Chinese consumers have different tastes from those of Westerners, which is why some fragrances popular in the West have weak sales in China, said Zhao Peng, a perfume consultant with ADE China Co Ltd, a distributor of some foreign perfume brands, including Bvlgari, Hugo Boss and Davidoff.

"Westerners like strong perfumes," Zhao said.

Eastern fragrances from India or Nepal are also among their favorites, because the strong exotic scents can mask their body odor caused by their dietary habits, Zhao said.

Chinese consumers prefer light, flowery fragrances, which conforms with Chinese emotional reserve, he said. Cologne, for instance, which contains less perfume, is acceptable to many male professionals in China.

Coty Inc, the world's largest fragrance manufacturer by turnover and the owner of Davidoff, Chole and Calvin Klein, launched Cool Water, the flagship product of Davidoff, as soon as it entered China in 2000. That product is still one of the best sellers in the market because of its fresh fragrance.

When Prada launched its perfume in Asia, most consumers did not accept its strong fragrance. The Italian luxury brand substituted Prada Tender - a softer perfume.

Kenzo Perfume, which belongs to LVMH Group, also plans to design a fragrance especially for Chinese tastes.

"There are still very few fragrances designed specially for the Chinese because of the high cost of research," Zhao said. "Companies can't recover their costs from China's small market."

But Devouge said China is definitely a high potential market for fragrances.

The younger generation, which has more contact with the Western lifestyle than their parents' generation does, is the main buyer of fragrances in China.

"Fragrance buyers in China have obvious characteristics," said Zhao Peng, "They are younger than in other countries."

Zhao said young people think perfume can improve their quality of life and it is a mark of courtesy to others.

Fragrances are a kind of gift rather than daily necessity, said Zhao Shicheng, chief executive officer of Shangpin.com, a luxury online retailer in Beijing.

Zhao said the high season for perfume starts in the summer and lasts to Valentine's Day in February "because the second half of the year has various holidays, such as Christmas and New Year". Sales typically decline from March.

Shangpin.com, which markets more than 100 perfume brands, including Burberry, Gucci and Channel, sold about 2,000 bottles of perfume in June and July, Zhao said.

Perfume sales reach a summer peak around Aug 6, Chinese Valentine's Day.

"Our turnover soared by 40 percent in the days leading up to the Chinese Valentine's Day," said Zhang Ting, a perfume saleswoman at the Beijing Modern Plaza.

Zhang said most of her customers were buying perfume for their girlfriends or wives and one young man bought three bottles because he was not certain which one his girlfriend would like.