Chinese shoppers flock to Paris

The lunar new year this weekend is a peak season for Chinese travellers to go abroad. One destination topping the rest: la ville de l'amour -- Paris. Famous department stores in the French capital have now even opened Chinese services.

Paris is getting ready for the huge crowds of Chinese shoppers.

It's the country's traditional lunar new year season kicking off, with shopping frenzies spilling over from China to megacities around the globe.

World-reknown department stores in Paris, like the Printemps, which actually means "chun tian" in Chinese or spring time in English, are aware of the opportunities.

They chose to diversify their seasonal decoration with Asian elements, and provide Chinese language store guides and Chinese speaking salespersons.

Pierre Pelarrey, general manager of Printemps Department Store, Paris, said:"The Chinese lunar new year arrives during the peak season of our sales. You know that Chinese shoppers can boost our revenues from the international clientèle by as much as 35 percent, they are our most important costumers. This year is the year of snake, happy year of snake."

But why do Chinese shoppers travel all the way to Paris in the first place?

Zhao Jing, shopper from Nanjing, said:"Because some European luxury products are relatively more expensive back in China. I made a shopping list before coming here, I want to check out some watches, exclusive bags, those world top brands, like LV, or those fine watches, like Chopard (pronounce SHOPAR), I want to see them all. There are price differences, I believe that it'is cheaper to go shopping here."

Back home, Chinese consumers hold the key to drive the world's number two economy, and many of the top international brands, such as Swatch and Furla, are eager to tap into the growing Chinese retail market and further expand their presence.

But Louis Vuitton, the world's biggest luxury brand in terms of sales, recently said that it was not planning to open boutiques in second and third-tier cities in China to "avoid becoming too common place", as knockoffs of its classic products and patterns are pretty common in the Chinese mainland.