short take · china strategy

culture often moves before the market does.

written by angelito tan17 september 2026

At Johnny Depp's Shanghai exhibition, the interesting part was the audience: young, engaged, still there late on a Friday evening, actually looking at the work. Reports tell us what has already sold. Cultural behaviour can show what is starting to matter. In China, those signals often appear first in galleries, cafes, restaurants and fashion drops — well before they show up clearly in the data.