snaps | a $40 bottle of water ::
:: yesterday at the Beijing airport while waiting for my flight back to Shanghai I came across a bottle of water priced at RMB 286 (at Mogi Cafe, a French coffee shop / deli chain). The product was a limited edition co-branded effort by Evian and Jean Paul Gaultier, imported from France. Fair enough I thought – afterall, it was Jean Paul Gaultier, and the packaging / bottling was quite well done. I asked the cashier how many bottles they had sold. She said two (1/2 of the entire stock) in two weeks. I asked to whom. She said to middle-aged “外地” Chinese businessmen (i.e. Chinese businessmen not from Beijing, Shanghai, or other major first-tier Chinese cities). Remarkable. As I secretly love this kind of stuff, I nearly bought a bottle, instead though, I walked away feeling better about only paying a ridiculous RMB 25 for an orange juice. // AjS
February 25th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
I have to say I’m guilty of buying the teardrop design one from a few years ago (at roughly 80RMB), I got ribbed about that for months by friends, but I liked the packaging.
Still have the bottle somewhere in the house.
February 25th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Hi Adam,
Nice bottles, but there is something about using fossil fuels to ship this stuff around the world that bothers me. Yeah, I know the same holds true for beer, wine, and other beverages, but still…
Cheers, Boyce
February 25th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
I’ve knowingly smuggled a Starbuck’s cappuccino through Beijing airport’s security gates to avoid paying the grossly inflated coffee prices on the other side!
February 26th, 2009 at 2:22 am
That’s better then u paying RMB 200 to print one “art photo”
I like this bottle more than that art photo