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Q: Why do Chinese people buy so many luxuries?

Obviously they don't. I'm talking about their supposed elite. The cashed up knuckle draggers. Why do Chinese women want to pay $3000 for a handbag? Wouldn't they lose face knowing that some Italian wanker is making a packet from their herd-like credulity? or is the fact that so many wealthy people in China make their money from exploiting the credulity and vanity of their fellow citizens which blinds them to this?

 

I am a man of just above modest means, all achieved as a result of hard work, but admittedly a little luck too. I would never waste the money I worked hard to earn on such over-rated shite. Is the reason for the large quantities of luxuries purchased by rich Chinese due to the fact that they don't actually have to put in any effort to genuinely earn the money they spend or is their almost universal reverence for expensive (and over-rated) commodities a result of the political indoctrination they receive in school or some other societal factor which doesn't exist among us running dog bourgeois capitalist swine?

9 years 27 weeks ago in  Culture - China

 
Answers (7)
Comments (17)
Posts: 4397

Emperor

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What's the point of being ahead of the rat race if you're not waving a banner to let those behind know they're losing?

xinyuren:

Precisely. Material things are the only means Chinese people have to measure their self worth.  Values have been pitched out the window and they traded their soul away for prosperity.  Now, everything centers around how many shiny things they can accumulate.  

9 years 27 weeks ago
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laowaigentleman:

Easily distracted by bright shiny objects huh? I guess that's why they can only win "peace prizes" which they subsequently have to suppress news of.

9 years 27 weeks ago
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TedDBayer:

It's always killed me and almost litterally that the best way to show off your car is to try and run people over.

9 years 27 weeks ago
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9 years 27 weeks ago
 
Posts: 9631

Emperor

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Gotta show off. Even if you can't afford it, you got to. 

 

All the Audi's ad BMWs are financed, don't believe that all just go out and buy half a million RMB worth of German automotive engineering. A few do, but a lot finance. 

laowaigentleman:

Is this small penis syndrome at play?

9 years 27 weeks ago
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Scandinavian:

probably

9 years 27 weeks ago
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Robk:

Yeah it is... then all the people who don't have them assume the Chinese that do are rich. When actually, they are probably in the same boat with just more debt. 

 

The younger generation of Chinese don't know shit about making money now and are too lazy. So their parents give them a wad of cash... they blow it all and can not sustain their lifestyles. They try to keep up appearances at all costs, money doesn't cure stupidity.

9 years 27 weeks ago
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laowaigentleman:

@scand I try to ask innocent question like how much is the minimum deposit to buy a car? The response tends to be, what do you mean. Then I ask how much you have to pay each month. Most regular Chinese people act as though they don't know what I'm talking about. I tell them this is normal everywhere. Many of them seem to think that people in ferraris have actually paid cash for such a commodity, and a lot of these people who believe this are not only university educated, but are now university teachers.

 

It isn't possible to get loans for these kinds of purchases from a bank. The banks here are designed to finance massive state projects. Do you think they're being financed by the infamous loan sharks who can charge between 40 and 75% per annum?

9 years 27 weeks ago
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Scandinavian:

It is possible to get bank loans for a car, if you own property, there are probably some requirements for how much debt is in the place etc. 

When our car was bought, the dealer suggested they financed it, so we didn't have to put all the money down right away. This was when I said "I am sure the guy is making a commission on the loan" and based on his face expression he probably does know some English, he certainly didn't when the foreigner asked crazy questions about airbags. I think it was 10% down, and then monthly payments over 4 or 5 years. Didn't pay attention to it as the car was bought using an array of UnionPay cards (as we also learned that day that UnionPay cards cannot always handle big amounts in one day) 

 

I think it is possible to scuffle property between people without shuffling the debt. E.g. person A buys an apartment, but to get around the taxation on owning multiple properties, person B gets his name on the documents. Person B is then the owner of a property without being in debt. Not sure exactly how this is done, but the name on the papers doesn't have to be a person who is actually able to pay a mortgage. 

9 years 27 weeks ago
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Scandinavian:

This is a screengrab from 

 

http://www.bmw.com.cn/cn/zh/insights/corporation/financial_service/bestoffers/offer2.html

 

That is pretty high down payment. I am guessing it is also possible to get financing with lower down payment, but much much longer running time. 

 

 


9 years 27 weeks ago
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Burak43:

WHY do they buy long wheelbase 3-series BMW's? Why China? Fucking hell WHY? That's the most pointless car in existence, yes even more pointless than the Murano Convertible and the BMW 3/5 Series GT. Fuck.

