Luxury in China
Chinese people love luxury, wealthy Chinese even more so. The word luxury came from Latin word “Lux” meaning light. What is luxury in China? It is Louis Vuitton, Lamborghini, Chateau Lafite, Lexus and La prairie. I like how the Chinese define the characters of luxury goods: they must have long history, profound meaning, superb quality, excellent shopping environment, excellent service, and of course super expensive. So how expensive are these luxuries in China?
For examples, one bottle of 1995 Chateau Lafite, without import tax, the price is RMB11,846 (~$1,825) in China. In Hong Kong, one bottle of 1869 Chateau Lafite can be auctioned up to 430,000 British pounds.
A limited edition of Lamborghini sports car, the price is as high as RMB5,000,000 (slightly less than one million US dollars).
LV bags in China range from one thousand to several thousands of US dollars. I was told the security guarded store in Shanghai only allows a few customers enter the store every hour.
Indeed outrageous prices, you may wonder is there any Chinese buying it? The answer is quite some people. Obviously it is not too pricy for the 950,000 rich Chinese who are multimillionaires. It is said that in Shanghai alone, there is one multimillionaire in every one hundred seventy five people you meet. Oh my hometown Shanghai, I don’t know what to think about you. I am happy to see the huge changes in the recent years. However I will never shop luxury goods when I am back in Shanghai, simply because I can’t afford it and I don’t care for luxury either.
