With a computer click, we can change our home decor by going online to Corbis, Bill Gates' catalogue of digital images, and downloading one of its 40,000 pictures on to a living room flat screen. According to Forbes Magazine, however, Gates is not the real McCoy. He was left off Forbes's list of top billionaire art collectors as he was considered a "mere dabbler or enthusiastic amateur.''

For Forbes, a true collector is someone who is "playing by the rules of the international art market [and collecting] with consistency, boundless appetites and the necessary billions to satisfy them.'' Those billions could be replaced by hundreds or thousands for you and me. Creating a congenial home environment is important; collecting art can be a spiritual quest.

Since ancient Greece, collecting art has been a human preoccupation. Art collections have evolved from curious objects to paintings to video art, grow-ing from one room to a whole museum.

The definitions surrounding coll-ecting have evolved as well. Religious boundaries gave way to secular ones and then official commands were made redundant by the avant- garde.

The 19th and especially 20th cen-turies saw art become increasingly accessible to the general public. Royal collections became public. Private collections were donated to museums or became museums, such as the Frick Collection in New York. The last 20 years brought about blockbuster exhibitions that everyone had to see.

Venerated auction houses such as Christie's and Sotheby's have also created a posh aura around the art market. Record-breaking auction sales often dictate what is in vogue and collectors can track their investments online at artprice.com and receive the latest sales results.

Although far from being the most advanced city in terms of collecting, Hong Kong is a great place to start buying art. There are a few galleries that stand out, representing internationally competitive artists of good value. Heading straight to them will help you save time and money.

The most accessible work is contemporary art. And walking along the gallery row area of Wyndham Road to Hollywood Road into SoHo, it would seem that the majority of galleries are selling either Chinese or Vietnamese painters. There is an interest for this art among Hong Kong enthusiasts but it can be hard to know the status of a given artist.

``The difficulty with most Hong Kong galleries is that they promote their artists as established when there is no international or institutional measure to back this up,'' says Dominique Perregaux of Art Statements Gallery.

``In fact, there is no secondary market for these works, as the prices are, on a global level, unfounded. If you want to invest in art, it's a serious game and you have to look beyond the local market as, like other in-vestments, liquidity is key.''

As clients become more sophisticated, there is a thirst for something else and few galleries have this approach. In most Hong Kong galleries it seems that more attention is paid to interior design than to the knowledge of the salespeople. The truly exceptional gallery spaces will most often be relatively bare but the gallery director will add the insight that makes the difference.

Remember that no question is stupid. Being informed of the basics before going into a gallery will, however, speed up the process and create a better relationship. The Internet can provide a good overview of terminology and techniques. In the gallery, take full advantage of the person in front of you. Let them help you to understand the works they represent.

Setting out to buy art is a complicated business, however, and the golden rule - ``buy what you like'' - is misleading in its simplicity. It encourages impulse buying and omits a necessary step: Developing your eye. John Batten of the John Batten Gallery advises the person who just walks in and wants to start collecting, ``to walk out again.''

``Successful collecting is all about building up confidence and knowledge - art is visual and regularly visiting galleries builds a collector's knowledge about what is `visually intelligent,''' he says.

He encourages beginners to start with photography as it comes in all sizes and prices, but advises that only with ``a knowledge of photographic history can you judge how and why a particular photograph falls within the photographic canon. With knowledge and time, these judgments become second nature, your viewing becomes confident and the photographs you buy will reflect your knowledge.''

When comparing Chinese photography with that from other Asian countries, Batten is outspoken. ``It is Chinese photography that will most be seen in the world's public museums - curators are preoccupied with China and governments are keen to promote trade by encouraging cultural and art exchanges, so money is available for Chinese art exhibitions, whereas the Philippines and Indonesia - which could be argued to have equally if not more talented artists - are much less seen.''

Batten represents artists from all over the Asia-Pacific, looking for ``reasonably priced and excellent artists that will last the test of time.''

Insightful articles on the local art scene and local cultural issues as well as precise information on particular artists can be accessed on his Web site, www.johnbattengallery.com. ``Always deal with honest art dealers who are or have been in the business long-term,'' he advises beginners. ``Avoid hard-sell tactics and gallery employees who have little artistic knowledge but a great sales pitch. Good dealers should be happy to allow you to buy artwork over a period of time and, if you ever change your mind in the future, have a policy to buy back or exchange that artwork.''

Director of 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Katie de Tilly, says: ``The artists I would suggest to a first-time buyer depend on the budget the buyer has.'' De Tilly represents sculptor Wang Keping, photo weaver Dinh Q Le and the photographic couple Mu Chen and Shao Yinong.

Whether your interest is to simply buy art or to collect it is part of getting to know yourself, says Amelia Johnson, of Amelia Johnson Contemporary Gallery.

