Hordes of Chinese flock to UK during Golden Week national holiday for designer shopping Chinese shoppers are in the UK during the Golden Week national holiday Retailers are prepared for the influx and are delighted at the extra trade By Catherine Ostler A fashionable young woman in socks, platform sandals and a mini-skirt tosses a waterfall of straight dark hair over her shoulder and eyes up an £850 golden handbag in the shape of an apple, sitting alone in a perspex cabinet. Nearby, a middle-aged woman with a bored, silent husband, stares at a £2,000 Celine handbag, intermittently snapping pictures of the object of her desire on her iPhone. The distinctive strains of Mandarin chatter fill the air as an immaculate woman clad all in black wafts past in a cloud of scent, trying to convince a young couple of the merits of the latest designer perfume. Bling rush: Hordes of Chinese shoppers are to flock to the West End's designer stores during a national holiday Meanwhile, a man hands over his credit card to a female shop assistant, who clutches it carefully between both hands as if holding a gift, lowers her head reverentially and makes an elaborate show of averting her eyes out of respect. His parcel neatly beribboned in a yellow carrier bag, he leaves the shop and follows the droves of customers heading into a nearby shop, enticed by large Chinese language signs proclaiming 75 per cent off sales. It could be an ordinary day on any luxury shopping street in Shanghai - but this is the heart of London's West End. And the Chinese signs, Mandarin-speaking shop assistants and extra deliveries of sought-after designer goods - in especially small sizes - are all part of making the high-spending visitors who have travelled here this week from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou feel at home. Wave upon wave of Chinese visitors, in small groups and coach parties, alone and in pairs, pack the pavements and malls. They are surprisingly young and rich. And they are here to splash their cash. The reason for this sudden influx is that it's Golden Week in China, a week-long holiday that kicked off with National Day on October 1 - the day the People's Republic was founded in 1949. Browsing: The reason for this sudden influx is that it¿s Golden Week in China, a week-long holiday that kicked off with National Day on October 1 ¿ the day the People¿s Republic was founded in 1949 It's the time when the country's wealthiest and most adventurous hop on long-haul flights and come to London. Top of their shopping lists are luxury goods - the handbags, shoes, watches and expensive knick-knacks which, because of stringent Chinese taxes, are about 30 per cent more expensive back home. No wonder British retailers leap with excitement. Quite simply, the Chinese spend unbelievable amounts of money; an average of £8,000 each on shopping alone, according to one recent survey. It is not just the clientele of London's busiest shopping streets which is transformed during Golden Week - the staff in luxury stores are supplemented by droves of Chinese speakers, signs directing shoppers around the store are in Mandarin, and even the customs when it comes to paying for goods are different. With so much money up for grabs, competition between stores is fierce. Popular: Selfridges won an early battle for the Chinese; their livery is yellow, the imperial colour of China. According to them, their image is ¿young and dynamic¿, like their Chinese visitors Selfridges won an early battle for the Chinese; their livery is yellow, the imperial colour of China. According to them, their image is "young and dynamic," like their Chinese visitors. As if on cue, hordes of waif-like Chinese girls with long, impossibly shiny dark hair and tiny mini-skirts charge through Selfridges" rotating doors and head straight for the Prada handbags. One girl snaps up a £1,500 black tote - then decides she really needs it in grey, too. It's not hard to see why shops bend over backwards to keep their high-spending Chinese customers happy. In addition to accepting China's most popular credit card, CUP (Credit Union Pay), the store has 40 Mandarin interpreters on call this week. And it's not just Selfridges; Harrods has over 100 interpreters, who helped each Chinese customer spend an average of £3,500 per visit last year. Prepared: Harrods has 100 interpreters on hand to help Chinese shoppers Even non-Mandarin speaking assistants are taught how to tend to the high-rolling Chinese customers - including holding credit cards with two hands, according to Chinese etiquette. Chinese men, apparently, will buy many watches from the most evocative brands such as Rolex and Omega, but they want information; as they do about wine in France. They might be incredibly rich, but unlike the Middle Easterns who block up Knightsbridge with their clamped Ferraris during the "Ramadan Rush," the Chinese are quiet, discreet and polite. They often take their booty back on the Tube, and