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Q: Do nice things for a decent price exist in China?
Yes, one of the most common reasons people like China is the low cost of living. But in order to enjoy that benefit, just how much needs to be given up that would be taken for granted in a developed country? Is it possible to enjoy high quality or god forbid luxury items/services in China without paying up the nose and still being disappointed with the quality?
Case in point: I just spent three days at a "luxury" 4 star western hotel in a popular resort area. The hotel itself was quite nice but the management and staff seemed to do everything possible to screw up our experience there. I was looking forward to spending an evening or two drinking imported beer at the hotel bar that was advertised to have 30+ varieties. Turns out the bar was closed. I was looking forward to enjoying the sauna and steam room by the pool. They "weren't working." Actually the steam room was working just fine and I enjoyed a nice session but some asshole worker there kept shutting it off while I was inside, saying he was afraid I would be electrocuted (I can't make this shit up). Check in took more than an hour and was confusing and disorganized. We wanted to change a shuttle service we had requested from Sunday to Saturday and were told we couldn't be helped. Oh, and because I booked on a foreign website I got to pay a 10% service fee that Chinese people apparently don't have to pay. Oh the irony of paying for this "service".
No, this is not an isolated experience. Is it actually possibly to enjoy luxury and high quality in China? If so, can it be done without paying an astronomical amount of money and still leaving unsatisfied? This experience just reminds me that the cost of living advantage of China is only present if you're willing to sacrifice a lot. Why can't China have nice things or decent service?
i avoid western website to book things..seems more expensive. try looking it up in english then following the same pattern through the website when it is in chinese, using pinyin it works. sometimes its less money to book through the airline websites, sometimes it not. I have booked on Ctrip, a hotel, then a few hours later they contact me and tell me 'no foreigners' allowed!
when i go to a hotel directly to check price i send in my GF to ask the price, then she can look at the room as well. if it is a small hotel she can bargain while i wait outside in the Ferrari...he he just kidding.
I hope you brought your own towels with you, mate...
You mean products that are 物美价廉 ? They're a very very hard find here. Nah, they don't exist.
I always get great service when I take my car to the car shop.
Nah I've thought a lot about this. China necessarily has things that are low-cost to serve the needs of the low-income but those things aren't of high-value.
Yes you can spend $1.50 on lunch, but that lunch costs so little because it's cheap rice and a little veggies cooked in cheap oil. IF Americans both wanted to eat that AND the health codes would permit a restaurant to operate like that I doubt that meal would be much more expensive in the US. On the flip side a "good" lunch like a grilled chicken salad or something costs significantly MORE here.
As for quality, name-brand durable goods, there are a couple factors putting upward pressure on prices. The first is taxes which are higher here and that's what most of the perception of higher costs is, but probably a bigger factor is just consumer demographics and behavior. People have a different perception of what things should cost.
The people who can afford luxury goods (other than cell phones which approach giffen-good status) tend to be very prince insensitive. The vast majority of people are have-nots and so their purchases are mostly just buying whatever is the absolute cheapest; the cheapest jeans that meet their need. The person who can buy Levi's at all isn't going to be put off by the price tag. Likewise if they dropped the pice 20% it's not as though the masses making <3K/mth would suddenly start buying it. Might as well just charge that extra 20%.
Conversly in rich economies where your average consumer has SOME money to burn but who still needs to shop around for a deal you have serious downward pressure on prices. A guy might be willing to spend $1,200 on a new computer, but not $1,500. So if they price it down they'll make up the margin and then some in volume.
In China the prevailing wisdom is the guy who can afford to pay $1,200 can probably afford $1,500. The masses still spending around $400 to get the minimum that is functional.
dongbeiren:
This is a great answer - I'd also add that collectively low expectations can put upward price pressure on anything deemed to be luxurious - the mentality that "hey, everything else sucks but this is kind of nice so it is a highly prized commodity." I also think the face culture plays a part in the extortionate prices - the newly rich will often brag about how much they spent on something, almost creating a situation where a higher price leads to increased demand.
But yes, I agree that if equally inferior goods were available in the West the price wouldn't be much different - probably just a little higher due to the higher labor costs. Very often price comparisons between China and the West are comparing apples to oranges - like oh my rent is so cheap here BUT how about the materials used in constructing the building? How about the intermittent power and water outages? What about the Chinese dry wall that would never pass code back home? How about having to deal with neighbors who dump their trash in the elevator? Yea, lower price and lower quality. If you want to live in a villa with a swimming pool outside a major city in China you'll pay more than you would for a nice suburban house in the USA.
expatlife26:
Right, good point about expectations. In the US I don't think of Levis as being a luxury good. They're just basic jeans, you can get them on sale for <$50. But here you can get genuinely shitty jeans for $20 that won't last a season and don't fit right. So merely by being adequate the Levis look amazing.
I think cars are another good example of that. What's the worst car you can get in the US? A Kia maybe? And Kias are ok cars. Here you have a whole couple tiers below what we think of as being chincy. Can sell a Camry for the price of a 5 Series.
Apples to oranges is a good way to think about it. With apartments definitely. Yes you can rent an apartment in Shanghai for WAY less than in NY. But that apartment is going to be objectively worse. I think again the expectations gap really comes into play here for making westerners feel OK with making very little. It's not like making $12,000/yr in China means you are doing well. You're probably living with many of the trappings of poverty. But you can feel better about it psychologically because you're in the middle not the bottom and people are still impressed.
no nice things..... but I just ordered 762 yuan of groceries to be delivered to my home .... things I can't buy here....little over priced, but it is homely and comforting.
If there's one business where copyright infringement is still rampant, it's hotels.
Don't assume anything a place says they are on the internet is true. Double check the official websites of the real franchises.
I've even seen hotels trying to imply they were from a worldwide renown franchise, but were actually located beside the real thing and using just the right angle in their pictures to confuse people. Just so you can have an idea.
Then on site, the quickest foolproof check is the mojito test.
If lobby bar query for "Mojito" returns "meiyou" then you're in a fake establishment.
No nice things for a decent price in China. Few exceptions in Foreign owned and managed businesses. I think about a Japanese chain named Miniso, cheap stuff like a 10RMB shop but high quality.
Housing is huark! I used to live in a so called luxury residence, newly built, fancy and good location, neighbors are mannerless tuhao who dump their trash around and clear their throat all day long.
Those who live in the South can go to HK or Macau to compensate.
laowaigentleman:
I recently moved from another luxury residence to another. My boss was bragging about how many rich people live in the neighbourhood.
The previous place was a little outside of the city, but now I'm right in the centre, so I'm exposed to a lot more bustle.
Did the residents of your village honk their horns incessantly while they were driving inside of the residence itself? One stupid guy was parked outside my building blasting his horn every five seconds. I yelled out the window for him to shut up and the next day when I was out walking I could hear people saying under their breath that I was the rude guy who yelled out the window.
Will Chinese Caliban ever see his face in the glass? Why I think not...
