Jing Daily’s Top Posts For The Week#
In case you missed them the first time around, here are some of Jing Daily’s top posts for the week of October 25-29:
Chinese Tourists Heading To South Korea Following Japan Row
Following the diplomatic spat that flared up between China and Japan after a Chinese fishing vessel collided with Japanese coast guard ships near a group of island claimed by both nations, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Japan has plummeted, much to the chagrin of tourism authorities and retailers, who previously had projected a record number of Chinese to visit Japan this year. This June, Jing Daily reported that Japanese tourism officials expected an “explosion” of Chinese tourists this year, following the easing of visa restrictions that took effect July 1 and would have brought an estimated 150,000 extra Chinese visitors annually.
However, in the wake of the Senkaku/Diaoyu island clash and resulting protests on both sides of the East China Sea, one thing that has been largely overlooked in the travel industry is that the outbound tourists who had planned to visit Japan this fall still want to go somewhere, and in many cases that “somewhere” has become South Korea.
Bottles Of Lafite ‘08 To Include Imprinted Chinese Character
In a hat-tip to one of its most important and loyal markets, Chateau Lafite (previously on Jing Daily) will imprint each bottle and magnum of Lafite 2008 with the Chinese character for the number eight (八), traditionally considered an auspicious number in Chinese culture, to commemorate its new vineyard venture in China. As Decanter writes today, Lafite is in partnership with CITIC, China’s largest state-owned investment company, to develop 25 hectares of vines on the Penglai peninsula in China’s Shandong province, an area that some commentators have called “China’s Bordeaux.”
Choosing the character for “eight,” which resembles a hill, has added meaning, then, as a Lafite spokesperson said in an interview this week, “The shape of the symbol seems to offer a perfect representation of the slopes of the vineyard and commemorates the launch of our Chinese wine project.”
Event Coverage: “Dutch Fashion Here & Now” At Shanghai Fashion Week
This weekend, Jing Daily attended “Dutch Fashion Here & Now” at Shanghai Fashion Week. Consisting of runway shows, sourcing events, private fittings and showrooms, Dutch Fashion Here & Now — which continues until October 26 — looks to introduce some of Holland’s top designers to a Chinese audience for the first time, helping to foster relationships between the Dutch and Chinese fashion industries. The two-part event kicked off at Fuxing Park last night with two events, “Dutch Fashion Graduates Here & Now” and “Dutch Fashion Avant-Garde Here & Now,” followed up by an after-party at Club DROP.
Dutch Fashion Graduates Here & Now, presented by three Dutch academies — the AMFI-Amsterdam Fashion Institute; the Royal Academy of Art, the Hague; and the Willem de Kooning Academy Rotterdam — that are looking to cultivate relationships with Chinese design universities and the country’s fashion industry, showcased the work of three of their top 2010 graduates.
MoCA Shanghai To Hold “Culture Chanel” Exhibition In January
Chanel’s recent obsession with Shanghai has been well documented over the past year, with the city providing the backdrop for Chanel’s Metier d’Arts collection in the city last December, the inspiration for limited-edition items to commemorate the Shanghai World Expo and the venue for Chanel’s “Paris-Shanghai” exhibition at Plaza 66. This coming January, Chanel and Shanghai will again join together for the Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai’s “Culture Chanel” exhibition, which looks at the disparate elements that have influenced the fashion house over the past century. The 400 items included in the exhibition, which will be curated by the French art director and critic Jean-Louis Froment with the help of Chanel, will include clothing, movies, artwork and manuscripts.
From the Independent:
The exhibit is not chronological, but it spans the history of Chanel from its origins under the artistic direction of founder Gabrielle Chanel to present day. A key aspect of Culture Chanel is about Gabrielle’s rapports with artists of her heyday since she was a fixture among Parisian literary and artistic circles. She counted Jean Cocteau and Pablo Picasso among her friends and composer Igor Stravinsky among her lovers.
TAG Heuer Enlists Chinese Film Legend Chen Daoming As Brand Ambassador
With all of the press about Chinese shoppers indulging in fashion, handbags, jewelry and art, it’s sometimes easy to overlook two simple facts about the Chinese luxury market: one, men still make the vast majority of luxury purchases in China (often giving the items away as gifts), and two, aside from a high-end car or possibly real estate, the first luxury good most men in China tend to opt for is a Swiss watch. While these, too, are often given away to business acquaintances, the luxury watch is a key player in the sometimes complex world of “face” in China as well as Asia in general, and as such luxury watchmakers have pushed hard for market share in both the mainland China and Hong Kong markets.
The seemingly insatiable demand for high-end watches has seen a flood of brands enter the Chinese market, despite relatively low customer brand recognition. As expected, as a result of low customer recognition, Chinese buyers have typically gravitated towards the most expensive watches, with Patek Philippe the most popular brand in China, followed by watchmakers like Vacheron Constantin, Cartier and Rolex.