Pressing My Nose to the Glass in China | ArticlePDQ.com

Cathy Horyn/The New York Times The BNC boutique in Beijing. For the past week I?ve been in Beijing, my first trip to China. Except for the city?s famous traffic jams, the city is nothing like I had expected. And what did I expect of this oakley sunglasses outlet remarkable, sprawling, fast-changing city? Today ? Friday in Beijing ? I had lunch with Angelica Cheung, the editor in chief of Vogue China, at the China Grill on the 66th floor of the Park Hyatt, and since I arrived at the restaurant a few minutes early, I took a moment to press my nose to the windows. The sprawl of new buildings ? skyscrapers, hotels, apartment blocks ? is almost unfathomable and seemingly endless. In front of me was the CCTV building, by Rem Koolhaas, with its twin cantilevered towers. A second building on the site caught fire during the New Year?s celebration and burned, leaving a charred hulk, and the area around the complex is still under construction. Still, the dazzling architecture reminds you that you?re looking at a new world. My eyes kept coming back to the Koolhaas building. Over the past 10 years I?ve talked to American and European executives in the fashion and beauty businesses about China, and I certainly didn?t appreciate how dramatically things have changed in just the past few years. Of course, you see virtually every big-name brand represented here ? from Burberry to Bugatti ? and many of the fashion and jewelry companies now have several locations in Beijing alone. And despite prices that are roughly 40 percent higher than they would be for the same handbag or dress in Paris or New York, Chinese consumers are shopping. The other morning I went to a couple of malls, including the upscale Shin Kong Place, which has Prada and Chanel, as well as some trendy Chinese-made brands, and the Oakley Sport Sunglasses shops were busy. I saw accessories but also clothes from the runway, not preseason stuff. There is obviously a lot of wealth in Beijing ? that explains the number of cars on the roads ? but to watch a young woman in the Chanel boutique examine herself in the mirror as she holds a $4,500 quilted bag is to imagine what owning such an object would mean to her. Ms. Cheung later told me many women have to save for months to afford a status bag. But the point is, they do. ?It?s already happening,? Li Dongtian, a celebrity makeup artist and hairdresser, said of the luxury explosion here. I had met Mr. Li at a party on Tuesday night ? my first day in Beijing ? to open a new location of his Tony Studio at the shops at Sanlitun Village. He has more than 20 locations in China. It was a fun party: lots of glamorous, unjaded young people, including the star model Lu Yan, whose face loomed on a billboard outside. I?ve also been visiting independent boutiques, like Pick Sunglasses Us Dong Liang, which is located in a typical Beijing alley called Wudaoying Hutong, and BNC at the Village shops. BNC has an open, quirky look in the mood of Corso Como 10 or Colette, and sells labels like Uma Wang and Neither Nor. But while there is lots of energy and enthusiasm here, you can also see how difficult it is for Chinese designers and independent retailers to stand out. Maybe the sheer number of consumers here will help.

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