The Cup of Everlasting Returns

I had come to Hong Kong to see whether the Legend of the Carruades was true. In Irish folklore, there are wish-granting leprechauns with pots of gold at the end of the rainbow. Across the sea, in the bars of Bond Street, London, British merchants spoke of beings from a faraway land who could turn mediocre wines into 150% annual return investment vehicles. I wasn't sure I believed in leprechauns, but I had little doubt that Chinese people actually existed. The question was whether their brand-driven consumption demand really sustained the market prices, or whether something else was actually going on.