MORE collectors in Singapore are buying expensive Chinese teapots,  and some are willing to pay up to $ 300,000 for one, says Mr Lee Chee Keong, chairman of the Tea Cultural Society (Singapore), a group formed in 1992 by 10 teahouses in Singapore to promote the art of tea appreciation.
The increased interest Yixing teapotsЈ¬ adds Mr Lee, himself the proud owner of 20 Chinese teapots, is reflected in the growing number of shops selling Chinese teapots.
“About four years ago, there were hardly any such shops, now there are at least eight of them,” he says in Mandarin.
Chinese teapots are prized for the good quality of their clay and the expertise of their craftsmanship. He says teapots made by well-known Chinese craftsman Gu Jingzhou now costs $ 300,000. Those sold in Singapore are mainly Zisha (purple clay) teapots from Yixing in Jiangsu province, Zhejiang and Chaozhou in China, and from Taiwan. The best ones are from Yixing.
The 40-year-old owner of Liu Hsiang Teacraft says the trend of collecting Chinese teapots began six years ago in Taiwan and Hongkong Purple Clay Teapots, with Singapore soon following suit.
Mr David Cheong, 34, the owner the Riverwalk Tea Garden, which sells teapots, says his customers include secondary school students, who can afford to pay about $ 30 for a teapot. He adds that Singaporean collectors can be categorised into three groups: those who like to drink tea; those who love teapots; and those who collect as a form of investment.
Mr Kong Tong Hong, an artist with a collection of 300 Chinese teapots -the most expensive of which is $ 6,000 -says more Singaporeans are buying teapots made by well-known craftsmen.  The 49-year-old says he knows of Singaporeans who are willing to payЎЎYixing teapot as much as $ 25,000 for one. Chinese teapots are good avenues of investment. Their prices can go up by more than 30 per cent a year, he adds.
But many collectors are uninformed, says Mr Lee, who has come across many who boast of a huge collection which turns out to be of inferior quality.
And the value of teapots can depreciate too. Mr Lee says his 10-year-old Yixing teapot was worth about $ 30,000 initially, but is now worth only about $ 5,000. “The market is now flooded with too many imitations from Zhejiang. They have caused collectors to doubt the authenticity and so, even the real ones are not much sought after,” he says.
Says Mr K. K. Lee, an assistant in D’Art Station: “Our shop is not selling more Chinese teapots, but there are more people buying the more expensive ones now. The bestsellers are those worth about $ 100. We sell an average of 100 pieces of these daily.”
The Tea Cultural Society (Singapore) is holding a demonstration at the Orchard Point Exhibition Hall, fourth floor, today at 11.30 am. It will showcase the tea cultures of Britain, Japan, India and China. Admission is free.