Bed of rosewood goes dear

Xi'an (CNS) – A bed made of Dalbergia hainanensis, the wood commonly known as fragrant rosewood, is on sale now in Xi'an, the capital of North China's Shaanxi province, for the astronomical sum of 28.88 million yuan (4.57 million USD), the same price as would be paid for 88 kilos gold and 40 housing units in that city.

The bed is carved out of a solid rosewood tree with no joints, and is 1.92 meters in length, 1.18 meters wide and 0.82 meters high. The spectacular item of furniture calls to mind an ancient Chinese proverb: one entire timber makes only one item of furniture.

Dalbergia hainanensis is a kind of slow-growing wood, native to South China's Hainan province. The price for hainanensis lumber in 2002 was about 20,000 yuan per ton, and today it has reached 10 million yuan per ton. An unnamed manager commented that a buyer from northern Shanxi preferred to pay 18 million yuan for the bed, but the deal was not closed.

China's consumption of luxury has been soared these years, which accounted for 12 percent the world luxury market in 2010, and was expected to reach 29 percent share in 2015.