Hence China's new industrial-scale carpet makers like Yilong lack the lore and tradition of Turkish or Iranian carpet makers, which are often small village enterprises staffed by generations of skilled weavers. Certainly, Yilong has scale on its side. The firm completes 100,000 square feet of silk carpets every year, the most intricate of which sell for up to $20,000. True to its industrial roots, Yilong buffers its revenues by manufacturing artificial silk carpets as well as wool Aubusson carpets and tapestries.

A more village-scale carpet making tradition has survived in some parts of the country. Exquisite silk and woolen carpets are woven on looms in Hotan, a dusty town in southwest Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, featuring local Uygur and Han Chinese motifs. Aside from native Xinjiang weaves, village-woven Tibetan carpets have become prized by collectors for their thick wool and clear geometric motifs.

From Kashgar, a predominantly Muslim city on China's western fringes, my carpet-dealing friend Wahapjan is probably Beijing's youngest and most consummate connoisseur of the real thing. A member of China's Uygur ethnic group, the youthful rug connoisseur couriers his woolen carpets overland, through neighboring Pakistan, from well-established contacts in Afghanistan's Baluchistan and Herat regions.

At Wahapjan's store, around the corner from the City Hotel in Beijing's Sanlitun entertainment district, a 2-meter by 3.5-meter woolen Hotan rug sells for $600. That's good value compared to the rates charged in antiseptic carpet stores in Dubai or New York. Beijing's embassies have been particularly keen buyers, he says. "Local Chinese people find the colors too dark or the carpet too expensive."

So China, I discovered, is a good place for carpet connoisseurs. Alternatively, collectors can take the weekly Air Iran flight to Tehran on Thursdays and Sundays. There's some merit to Yilong's claim to be the world's biggest carpet maker, given the kind of clientele it's drawing from the Middle East.

But rather than making copies of others' motifs, China should nourish its own carpet making traditions. I'd much prefer an authentic Henan weave on my floor than a pale Persian imitation.