A Cuban cigar maker and her cigars at Ligero Pipe & Cigar House. [Photo by Jiang Dong/China Daily]

Before 2012, the number of cigars allowed to be imported was 800,000 - a quota that changed to 1.3 million in 2013.

Chen, the cigar salesman, says many rich Chinese turn to cigars because they believe they are heathier than cigarettes, though health experts have different views on that.

He adds that cigars have become more popular as gifts in China as the country's large-scale anti-corruption campaigns have greatly squeezed the market for expensive wines and watches. A very fine cigar is not as expensive as more traditional luxury gifts, Chen says.

The potential cigar market has stimulated Chinese cigar producers, too. South China's Hainan province has introduced Cuban tobaccos to one of its counties. The 200-hectare tobacco planting base in Danzhou, for example, generated revenue of 74.84 million yuan ($12.07 million) in 2013.

However, Peter Tang, who has smoked Cuban cigars for 30 years, says he doesn't buy any cigars produced in China.

"We can plant tobaccos, but we can't produce the cigar culture like Cuba has spread across the world," he says.