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MEET OUR SUPERSTAR EXPERT - NICOLAS GREVOT!

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Nicolas is French and arrived in Shanghai in 2008 after spending 15 years in Taiwan where he worked as a journalist. During this long stay in the island, he also accumulated what has become today one of the largest private collections of Taiwanese Aboriginal art, with 300 pieces bought all over the world.
Nicolas is also our latest addition to the Management Team at Culture Shock!
He has been leading cultural and historical tours in Shanghai since 2014, and his way of talking about the city is a real proof of love and passion.
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1.How did you come to Asia?
I grew up in Tahiti, and that's where I got ’contaminated’ by the passion for Asia and the Pacific area. Going back to France in my teenage years, I felt a real culture shock. I wanted to go back to Asia and as soon as I could, I did it. After a couple of years traveling around, I came back to France to be more serious in my studies. I started a business school. While studying in Paris, I fell in love at first sight with a Taiwanese journalist working for the woman magazine Marie Claire. Right after graduating, I joined her in Taiwan in 1993. We got married, and I spent the 15 years after in the island.
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2.Why did you come to Shanghai?
A very good reason: my wife – she was offered a CEO position in Shanghai - and I followed her to become a househusband. At some point, my daughters grew up and started to say ‘Dad, we love you, but we manage our lives now... We don’t need you around  anymore’. So I had to find an activity, and I turned my passion and love for Chinese culture and history into these expert tours I lead around the city. I consider myself as a storyteller and I like to call my tours my urban workshops in motion. After all, we live in a city on the move. I also gave lectures for Shanghai Accueil, for Royal Asiatic Club or for Shanghai Expatriate Association.
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3.You are the proud owner of one of the biggest private collections of Taiwanese Aboriginal art. What’s the story behind it?

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The logo of the Yang-Grevot Collection of Taiwanese Aborigines Art

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A master piece from Nicolas's collection : a Paiwan house pillar, more than 2 m high

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You know, collecting is like a disease, and when you are addicted to it... When I was in Taiwan, in 1993 I started collecting Chinese antiques. But the prices went up so fast that I had to refocus on something else. That's when, by coincidence, I came in contact with an aboriginal textile – a Rukai male tunic. Suddenly I fell in love with the Taiwan indigenous culture, and I spent the next 10 years searching frantically for authentic and quality pieces.

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Now I have collected close to 300 pieces, and 250 of them are on loan to a national museum in Taiwan.

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Nicolas in the Shisanhang Museum of Archaeology, in Taiwan, where part of his collection is stored and exhibited, and a  manager from this museum.

In Shanghai, some Taiwanese aborigines artifacts can be seen on the 4th floor of the Shanghai Museum where they are exhibited.

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4.Does everyone have potential to become a tour leader?
Yes and no. You need the passion, and not everyone has it.
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4.What is your magic recipe for a perfect walking tour?
Talking with passion, being provocative, seducing for the best or for the worst. A good tour leader is passionate and can share things   you cannot find anywhere else.
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5.What do you hope people to take from your tours?
I hope to give them a totally different and interesting vision of China, I want to influence what they think, I want them to be surprised and leave China with a better idea, far away from the Western clichés.
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Click the link below to see the website of Nicolas Grevot's impressive collection of Taiwan aboriginal art!

http://www.formosatribal.com/

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