and labour safety policy. Let's get started”

  Ms. Qiao switched the projector on.

  “Our company was founded 1994. Mr. Wei has been extensively travelling to Europe and the United States and was especially impressed by the corporate philosophy of IKEA. I am not sure if you are aware about that but usually the furniture business is not a high margin branch . Furniture takes a lot of space of the show rooms which has direct impact on the rent and a complicated chain of delivery, assembling and distribution. A lot of reputable furniture companies went out of business during the last decades, among them some major ones in the United States.

  If we look back, let's say 30 years ago and beyond the furniture was a luxury commodity. It was often inherited or if bought then required a meaningful saving effort. The innovative approach of IKEA was to make furniture affordable to anybody and this while ensuring reasonably good quality.

  Moving on to the kitchens, I assume you know how important it is in our culture. Our research has shown that except of the sleeping the members of an average family spend about 30% of their time at home in the kitchen. Since the ancient times the cooking stove was an epicentre of the family life and also today it is very important.

  Furthermore, as you may know many people still live in small apartments. It would be a shame to waste the kitchen space just to cook a meal. For many families it is a gathering place and to certain extent a storage room.

  This brings us to the main mission statement of the company: “To make families happy”. Our goal is to ensure that each family can afford an aesthetically and individua
lly designed kitchen. The affordable price should of course not be achieved compromising on the quality. Our R&D team has managed to find an ideal combination of natural wood, stainless steel and fibre materials to make the modules looking modern but on the same time reducing their weight and price.