Shopping frenzy
For those who are seriously considering piracy as a career, plundering sightseeing buses filled with Chinese tourists and their luxury souvenirs may be the next best thing since pillaging on the high seas just isn't as promising these days.
Kidding, of course, but you get the point. With the growing buying power of China's newly rich, Chinese tour groups are hitting up the US, Japan, Singapore, Dubai and especially Europe to purchase any and all luxury goods.
Many foreigners are familiar with this scene - crazy, rich Chinese ladies pour out of tourist buses and into luxury stores, cleaning out shops in 15 minutes flat.
As Christmas sales have been gone for weeks, and the Chinese New Year is just around the corner, the rich and restless Chinese tourists are once again gearing up to buy out Europe during their Spring Festival megalomaniac attack.
Destination shopping
This month, travel agencies have launched all kinds of shopping-focused travel itineraries, all involving the hottest shopping destinations.
Besides the traditional favorite shop-till-you-drop spots of the US, the UK, France, Switzerland and so on, islands including Saipan, Guam, Cheju Island and Dubai have been gaining popularity. It's all about the warm weather and duty-free stores, said Zhang Qingzhu, marketing manager at China Comfort Travel.
"Our itineraries during the holiday have been booked up, or even overbooked," said Bao Zhennan, marketing officer at Century Tours, a domestic travel agency.
To cool the heat off, Century Tours agents actually recommend avoiding the peak travel months of January and February, and they have been promoting their trips for March instead.
The impact of Chinese spending abroad now makes Chinese consumers the top spenders in luxury worldwide, taking up a fourth of luxury purchases globally, according to a report in December 2012 by Bain & Company, a professional advisor in the global luxury goods industry.
The report also reveals that in 2012, while luxury spending in China experienced a slightly slower growth rate, it grew by 37 percent abroad. About 60 percent of Chinese consumers' luxury purchases have been made abroad.
This trend of purchasing abroad may be the result of price gaps and exchange rates.
There has always been a gap between the domestic price of an item and its price abroad. Not to mention the prices in China's market keep rising, such as with the recent price hike on many luxury makeup brands, including Dior, Chanel and SK-II, which makes more Chinese want to buy abroad to narrow the gap.
"US dollars and euros are getting cheaper - that's one main reason," said Zhang.
The duty-free shops, tax refund policies, holiday discounts, exchange rates and brand name stores with much lower prices than those in China are all luring the Chinese tourists into buying more.
Shopaholics
Two years ago, when Yu Yanwan, 20, tagged along on a tour group to Europe, she was shocked by her fellow group members who were, Yu said, "shopaholics."
"Their eyes shone whenever they saw shops of famous brands or department stores," said Yu.
In Paris, Galeries Lafayette was basically taken over by Chinese customers, and in front of the tax refund counter, Chinese people lined up in long queues. In Switzerland, watch stores were filled to the brim with Chinese tourists buying watches for family and friends as if the watches were being given away for free.
Only halfway through the tour, the bus was already occupied by all kinds of luxury goods. Yu estimated that the luggage piled up in the bus could have added up to at least 3 million yuan ($482,400).
They had great fun not only in purchasing, but also in talking about their recently-acquired booty. Back at their hotel rooms, the rich women pulled out their purchases and compared them with others.
"For them, shopping comes first, sightseeing second," Yu concluded. Later, Yu read a few articles criticizing Chinese tourists' shopping mania abroad. Like many Chinese, Yu had mixed feelings toward those people and their behaviors.
"I felt resentful and despised them for their irrational conceptions and behaviors," said Yu. But now Yu, currently studying in the UK, has become used to the fact that the Chinese always come back for buying, group after group.
The favorite brands of Chinese shopping tourists include Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Christian Dior. One curious fact is that after buying up all these stores, many Chinese may just stay in some cheap or mid-level hotels.
"I think it's inevitable, since the newly-rich Chinese had a comparatively narrower mind when it comes to earning others' respect. They count on buying expensive stuff to show off," said Yu.
However, signs show that the notion has changed on some level.
Yu felt something different when she went on her second shopping excursion to Europe one year later.
This time, defying Yu's expectations, her fellow tourists still bought luxury goods, but didn't show off to others this time. And their interests expanded to shooting photographs and sightseeing experiences as well.
Shopping travel hierarchies
"Many tourists have very ordinary looks, but their buying capacity is bigger. One thing is for sure - they are rich, because one cannot afford such a trip with a monthly salary of a few thousand yuan," Zhang said.
"We have different levels of trips," Zhang told Metro Beijing. Catering to the ultra-rich class, Zhang's agency designs special, top-notch trips for them, with luxury hotel stays and extra long pauses at French department store Printemps and other must-see shopping places.
So if you want to go on such a trip, or just enjoy gawking at opulence, Metro Beijing presents three levels of shoppers.
Cashmere level: Your main target will be bags and clothing of LV, Gucci, Hermès and so on. Hit the outlets and shopping malls with discounts, and buy anything that can show others that you have the money. Start with 1 million yuan.
Ferrari level: You'll not only buy jewelry and watches with huge diamonds, but also Italian bespoke suits, limited editions of sports cars, and artworks of modern artists - because it's time to have some taste and elegance.
Private jet level: Yachts, jets, houses, land - what's a budget? The world is your oyster.