1. Dragon Week NYC in Press
Affinity China

4. WWD.com/retail-news/trends-analysis/tapping-into-a-new-market-the-chinese-mega-rich-5539028
January 20, 2012
By Lara Farrar
BEIJING — If you happen to be in Manhattan Wednesday
evening and are near the Empire State Building, you may notice
that sometime between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. the lights on top of
the building will suddenly change to colors of very bright red
and gold.
The red and gold lighting is happening, in part, to celebrate
Chinese New Year, a weeklong holiday that begins Monday. But
even more so, the Empire State Building will change colors in
honor of the 300 or so megarich Chinese who will be inside
sipping expensive alcohol at a private gala on the building’s
80th floor.
No doubt there are countless increasingly rich Chinese
traveling overseas who book tours on cramped buses with
packed itineraries in New York and other cities around the
world. What makes this group different is who they are, how
much they are worth, what they do and, in particular, what they
will be doing in the Big Apple from Sunday to Friday.
RELATED STORY: Chinese Retailers Prepare for New
Year Holiday >>
The tour, called Dragon Week NYC to coincide with the fact
Empire State Building
that, according to Chinese astrology, 2012 is the Year of the
Photo By Getty Images
Dragon, is organized by Affinity China, a start-up that bills
itself as a “private network offering exclusive luxury lifestyle
events and unique travel opportunities” to its Chinese
members, who can join the network by invitation only.

5. WWD.com/eye/lifestyle/bergdorf-goodman-designers-court-chinese-5572400
January 26, 2012
Dragon Week Caters to China's Rich - Lifestyle - Eye - WWD.com http://www.wwd.com/eye/lifestyle/bergdorf-goodman-designers-court-ch...
By Lara Farrar NEW YORK — It wasn’t that Dragon Week NYC did not go off
as expected, but rather that those involved with the weeklong
luxury trip for rich Chinese to Manhattan didn’t really seem to
know exactly what to expect.
“It was a learning experience for everyone,” said Christine Lu, a
co-founder of Affinity China, the company that organized the
trip, which began in New York on Sunday. “The story is not
finished yet.”
The tale of the excursion was that it was one filled with nothing
short of impressive, exclusive events for those who signed up to
take part in Dragon Week, named so due to the fact that 2012 is
the Year of the Dragon according to Chinese astrology.
Gilles Mendel gave guests a private tour of the J.Mendel atelier,
while Montblanc invited Lang Lang, an internationally
renowned pianist, for a private performance in the brand’s
Madison Avenue boutique. Linda Fargo, the senior vice
president of Bergdorf Goodman’s fashion office and store
presentation, emceed a private fashion show at the store, which
was followed by a cocktail party and dinner attended by
designers including Oscar de la Renta, Diane von Furstenberg,
Naeem Khan, Zac Posen, Marchesa’s Georgina Chapman and
Linda Fargo
Keren Craig, VBH’s Bruce Hoeksema and Peter Som.
Photo By Jenna Greene
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg made a brief appearance
at the Empire State Building for a gala and lighting ceremony
Luo Zilin in the Bergdorf Goodman fashion show.
in which the building’s top turned to hues of gold and orange to
Photo By Jenna Greene
celebrate Chinese New Year. Yue-Sai Kan, a Chinese-American
TV personality, and Luo Zilin, China’s entrant in the 2011 Miss
Universe pageant, made frequent appearances throughout the
week. Ralph Lauren, Piaget and Coach held private shopping
events. Estée Lauder had a reception hosted by Aerin Lauder,
the brand’s style and image director, at its world headquarters.
Those were the main attractions. The side story of the week was
that not that many Chinese actually showed up. Affinity China, Oscar de la Renta and Diane von Furstenberg
which bills itself as a concierge service aimed at reaching a Photo By Jenna Greene
growing demographic of a more affluent, culturally discerning
group of Mainlanders traveling overseas, said 300 access cards
were given out. While some events capped the number of people
who could come, the average attendance numbered, at best,
around 20, and, at times, fewer than a dozen.
Many of those who attended already live in the U.S., are
second-generation Chinese studying at American colleges or are
not Chinese. Affinity China said more Mainland Chinese were
slated to come but canceled at the last minute due to visa issues
or because they preferred to stay home with their families over
Chinese New Year.
Dragon Week guests tour Estée Lauder’s office.
The fact that not that many Mainland Chinese attended didn’t Photo By Jenna Greene

