While the Cladrige got John Galliano to do their Christmas tree, here in China, we went with something a little different.
American artist Joseph Ellis was commissioned to do a Christmas tree for The Opposite House and he came up with a beautiful ethereal tree made out of 2000 bottles of soya sauce and vinegar bottles. The chinaware bottles were handstrung together and hung from the ceiling, with 6 rings of light, symbolically representing the chinese saying of “六六大顺”, meaning everything goes as planned, 6 being a very auspicious Chinese number that represents a full cycle eg the recent massive 60th anniversary celebration, where the elemental zodiac cycle comes full circle.
The use of the china bottles is also a pun on China… and are ubiquitous in little Chinese eateries, particularly dumpling restaurants. These china bottles always come with the chinese character 酱 （soya sauce) or 醋 (vinegar).