9 years 27 weeks ago
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9 years 27 weeks ago
 
Posts: 1845

Shifu

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It is because Chinese parents won't let a Chinese man marry their daughter until he has put himself in massive debt buying their daughter.

laowaigentleman:

Why doesn't he just rent a house, play video games all day and shag whores in protest?

9 years 27 weeks ago
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Lord_hanson:

They usually do the last two.

9 years 27 weeks ago
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Mateusz:

In China, a man's worth as a human is measured by his bank account.

9 years 27 weeks ago
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laowaigentleman:

@mat, no by his debt though. If I had a daughter, the last kind of man I'd want her to marry is some wanker who feels the need to flaunt his money so badly that he'll put his family in penury.

9 years 27 weeks ago
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9 years 27 weeks ago
 
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Emperor

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Because there's nothing else.

The whole place is just a void of nothingness and if I had the means I'd rescue all the good ones I've met.

To paraphrase the general in Saving Private Ryan, I'd "get them the hell out of here".

 

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9 years 27 weeks ago
 
Posts: 1098

Shifu

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Chinese value face and conspicuous consumption over actually enjoying their lives. They will gladly drive around in a nice car and take family and friends out a couple of times a year for expensive meals in order to give off the appearance of prosperity. Meanwhile when nobody is looking they will be eating rice and veggies at home and pinching every penny. Why do they take pictures of their food and put them on wechat every time they go somewhere nice? A nice dinner would be wasted if all of their wechat friends didn't know about it. That is the Chinese attitude so buying luxury goods that can be shown off (hand bags, cars, shoes, watches) is everything. Once I tried to introduce German beer to one of my wife's uncles and was criticized for buying such expensive beer for a regular family dinner at home (it wasn't THAT expensive) . He said I should only buy it I am trying to show off for someone and get face. The moron couldn't understand that I bought the German beer because I wanted to enjoy the taste of good beer and share it with others who were not used to such a treat. NOT to impress anyone. Most Chinese I've met have no idea how to enjoy their lives - they only know how to show off and try to make others jealous of their material possessions. 

 

And obviously there are a lot of really rich Chinese who buy luxury goods because luxury goods are nice and they can afford them..... but that's true of rich people anywhere 

andy74rc:


Sure, when you have absolutely nothing interesting to say or no any good point to make, just cut it showing off the last bit of bling you got.....

 

 

9 years 27 weeks ago
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laowaigentleman:

@dong I met a politics student who spoke excellent English in my city. We had a good conversation and she eventually asked me what I found the strangest about China. I told her that I couldn't understand why the local government thought it was wise to build a mall filled with commodities which no-one could afford. Things like gucci, prada etc. Her response (which sounded a lot like she was giving the party line) was that on certain public holidays, Chinese people liked to buy these as gifts and they would give them to friends and family and this would enrich their lives.

 

I cross examined her by asking why they didn't just purchase them online as the cost of maintaining a mall filled with commodities which no-one bought on most days was a massive drain on local government resources. I live near a village which floods every second week and there isn't adequate drainage, so after a deluge half of the town reeks and people's trousers and shoes get covered in mud.

 

Furthermore. The average GDP per capita in China is $7000us, so if people have about 3000 yuan per month to spend BEFORE they pay their rent, pay their power and gas bill and buy groceries, how likely is it that such a venture could ever be profitable. I saw a new chanel store being opened so I got a sight of the people who decided it was a good idea to invest money in such an outlet in such a location. Empty (and extremely expensive) suits. Complete chinless wonders. They won't be rich for very long. It must be a classic case of privatize the gains and nationalize the losses.

 

How long can China keep absorbing so many losses before it goes ping?

9 years 27 weeks ago
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coineineagh:

Don't be too harsh on them. It's a survival skill. If you don't show off, you are seen as weak and picked on. You *don't* want to be a target in a corrupt country with poor law enforcement.

9 years 26 weeks ago
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9 years 27 weeks ago
 
Posts: 4495

Emperor

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'kid in a candy store' syndrome?

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9 years 27 weeks ago
 
Posts: 544

Shifu

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China is a very hierarchical, class based, society. "Where you are" on the ladder is very important here, and your status is all relative. You're not "higher" unless there are a lot of people "lower", and having a lot of conspicuously expensive toys shows your place relative to others. A Nike logo, or LV logo, displayed on clothing, tells the (Chinese) world your status.

 

Getting ripped off isn't a big concern, since the quality of the goods don't factor into it nearly as much as the perception. As long as the society at large says, "Logo X makes you important", then they desperately want Logo X on their clothes. I've often seen Chinese people with Apple laptops running Windows, with users not knowing how to run Mac OS. Why buy a Mac if you're not even going to use Mac OS? Status. The Apple logo is to show off. 

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9 years 27 weeks ago
 
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