The annual Top Marques luxury fair returned to the Shanghai International Convention Center in Pudong yesterday with nearly 300 rare exhibits including roadsters, yachts, works of art and antiques.

The four-day event is expected to attract more than 30,000 visitors, mostly customers invited by the exhibitors and senior staff from wealthy companies in banking, energy resources and IT, according to Sheng Lei, the general manager of the event organizer, Borrison Expo.

Sheng said visitors are expected to spend 500 million yuan (US$66.7 million) on the luxury items. The expensive products include a villa in Sanya, Hainan Province, costing more than 100 million yuan, a Spyker car worth more than 400 million yuan and a 250-million-yuan Schimmel piano.

Fancy cars have always been the highlight of the Top Marques. This year, it has brought to China an Aston Martin D89 - the car driven by Daniel Crag in Casino Royale, the latest 007 incarnation. Priced at 380 million yuan, the roadster is waiting for its first owner in China.

Other leading car makers such as Porsche, Ferrari and Cadillac have also brought their 2008 models.

A visitor looks over a 360,000-yuan (US$48,000) British clock yesterday at the annual Top Marques luxury lifestyle fair. (photo: Shanghai Daily)

(Shanghai Daily November 15, 2007)