Martha Stewart's Chinese Dream

More than 400 million Chinese had access this week to a live stream of Martha Stewart speaking about her approach to curating and maintaining a home. In all likelihood, few bothered to watch. The essential hardware of the Martha Stewart way of life -- a garden in which to grow food, an oven in which to bake it, and a large, stand-alone house -- is still inaccessible to most Chinese. As a result, America's lifestyle icon hardly registers in China.

But Stewart is taking the long view. As China's emerging middle class moves into cities, Chinese kitchens and tastes are changing, providing Stewart an unlikely opportunity to both educate and make a profit. She isn't going it alone, however. Alibaba, the e-commerce goliath, hosted Stewart's Tuesday speech and is using it to promote its first nationwide "home festival," designed to push brands like Le Creuset and Duralex to China's upwardly mobile kitchen consumers. For Stewart and her partners, it's "the first step in a long relationship" that could leave Chinese lifestyles looking a lot like American ones.