As more and more ladies are willing to spend money and time on pricking up themselves, some "white collar" ladies from the Chinese mainland seized the chance to do shopping mainly on cosmetics during the Labor Day "Golden Week" holidays in Hong Kong.

"What I want to buy most in Hong Kong is cosmetics," said Ms Liu, who works as a sales representative in a computer company in Beijing. Times Square, one of the most popular shopping malls in Hong Kong, is Liu's first stop in touring the city and where she hoped to get something she needed.

"In Beijing, I knew from the Internet that many cosmetic retailers like Sasa in Hong Kong are selling a variety of goods, including some European brands which cannot be found in the mainland, and also, they often provide good discounts which I think is very attractive," said Liu.

Liu said that she is not that interested in buying products with famous brand names, and she was looking for something she is in real need. "Besides cosmetics, I may buy some clothes if the styles are suitable and the prices reasonable," said Liu.

Another lady of the "white collar class" from mainland had a very good shopping time in Hong Kong. Ms Pan, a civil servant from Suzhou, Jiangsu province, came together with her friends to Hong Kong for their holidays.

Although Pan came to Hong Kong mainly for sightseeing, she spent one whole day in shopping around the city, where she mainly bought cosmetic perfumes and gold accessories.

"I like the variety of brands, style and design of goods provided by shops in Hong Kong. And I especially like the gold accessories here because of the refined handiwork," said Pan.

Pan also said that she liked doing shopping in Hong Kong as shops are easily accessible and salespersons are nice and helpful, which gave her good impression. She said Hong Kong lived up to the name "shopping paradise".

As a city famous for shopping, Hong Kong has not let down the "white collar" ladies from mainland. Meanwhile, it is also believed that mainland tourists have helped boost the sales of most retailers.

According to representatives of the retail business, it is expected that mainland tourists are bringing a 20 percent hike in sales during the Labor Day "Golden Week" that started on May 1.

(Xinhua News  Agency  May 8, 2004)