Sarah Douglas is at ArtHK and filing reports from the vernissage:

• At the booth of Pace Beijing, New York-based Pace director James Lindon said, “People are interested in seeing the creation of a proper pan-Asian art fair, and this could be that fair.” The gallery had already done business in the $28,000 to $1 million range, selling pieces by Sterling Ruby and James Siena, and putting a major painting by Zhang Xiaogang on reserve.

• French art dealer Emmanuel Perrotin, meanwhile, opted to present a solo show of paintings by Japanese artist Aye Takano, all in the $35,000–$124,000 price range, and had sold three of them to Chinese collectors an hour into the VIP preview.

• Also present was collector Thomas Shao, who owns publishing company Modern Media Holdings, the Chinese company behind such magazines as Leap, the new bilingual Chinese/English art journal edited by Philip Tinari. Shao, who has been collecting for some 20 years, said at the party that he had already bought eight works at the fair — including pieces by Damien Hirst, Sarah Morris, and Tracey Emin — to be displayed in his office, his home, and his company’s gallery space.

The Next Basel?: High Hopes Crackle at ArtHK’s Vernissage (ArtInfo.com)