``There is a big distinction between buying art and collecting art and the types of people who do it,'' she ex-plains. ``If you are a true collector, you are passionate about it. You spend a lot of time going around galleries, meeting artists, meeting dealers. It is not about making a return on your money. If the art you buy does make massive money, you feel rewarded for your taste.

``Buyers, on the other hand, buy to fill a space in their room. They come in and say, `I really like that, but I have no room for that on my wall.' A true collector would never say that.''

Johnson also deals in international contemporary art. From Japanese figurative painter Chiharu Nishizawa to Australian textural painter Mitchell McAuley to Anglo-Chinese ceramicist Caroline Cheng, Johnson has a selection of core artists who she represented for several years at the now-defunct Martini Gallery and now at her own space. She also consults for private and corporate collectors.

She advises her clients to use their gut feeling and to create a relationship with the artist. ``The beauty and excitement of contemporary art is that there are no rules. You can end up buying something worthless or make a real killing. Meeting the artist and understanding what he is trying to say and where he is coming from, having that relationship, is very important.''

How easy is it to meet artists in Hong Kong? Most artists are present at gallery openings and are available for interviews through the gallery owner. In New York, you would have to wade through a phalanx of chatty people to get even a glimpse of the artist at a one-man-show at Leo Castelli's Gallery on the East Side. In Hong Kong, the painter may be twiddling his or her thumbs waiting to talk.

Art Statements has been in Hong Kong for just over a year and has a collection of internationally recognized conceptual artists. After a year of building relationships with clients Dominique Perregaux says they are now beginning to buy.

``This is normal. It takes a year of looking, learning, coming back again and again, to finally decide to invest in a work of art.''

His advice to someone interested in collecting is ``to think beyond the emotional reaction of the work to its international credibility. You need to follow trends and world-class standards in the sense of having confidence in what the world market has put together as a choice.

``Next, you need to let your dealer or dealers, with their professional experience and their role as a link to the global art world, give you options.''

Perregaux represents artists such as Erwin Olaf, Micha Klein and Fabien Verschaere, whose current exposition at the Guangdong Museum of Art is one of many international venues for the artist.

``In Hong Kong, people need time to understand and acknowledge the quality and importance of such artists,'' says Perregaux.

Patrick Lee is one of the SAR's most talented artists who Perregaux is putting through the test - to gain international and institutional credibility - by exhibiting his work at galleries worldwide. ``It took a lot of time before finding such a great artist in Hong Kong, as my credibility is at stake,'' he says.

Perhaps this international barometer is what is lacking in most Hong Kong galleries. If an artist can be recognized on a larger level, and his or her work has meaning for you, it could be an excellent investment. Achieving this delicate emotional and economic balance is pivotal to a successful art collection.

Hanart TZ Gallery's positioning and artistic resources are already established on this international level. Gallery director Chang Tsong-zung has served as a consultant on many of the big international exhibitions on Chinese art, such as Paris-Pekin in 2002, as well as for the West Kowloon project. The artists he represents are a who's who of contemporary Chinese art.

``In Hong Kong, collectors like to have something to share with others - a cultural communion. Ink painting has a strong footing in this approach to art,'' says Chang.

The Yellow Box is a show of contemporary calligraphy and painting that Chang curated earlier this year at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum in Taiwan. Calligraphy and ink painting's importance is bound to grow as traditional Chinese art without Western influence has attained extravagant prices over the last two years.

``Traditional cultural habits are more resilient than thought,'' concludes Chang. Even with the Cultural Revolution and communist upheaval, Chinese people did not forget their cultural traditions.

Chang says Para/Site Art Space is ``the most intelligently constructed art space in Hong Kong.'' This charitable organization was founded by seven local artists in 1996 as a response to the limitations of conventional exhibition space. Other international artists are now also exhibited at its Central and Sheung Wan sites and it produces a quarterly bilingual art magazine PS.

Hanart has hosted Para/Site Central since 1998 but leaves the organization curated and managed independently.

For a more advanced research, the Asia Art Archives (AAA) is a mine of information. Located on Hollywood Road and unique in the world, it is a type of library where you can research artists or exhibitions and page through catalogues, reference books or periodicals. The AAA also organizes seminars and exhibitions on current issues or artists. It is a cultural resource bank of living artists and current art.

A collection can grow from anything - stamps or statues or Warhols. No one can dictate what to buy but putting down money for art work demands reflection. Collecting is a subjective process and in order to create a personalized art collection, it takes passion and money. The latter will determine where you start and the former where you end.

Julia Tanski is a 19th-century art historian living in Hong Kong

John Batten Gallery, G/F, 64 Peel Street, Central. Tel: 2854 1018