The Bling Dynasty: Why the Reign of Chinese Luxury Shoppers Has Only Just Begun

Chapter 1 Eastern Promises, Delivered

A good traveller has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.

—Lao Tzu

Figure 1.1 Picture of a China Visa

This first chapter is an account of what I discovered moving East: the intricate yet essential relationship between Mainland China and Hong Kong and how dominant men have been for Chinese luxury consumption.

Don't Believe the Hype? Come to Hong Kong

As I start a book about Chinese consumption of luxury, I am telling you about Hong Kong. Why Hong Kong and not China proper? you may wonder. Well, in summary, my first shock moving East was to realize Hong Kong is where it all started for the luxury trade, but more importantly, it has been the world's window on China and in turn a very powerful vehicle for China to access the world.

Here are a few important developments that explain why Hong Kong is an essential key to understanding Chinese luxury consumption.

Hong Kong is a cosmopolitan hub. Through its history, culture and location on the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, the city has become an international destination—leading the local airline operator, Cathay Pacific, to use the tagline ‘Asia's world city'¹ alongside a picture of a flying dragon—or at least an incredibly powerful bridge between the West and China. It came into being in 1842 when China's Qing dynasty government was defeated in the First Opium War and ceded ...