Our Story — Rooted in the Capital of Agarwood

FOREZA · Direct from Guanzhu · 700 Years of Heritage

By FOREZA Editorial · Last updated 2026-06-04 · 12 min read · Brand & Origin

FOREZA is the brand name of a direct-from-factory agarwood operation in Guanzhu Town, Dianbai District, Maoming City, Guangdong, China — a place the trade has called the "Capital of Chinese Agarwood" for more than seven centuries. This page is the long version of who we are, where the wood comes from, who grades it, and what makes a FOREZA piece different from anything you would find in a generic online oud store.

Where Is Guanzhu

Guanzhu is a small town on the southern coast of Guangdong province, in the Dianbai District of Maoming City. It is roughly 350 km southwest of Guangzhou, 200 km west of Hong Kong, and faces the South China Sea. The town's geography is what makes its agarwood exceptional.

The combination of these three factors is not easily replicated. Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia each have their own Aquilaria species and resin profiles, but the Aquilaria sinensis that grows in Guanzhu — and the resin it produces when properly inoculated — is a distinct botanical product, with a multi-layered aroma that collectors have prized for centuries.

700 Years of Heritage

Agarwood has been harvested in Guanzhu since at least the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279). The town appears in 14th-century trade records as a waypoint on the maritime silk road, where Chinese agarwood was exchanged for frankincense, myrrh, and other resins from the Arab world.

Our Workshop

Our workshop sits inside the town of Guanzhu, a short drive from the cultivated hills where the Aquilaria sinensis trees are grown and inoculated. Every piece of FOREZA Kyara passes through four stations before it is signed off for shipping. The full factory walkthrough is documented at Inside Our Agarwood Factory; here is the short version.

Station 1 — Raw Material Arrival & Initial Selection

Blocks of inoculated Aquilaria sinensis arrive from our partner growers in the surrounding hills. Each block is examined under natural light for irregular resin veins (a sign of authentic, naturally induced resin). Blocks that look uniform or glossy — a sign of artificial injection — are set aside and never enter FOREZA packaging.

Station 2 — Hand Cutting & Sizing

Selected blocks are cut by hand into the three primary forms we ship: chips (irregular small pieces), slices (thin cross-sections), and granules (finely broken pieces for quick warming). The cutting is done by hand, not by machine, to preserve the natural resin distribution. Machine-cut wood generates heat that can damage the resin profile at the cut edge.

Station 3 — Water-Sinking Test

Each piece that is potentially Sinking-grade is placed in room-temperature water and observed. Sinking-grade Kyara submerges immediately without hesitation; Semi-Sinking grade drifts slowly downward; floating pieces are reclassified to the Chips / Slices / Granules tier. The test is recorded by batch number. See the physics behind the test at Why True Kynam Sinks.

Station 4 — Sealing & Certificate Issuance

Each piece is sealed in a moisture-controlled cotton pouch with a unique batch number, then matched with a hand-signed Certificate of Authenticity. The package moves to the shipping area, where it is dispatched in a discrete outer carton via DHL, FedEx, or UPS. CITES export documentation is included for every international shipment.

The Master Grader

Every piece of FOREZA Kyara is personally inspected by a Master Grader before it leaves the workshop. Grading is not a checklist; it is a skill learned over years of apprenticeship. Our grading practice follows the four-tier system defined in Four Styles of Agarwood:

A piece is never upgraded after grading. If a piece that was thought to be Sinking-grade floats during the water test, it is downgraded to Chips and shipped in a different packaging tier. Honesty about grade is the entire point of buying direct from the workshop.

Why "Direct from the Source" Matters

Most agarwood sold online — including from resellers who use words like "premium" and "authentic" — is sourced from one of two places: a Hong Kong trading company that buys from the workshop, or a Dubai-based re-exporter that buys from the Hong Kong trader. By the time the wood reaches a customer, it has been handled by 2–4 intermediaries, marked up at each step, and may have been re-graded or blended with lower-grade material.

Buying direct from FOREZA changes three things:

1. You see the actual lot. Every quote is accompanied by sample photographs of the wood you would receive, not a generic product photo.
2. The certificate is signed by the person who graded the wood. No "imported by" middleman. The Master Grader in Guanzhu signs every certificate.
3. The price reflects the wood, not the chain. Factory-direct pricing is typically 25–40% below the same grade sold through a Hong Kong or Dubai trading company.

Continue Exploring

• Certificate of Authenticity
• Sourcing & CITES Ethics
• Wholesale & B2B Partnerships
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Inside Our Agarwood Factory
• Agarwood Origins Explained
• The History of Kyara: From Ancient Emperors to Modern Collectors