Once opened it's presentation is even more beautiful the case is very elegant. This kind gift is meaningful to someone who is precious to you.
Beginners will have fun learning the strokes and hand movements. Before I purchased I read all the comments I still ordered it and no regrets. This brush set will Wow you or the person its6 given too.

My first surprise was the size of the package. It was huge. I had a Chinese calligraphy many years ago, it was good, but quite smaller.
Does this matter? yes, these brushes are full size, over 6 t'sun (about 8 inches). One large and one medium of each of Chian (hard hair) and Juo Hao (soft). I knew there would be a blank jade/soapstone piece, from the seller's pictures, but actually it was a nice surprise to find that the container for red vermillion was already full!
I guess most people will never carve the seal, but the stone lion dragon will do for a nice paperweight, also very useful to Oriental calligraphy.
Then, there is that review that mentions that the lid had no handles. Well, mine arrived exactly that way, seemed to have no handles, until I picked it up, ta-da! handles were there, as you can see.
All in all, I am amazed that I paid only a bit over $20 after tax. The box is very pretty, and this would make a very nice gift, probably comparing with sets priced 3, 5 times more.
Is it for beginners? well, at this price, sure, though I would suggest that a real beginner start with an ink-filled brush instead, AND get this set for the moment that they feel they can do real stuff and go through the time-consuming process of preparing ink the right way. This looks like it can deliver excellent results.
Now I'll go try it out!

The quality just isn't there for the price. You do get a lot of necessary items to get you started but the box is constructed in a flimsy/imperfect manner on the inside. The "porcelain" items like the brush rest, chop stamp dish and water dish are "painted" in a messy way. Would have been better for them to be left plain white. They look cheap. The chop doesn't even look like anything on top - is it a fist? is it supposed to be a lion? You aren't given anything to carve it with but I don't guess that's a deal breaker.

It would have been nice if it had come with a booklet to explain what everything is so you can get started creating right away (there is a very good intro video on YouTube from yanghaiying for general information on supplies not on this particular set).

Overall it's a solid starter set. I wish the quality could have been better.

I teach Sumi-e for high school students and was able to give each student this set. My biggest surprise was the quality of the four brushes. They are great for painting the bamboo strokes. The soapstone stamp can be carved and used with the red paste. I added liquid ink and a smaller fine tipped brush, a plate for a palette and we were all set. The box is pretty special too. Everything cost less than a few brushes from my local art store.

This is a great pack if you are willing to do some research on your own. For example, I watched a few YouTube videos on how to grind ink stone. The ink is still not perfect but I think with some practice you will look fine. I am new at writing Chinese calligraphy so for a beginner's set, this is fine. The stone seal is not carved and I will save it till I find out how I can carve it.