A two million yuan ($315,000) wedding cake.

[randomness]

(I thought of tamidon immediately when I saw this.)


From the Sinocism blog:

Black Swan Luxury (黑天鹅尊贵至美) is the the luxury brand of Holiland (好利来), a mass market bakery with stores across China.

Black Swan recently opened its first shop in Beijing and has plans for several more. The shop is very swanky and the brand may be best known for its sky-high pricing, though it also sells some more modestly priced deserts and breads. When I visited last weekend it was reasonably busy.

The most expensive item on the menu is a 1,999,999 RMB (approximately $315,000 USD) wedding cake.

Black Swan appears to have cracked China’s uber-spender market by appealing to buyers at state-owned enterprises, official gift-givers and the not insignificant number of people with crazy money to burn and a desire to flaunt their bonfires.

Black Swan is quite a name for such a bakery, given the English-language connotations of the term.

Via FTAlphaville.

Comments

[bedfull-o-books.livejournal.com]

I wonder if the cake is any good....

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

I think I remember going in to a Holiland shop somewhere in either Beijing or Tianjin at one point. It's the usual lightly sweetened Chinese bakery fare. Not bad, but nothing special. But I haven't been to Black Swan yet.

For nice French pastries I like Comptoirs de France. alexinbeijing took me to one at East Lake Villa, an expensive apartment complex popular with expats, including many French people. I seem to remember that their croissant was an actual croissant, as opposed to a crescent-shaped bread product.

East Lake Villa's Clubhouse has a Jenny Lou's as well, which is where expats go to buy their expensive cheeses, wine, etc. They stock all kinds of comfort food from home--wherever in the rich West that may be--at air-freight prices.

(Mostly I'm replying here to your comment because I wanted a place to put the links. One of these days I may write up Comptoirs de France.)