Francine Martin founded East of the Sun in 2005. When not leading outings, she devotes her time in Shanghai to sourcing unique clothing, jewelry, antiques, galleries, sites and rambles, and staying current with shop openings, closings and merchandise turnover. Francine’s accumulated knowledge from 30 years of working, raising a family, exploring and collecting in Asia enable her to pinpoint—from a Westerner’s perspective—what most excites visitors to this metropolis. A good grasp of Chinese enhances exploring and negotiating experiences for clients. Each outing is customised expressly to the client's shopping and exploring wish list. East of the Sun researches the vendors we visit, and contacts them prior to each outing. Anything custom-made is executed by tried-and-true artisans. The antique dealers and pearl vendors East of the Sun refers customers to have broad, credible expertise in their fields. We do not accept vendor commissions or kickbacks. Rather, goodwill from shops is translated into VIP discounts.
Outings can be conducted in English or French. Ideal group numbers do not exceed four clients. Rate information is available upon request. Read what the press is saying about East of the Sun...