Luxury is in the wallet of the beholder

China goes on holiday, and the retailers of the world rejoice

They call Paris the City of Light, but when my friend returned from there recently, you could have been forgiven for thinking she had in fact visited the City of Handbags, wherever that might be.

"There's a small purse for me, and the rest are for my relatives and friends," she said, talking of the grand haul of 13 swish handbags she had toted back to China.