Woman brings over 7 million yuan of cash to shop
A woman from Anhui Province carried two suitcases stuffed with 7.5 million yuan (US$1.2 million) in cash to a Shanghai mall over the weekend for a year-end shopping spree, as Kankan News reported.
The woman, surnamed Hu, made an appointment at her bank to withdraw the huge amount of cash days before, after learning that paying in cash will save on credit card service fees.
Majority of the cash was splashed on a female fashion brand, with some of the clothes for herself and her family, and most bought to sell online, Hu added.
Shop assistant Xu Dan suggested they pay with cash as the company would be charged service fees if they used a credit card. Counting staff at the mall said it took them an hour to count each million yuan, and they didn't finish counting it all until after 2am.
Vice-manager Yao Lu of the shopping mall said 55 percent of shoppers on New Year’s Eve were from Shanghai, while residents from other areas made up the rest.
Tourists from outside Shanghai spent more on single purchases, the manager added, which was usually around 1,700 to 1,800 yuan.
Hu's family aren't strangers to huge year-end shopping sprees — her sister-in-law brought 5 million yuan to shop during year-end promotions in Shanghai at the end of 2016.