6. 1/30/12 Luxury brands long to bond with China!s elite - FT.com
Last updated: January 27, 2012 6:02 pm
Luxury brands long to bond
with China’s elite
1/30/12 Luxury brands long to bond with China!s elite - FT.com
By Barney Jopson in New York
Piaget, a watch brand, unveiled a $58,000 timepiece engraved with a gold dragon. Estée
Diamond earrings glistened, stiletto heels tapped
Lauder gave them a tour of its eponymous founder’s corner office and the first samples of
and the sequins on a mermaid gown shimmered
an expensive new eye balm. J Mendel, a fur coat maker, showed them its workshop.
as Miss China sashayed down a New York
catwalk, passing within a perfume waft of a According to provisional figures from the Chinese Tourism Academy, Chinese took 70m
compatriot named Lina Li. overseas trips in 2011 and spent a total of $69bn, an increase of 25 per cent from the
previous year. They are also increasingly discerning.
Ms Li was among a group of wealthy Chinese who
had paid for a behind-the-scenes glimpse of Even when luxury brands get the basics of hiring Mandarin speakers and accepting the
western luxury at Bergdorf Goodman, a genteel China UnionPay credit card, Ms Lu says that misunderstandings with the wealthy can still
picn department store for the affluently elegant, which arise.
put on a fashion show in their honour this week.
Western luxury retailers like to ingratiate themselves by building “unique relationships”
that depend on employees learning about customers’ lives and anticipating their needs.
“I liked it a lot. It was my first fashion show,” said an enthusiastic Ms Li. She glanced
down at her sweater and jeans and added sheepishly: “I didn’t dress properly.”
But Ms Lu says that China engenders a “natural distrust” of pushy sales associates and
that many of the rich guard their privacy jealously. “We cater to a demographic that
The co-founder of a Shanghai recruitment agency, Ms Li is the kind of person that
doesn’t want you to know who they are.”
Bergdorf Goodman and other luxury retailers want to meet. But if the feeling is mutual,
so is a measure of puzzled incomprehension. Retailers can also make the error of judging people by appearances. “I remember one
guy,” says Kaan Cedric Turk, US general manager for Zilli, a French clothes maker that
Chinese shoppers have become a fixture of the luxury retail scene in the US and Europe, sells a $26,000 ostrich leather jacket.
drawn by prices that can be up to 50 per cent lower than tax-elevated levels at home. But
many upscale brands have yet to bond with the truly wealthy –China’s million “He came without speaking a word of English. Wearing sneakers and a raincoat … And he
millionaires. spent an amount of money that was mind-boggling.”
“It’s like they’re dancing with each other but sometimes going past each other,” says Bain & Co says that in 2010 one-quarter of the Rmb212bn that mainland Chinese spent on
luxuries was outside the mainland, Hong Kong and Macau.Coach, the handbag brand,
Christine Lu, co-founder and chief executive of Affinity China, a luxury club that
says that at peak travel times Chinese tourists can account for 15-20 per cent of its sales
organised the New York tour, named Dragon Week, to coincide with the lunar new year.
in New York, Las Vegas and Hawaii.
That is why several brands agreed to host some of the 80-plus Chinese participants,
While ordinary Chinese overwhelmingly prefer group travel, research by the Hurun
among them Mont Blanc, the pen maker, which squeezed aSteinway piano into a store for Report last year found that 80 per cent of the wealthy eschew it and its association with
a recital by Lang Lang, the Chinese pianist. hurried bus tours.
Dragon Week provides the opposite. “It’s kind of like a concierge service, offering them
www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b0e42a86-48ac-11e1-954a-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1kvbw7DQ3 1/3
access and experiences they can’t get otherwise,” says Renee Hartman of the China
Luxury Network, part of Affinity China.
Champagne is abundant and the guests – most of them under 50 and proficient in English

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A group of wealthy Chinese is receiving luxury treatment during Dragon Week NYC, complete with private
fashion shows and designer mingling. The weeklong tour is organized by A!nity China, a private network
that connects invited members with luxury lifestyle events and unique travel opportunities.
Approximately 70 tourists—both from China and the United States—are taking part in Dragon Week NYC.
The tour began Sunday evening when participants attended a cocktail party at Yue-Sai Kan’s townhouse in
Sutton Square. Notable attendees included Bill Brobston, Victor Luis, Bruce Hoeksema and Luo Zilin, who Haute Event: Karina Smirnoff
competed for China in the 2011 Miss Universe pageant. Celebr...
Monday morning, the group received a private tour of J. Mendel’s atelier by Gilles Mendel, followed by a Like 9
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performance by Chinese pianist Lang Lang in Montblanc on Madison Ave. Tuesday, Bergdorf Goodman
hosted a fashion show, emceed by Linda Fargo. The show featured spring/summer 2012 collections from
designers such as Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Louboutin and Givenchy. Following the show was a cocktail
party and dinner, attended by Oscar de la Renta, Diane von Furstenberg, Naeem Khan, Georgina Chapman,
Keren Craig and Zac Posen.
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16. 2/2/12 Haute Event: Chinese New Year Celebration with Montblanc and Lang Lang | Ha
Haute Event: Chinese New Year Celebratio!n with Montblanc and : NATIONAL
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To celebrate the launch of Dragon Week, a series of exclusive events in New York organized by the
membership-based network Affinity China and the China Luxury Network started off with a bang with
China’s most famous classical pianist, Lang Lang. Lang Lang gave a moving private performance at the
Montblanc flagship store on Madison Avenue. The night begin with a short speech given by Lang Lang to
party attendees including Montblanc North America CEO Jan-Patrick Schmitz, Yue-Sai Kan and dozens of 'Perfect Pink Party' Held At
other people. Lang currently serves as the chairman of the Montblanc Culture Foundation and the brand’s Mar-a-...
ambassador of culture, using his position to spark a greater interest in classical music. Lang Lang was
gracious enough to answer few questions exclusively for Haute Living.

24. For media inquiries, please contact Lin@affinitychina.com