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.

一位脚穿厚底凉鞋和短袜、身着迷你短裙的摩登女郎，甩动一头乌黑垂顺的、瀑布般披在肩上的长发，正注视着玻璃橱柜中一个价值850英镑的苹果形状的手提包。

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.

在年轻女郎附近有一位中年妇女，在沉默而厌烦的丈夫的陪伴之下，正盯视着一个价值两千英镑的塞琳女包，她时不时的拿出苹果手机偷拍这一心爱之物。

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.

空气中充满了用普通话聊天的嘈杂声响，一位一身黑的女士穿过人群，给香水气味氤氲的烟云送来一丝清风，她正在向一对年轻夫妻介绍一瓶款香水的价值所在。

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.

同一时间，一位男士正将自己的信用卡交给一位女销售员，这位女销售员两手小心的握着信用卡，仿佛是在接受一份礼物，她虔敬地低下头，避免直视对方以表示对顾客的尊敬态度。

It could be an ordinary day on any luxury shopping street in Shanghai — but this is the heart of London’s West End.

这一幕也许每天都会在上海的某个购物街上演——然而此时这是在伦敦西区的中心地带。

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.

中文标识牌、说普通话的销售员和应顾客要求进行的额外调货——中国顾客的尺码比较小——所有这一切都让那些乘着一周假期，从北京、上海、广州不远而来的高消费顾客感觉宾至如归。

Wave upon wave of Chinese visitors, in small groups and coach parties, alone and in pairs, pack the pavements and malls.

一拨又一拨的中国游客，三五成群或跟着旅行团，独自一人或成双成对，在人行道和商店里汇聚着。

They are surprisingly young and rich. And they are here to splash their cash.

他们年轻又多金得让人吃惊，他们来这里是来挥霍财富的。

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.

这一突如其来的购物狂潮的形成原因是中国的度假黄金周，即从十月一日的国庆节开始的一周休假——中华人民共和国是在1949年10月1日成立的。

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.

正是这个时候，中国最富有、冒险精神的人们登上长途班机，来到了伦敦。他们购物清单上的项是品——手提包、鞋子、手表和各种名贵的小饰品，由于严格的税收政策，这些物件在中国本土的价格比这里要高出30%左右。

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.

难怪英国的零售商们要开心的手舞足蹈。原因很简单，中国游客消费额高得让人难以置信；根据一项调查，仅在购物方面，中国游客人均消费就到达8千英镑。

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.

在十一黄金周里，在伦敦最热闹的商业街上上演的变化不仅是客流量——商家们纷纷增添了大批说中文的店员、街道上有了许多中文写的指路牌以给顾客指路，甚至买卖货物的社交礼仪都不同了。