There's no need to travel to Xian, China, to see a famed terra-cotta warrior — a drive to the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce's offices at 8380 Cerrillos Road, in Fashion Outlets of Santa Fe, will suffice.

The 6-foot, 6-pound warrior on display there "is a thank you for the outreach and interest the Santa Fe community has expressed in China," said a statement from the chamber's Lacie Mackey.

That outreach and interest refers to the chamber's upcoming visit to China — 229 people will be visiting Beijing, Shanghai Hangzhou and Suzhou on a nine-day trip beginning April 6.

The tour operator, Citslinc, gave the statue to the chamber. Citslinc offered the China trip for $1,799, which includes everything but the connecting flights to and from Los Angeles.

The chamber's warrior was produced in China using the same process originally used, starting in 210 BC, to create the real terra-cotta warriors in Xian, Mackey said.

The warrior is on display at the chamber's office from
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

And for those who missed the first China trip, the chamber is considering a second trip to the Middle Kingdom to take place in October 2009.


Corinna See, a photographer since high school, recently launched her new photography business at the Wedding Fair, held over the weekend in the city's Community Convention Center.

See got her start after receiving a camera for Mother's Day in 2007 and then joining Wedding and Portrait Photographers International. She's also attended trade shows.

And now, after a year and a half "of figuring out the digital world," See is ready to shoot weddings and portraits professionally.

For more information, call See at 982-9066.


Danuta Alyassin, owner of Romancing the Stone, a high-end Santa Fe jewelry store at
133 W. San Francisco St., has made a major change to her business model.

"We're going wholesale to the public," she said, explaining that since she creates most of her pieces herself, she can afford to cut prices as much as 40 percent.

Alyassin uses gold, silver and platinum to make her jewelry, combing those precious metals with sapphires, diamonds and rubies.

The pieces in her store range in price from $100 to $90,000.

The reason for the price cutting, Alyassin said, is because of the ailing economy.

"I've lived in the States for 30 years, and I've never seen anything like this," she said. "It's a very tough time for retailers. To survive, you have to be creative. You can't sit around and look at the ceiling."

Alyassin has owned her business for 18 years.

For more information, call 988-4477.

Contact Bob Quick at 986-3011 or at bobquick@sfnewmexican.com.