yes, they'll offer up their seat to a more deserving traveller. They often stay in unflashy hotels you've never heard of (those willing to provide a Chinese breakfast, often consisting of congee, a watery rice porridge and deep-fried dough) while spending thousands of pounds on clothes, bags and jewellery. Indeed, to the Chinese one thing is sacrosanct - the designer label. These goods are badges of arrival and belonging. Life of luxury? Although Chinese shoppers spend big on labels, they don't necessarily stay in London's poshest hotels Numbers of Chinese visitors have been steadily growing over the past few years; 20 years ago there were hardly any, a legacy of Chairman Mao's belief that travel for pleasure was anti-socialist. Now they are making up for lost time. Three years ago, just over 100,000 Chinese came to Britain; last year, 150,000 came. Given that only three per cent of the one billion population have left mainland China so far, and that their wealth is increasing, numbers can only explode further. Most come here seeking out the obvious brands: Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci, and the "heritage" brands, which means anything with a quotable history, like Burberry, Mulberry or Westwood. Chen Lei, 26, who works for an oil company, and her boyfriend Gu Xiaoyin, also 26 and working in finance, travelled here from Beijing. We love being in London, and everything about Britain. Chen Lei, 26 Dressed in jeans and trainers they look about 19, and you wouldn't guess they were about to splash out on designer clobber, although on closer inspection she already has a £900 Louis Vuitton bag. "We love being in London, and everything about Britain," Lei enthuses. Although she says she is on the hunt for her favourite brands, Mulberry and Burberry, she's also fond of TopShop. Eva Tu, 31, from Beijing, says she has only bought one pink Prada handbag so far - "not the newest model," she says in disappointment, though her friend has "bought the whole of Burberry." The more fashion savvy girls are keen on modern designers like Stella McCartney and Christopher Kane - in the tiniest sizes. Big business: As well as designer brands, Chinese shoppers also love high street brands such as Topshop And they have no problems fitting into the slimmest-cut dresses - our sizes 6, 8 and 10 equate to their small, medium and large, meaning a British size 12 would be extra large. During Golden Week, the visitors come with huge shopping lists for friends and family (as well as their own wish lists), because Chinese culture is a gift culture. Almost every occasion necessitates a gift, and the compliment must always be repaid. So exacting are their requirements that I met one couple whose shopping list was a computerised spreadsheet, covering colleagues, friends and relations. It looked long enough to take all week. So strong is the tide of shoppers that as of this Golden Week, they even have their own glossy magazine; an edition of Conde Nast Traveller launched for the Chinese in London. Editor Melinda Stevens has a clear idea of her audience: "They are extremely focused; and come with huge lists for labels like Chanel and Burberry. Everybody wants them, of course, as they spend phenomenal amounts of money. Spend, spend, spend: Chinese shoppers with Selfridges bags on London's Oxford Street Once they have snapped up the best London labels, the most determined shoppers fly up to Edinburgh to sample the cashmere and tartan for which Scotland is known. In Westfield shopping centre, West London, there is a standard look among the young Chinese women. Poker-straight, long hair with a side parting, painted nails in bright colours, jeans, a Louis Vuitton bag in the company's brown "LV" monogram print - and an iPhone glued to their hand. In The Village, the luxury section of the centre, assistants admit that they deliberately shift stock around to attract Chinese eyes - and who can blame them? Gucci has rolled out precious skin handbags - crocodile and python are favourites - beloved of the Chinese. Tateossian, the jewellery and cufflink brand, have made a dragon necklace and cufflinks. Montblanc even have a "Genghis Khan Limited Edition Writing Instrument." They all tell the same story; a growing market of high-spending under 35s in search of big names. As they are newly-affluent, they will also travel out of town to secure a bargain; hence the popularity of Bicester Village, the discount retail park in Oxfordshire where the Chinese arrive in coachloads. For the young Chinese, this is a bigger draw than the Royal Family. When David Cameron asked the Chinese Ambassador how to get more visitors here, he was told to build more Bicesters. It's not all smiles, though. Back at Selfridges a couple called the Shens are in search of something to eat. They leave the shop anxiously in search of a Chinese restaurant. Burberry and Mulberry handbags are one thing - the heritage of British food, apparently, quite another.