Feature: U.S. retailers gear up for Chinese New Year shopping spree

U.S. retailers in Chicago are gearing up for the shopping spree of Chinese tourists coming to the city during their Lunar New Year holidays.

Macy's, the largest department store in the United States, for the second year lends gratis one of its showcases for China's Ministry of Culture to install a big statue of sheep in it.

The new year is the Year of the Sheep in Chinese lunar calendar, though people are confused whether China's zodiac animal for 2015 is a goat, a sheep or a ram.

Entering the Macy's store, one can easily find many Chinese elements: colorful oil painted umbrellas hang from the ceiling in an unevenly way; several mannequins beside the escalator on the third floor not only display clothes, but also wear Peking Opera masks; Clinique, a best-selling cosmetic brand in China, puts up a Chinese promotion board on a counter; Godiva chocolate has every piece inside the box sheep-shaped.

"Macy's has a large number of customers coming from China, and we want to show them that we support their business, we love their business and we want them to come back to shop again," said Lauren Rapisand, media relations manager of Macy's North and Midwest Regions.

Macy's is only one of the 40-plus retailers in Chicago that have participated in the Chinese New Year celebrations this year.

Bloomingdale's is celebrating the Chinese New Year for the third year. With bright red Chinese lanterns displayed at the front of the store, the top-notch department store is ready to hand out red envelope discounts to Chinese tourists. The limited-edition "Little Ram Bag" is also a perfect gift.

"Bloomingdale's has all the brands they (Chinese tourists) want, and we can help them find a perfect gift to bring home," Jennifer Oglesby, the Chicago Tourism Manager for Bloomingdale's, told Xinhua.

"We want to make sure they feel comfortable coming to our store and we want to give them a great experience," she said.

In addition, Bloomingdale's will invite visiting performers and experts from Chicago Chinese Fine Arts Society to perform lion dances, teach calligraphy, and make lanterns and paper crafts within the store.

The 360 Chicago, an observatory that lets visitors see 360 degrees around the city from over 300 meters above street level in Hancock building, is also celebrating the Chinese New Year with discounts, red lanterns, red lights and other festive traditional Chinese decorations.

Wang Ruochen and her family from Xi'an, China, came to visit Chicago during the Chinese New Year holidays and found something they didn't expect.

"I couldn't imagine we would have been able to see these beautiful holiday lamps which we use to decorate every Chinese New Year," Wang told Xinhua.

"I think all the things they have prepared for the Chinese New Year are great. We can not only take pictures for our memories, but more importantly, they give us the feeling of being at home, and feeling of the Spring Festival," she said.

That's exactly what Gina Fitzpatrick, senior sales manager at 360 Chicago intended to do.

"We will be seeing more Chinese around Chicago," she said. "It's important for us to keep up and make sure we are properly welcoming the Chinese guests."

Tony Hu, a celebrity chef and president of Tony Gourmet Group in Chicago, has been in Chicago for more than 20 years. He told Xinhua that Chicago has been increasingly immersed in the Chinese New Year celebrations in recent years.

He contributed this to the efforts of the city government of Chicago as well as the efforts of local residents.

More than 300 Chinese tourists in Chicago attended a welcoming banquet hosted at Tony's restaurant Tuesday by Choose Chicago, which is the official sales and marketing organization responsible for promoting Chicago as a global visitor destination.

At the banquet, Choose Chicago President and CEO Don Welsh extended his warm welcome, saying "we have a goal in Chicago to become the number one city in the United States in terms of attracting business from China."

He expressed the hope that after experiencing Chicago, Chinese tourists will see that it is a very welcoming city.

Chinese tourists to Chicago have kept increasing in recent years. Choose Chicago data showed that Chinese tourists to Chicago reached 128,000 in 2013, making China the largest source of foreign tourists in Chicago in the year. Endi