The biggest market for oil paintings from China turns out to be in Florida condominiums and other second homes being built as part of the global housing market boom. Hotels and restaurants also buy large numbers of Chinese paintings.

Many of the paintings depict scenes that Chinese artists have never seen. "European landscapes, like the Mediterranean or Venice or Paris, are the best sellers for us," Moses Ben Herut, the president of Oilpaintings.com, said in a telephone interview from Alpharetta, Ga.

Mr. Herut's Web site does not publicize the fact that it buys many of its paintings from Xiamen in southeastern coastal China, instead putting "Georgia, U.S.A." at the top of its home page in red, white and blue to emphasize that it is an extension of a local gallery.

At the Canton Trade Fair in Guangzhou this spring, exporters surrounded by paintings filled an entire row of exhibits. Adrian Goldberg, the chief executive of the Ziganof Group, a wholesaler in Manchester, England, walked into one of the booths and in less than an hour had placed an order for six 40-foot shipping containers filled with paintings to be delivered this autumn to ports in Europe and the United States.

Standing outside the booth as crowds of buyers and sellers moved past, Mr. Goldberg explained that he was paying $25 to $30 for each painting, including the frames, and that it would cost him another $1 a painting in shipping charges.

He plans to sell the paintings mainly to furniture stores for $35 to $40 apiece, and predicted that shoppers would eventually pay $100 to $125 apiece in Europe for the paintings, and up to $160 each in the United States.

The economics of the Chinese oil painting industry -- very few watercolors or pastels are traded internationally -- are striking. Mr. Zhang and Mr. Ye, who both learned to paint by serving two-year apprenticeships after high school, each earn less than $200 a month, plus modest room and board. Mr. Huang, who earned a four-year art degree from Jiangxi Normal University in east-central China, said he was paid $360 a month, but buys his own food and housing.