6 ms·

The Bling Dynasty – The Nouveau Riche in China

48 points by tomsun 12y ago

rafaelm 12y ago
I find this subject of all the new rich in China very interesting. Is there any book or documentary that explains this phenomenon? I don't understand how this happened in China.
- unimportant 12y ago
  A country with more than a billion people that is rich in resources and changing from communism to capitalism is bound to produce a number of extremely wealthy people in a short time, especially since chinese people are very entrepreneurial minded.
- Hates_ 12y ago
  The One Hour China Book gives a very brief insight into the mega trends that caused the massive growth there http://www.amazon.com/One-Hour-China-Book-University/dp/0991445023/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420502835&sr=8-1&keywords=one+hour+china+book http://www.amazon.com/One-Hour-China-Book-University/dp/0991...
- cylinder 12y ago
  Red Obsession on Netflix
manticore_alpha 12y ago
Money doesn't buy taste, clearly.
- jonathantm 12y ago
  ... ugh...
- serve_yay 12y ago
  Maybe not, but money does dictate what "taste" means.
  - boracay 12y ago
    Not really. "Luxury" though.
    - seanmcdirmid 12y ago
      Or taking trips to Boracay during Chinese new years.
- angkec 12y ago
  It will for the second and third generation.
- team8 12y ago
  What is taste?
- theorique 12y ago
  It does, however, buy swag.
rahimnathwani 12y ago
One of my favourite slang phrases in Chinese is 土豪, for which the closest English equivalent I can find is nouveau riche. Gold-coloured consumer products (e.g. champagne-coloured iPhone) are described as 土豪金 (金=gold）。On Taobao, this will often appear alongside other colour choices (white, black, silver) described in more plain language.
- xster 12y ago
  It's a rather diminutive term for the newly rich. The tone is almost like dirt barons.
  - bobbles 12y ago
    So the same way that 'new money' is used to describe newly rich people? (as in "look at his car, you can tell he's 'new money")
    - ky3 12y ago
      If you plug in the chinese into google translate, it comes up as "Tyrant." The zh wikipedia has an entry, a real hoot under machine translation.
    - mimighost 12y ago
      Actually a little different. In chinese, the term "tu hao" can be also used with a humorous context, not entirely critical.
FLUX-YOU 12y ago
>There are also 60,000 Chinese people worth at least $200 million—another line of demarcation between being wealthy and being a photon cannon of currency. Jesus christ, spend your minerals and gas.
- cylinder 12y ago
  That's $12 trillion dollars. 71% of USA GDP. Although I imagine much of that is tied up in speculative real estate which is on its way down in value.
  - lawnchair_larry 12y ago
    As long as China continues producing more rich people, it isn't going down in value any time soon. It has no mortgage, and is completely detached from the American market.
    - seanmcdirmid 12y ago
      Until China introduces a property tax to get all that unused property [1] in use working for the economy. And a lot of people have borrowed from banks, family, and loan sharks to speculate in real estate; the landing won't be as soft as the wumao want you to believe. [1] 3-40% of all apartments in Beijing aren't even renovated, and that is supposed to be a first tier hot market.
      - unimportant 12y ago
        Too much of the economy relies on the already shaky real estatemarket for this to happen in the near future imo. A sales tax on third properties and beyond was introduced in Shanghai to curb speculation and couples simply divorced or used straw men to avoid having to pay it.
        seanmcdirmid 12y ago
        The straight up property tax (per property, no exceptions) will be added at some point. Municipalities can't make so much money by selling land anymore, and the central government doesn't kick back enough tax revenue. Not only that, but they have committed to eventually providing social services to migrants, like you know, schooling for their kids. That has to be paid for someway. But they will definitely hold off for now, a property tax would cause huge devaluations in property prices inflated by the lack of one. But if we get a crash anyways, it will be easy just to add it at the bottom. The question is what is next, with transaction reaching a very low bottom to keep prices from falling, we seem to be in for a long bout of stagnation which will drag down the larger economy even more than if a crash would just happen and we could be over with it.
throwaway9889 12y ago
The newly wealthy are pretty fascinating. The closest i can think of in the US that would relate to them are professional athletes. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-arcadia-immigration-architecture-20140511-story.html#page=1 http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-arcadia-i... I would suspect in the near future (5-10) years there will be lots of "Antoine Walker" stories coming out of china. The one way to easily go through all your money and have nothing to show for it is to live like a rockstar in the US.
- mc32 12y ago
  Perhaps, but the Chinese attitude towards money tends to be different [and deeply ingrained over centuries], I think. Broadly speaking, they tend to invest and save --yes, they might invest and save in lousy deals, but the intent is to make money work rather than outright squander it as some movie or athletic stars in the US might. But, who knows, maybe the mindset will breakdown and they will squander it --ie lose it all in places like Macau. Now, for sure, some will go Moscow-nuveau rich style and and waste a lot in gaudy and flashy items but I just think a lower percentage will end up destitute (as say, some lottery winners in NAm might)
  - rasz_pl 12y ago
    seems they are mostly investing in ghost cities property, that will work really well
    - mc32 12y ago
      Right, but what else can they reasonably 'invest' in? Do they have other options? I suppose they can 'sit' on their money. They need to park their money somewhere. People who make money typically didn't make it by idling whatever they started with.
    - abandonliberty 12y ago
      They don't trust their currency, so aim to convert it into anything else they can.
unimportant 12y ago
Wealth is a funny thing in China, because it hardly buys you a real lifestyle, as the author already hinted. I would argue that broke foreign students partying in Shanghai have more fun than local multi millionaires struggling to find stuff to buy and places to go that give them more status and better entertainment than average mid management joe. If you never thought that getting rich as a way to attain happiness was a trap in the west, then going to China will open your eyes...
- kyllo 12y ago
  This is why they all have an exit strategy--buying real estate in and sending their kids to university in the US, Canada, and ANZ.
  - seanmcdirmid 12y ago
    It also helps given that those countries don't have extradition treaties with China, so embezzling money in China, sending it abroad with your kid and wife, and then making a last minute escape before you are caught and executed is a good strategy (see naked officials).
  - unimportant 12y ago
    The real estate and university thing is more of status symbol than a real exit strategy. Most wealthy chinese people would not feel comfortable living outside of China due to a lack of language skills, cultural unfamiliarity and a lack of extended family and friends. Those making the move long term are usually economically motivated and not very old.

48 points by tomsun 12y ago

I find this subject of all the new rich in China very interesting. Is there any book or documentary that explains this phenomenon? I don't understand how this happened in China.

unimportant 12y ago
A country with more than a billion people that is rich in resources and changing from communism to capitalism is bound to produce a number of extremely wealthy people in a short time, especially since chinese people are very entrepreneurial minded.
Hates_ 12y ago
The One Hour China Book gives a very brief insight into the mega trends that caused the massive growth there http://www.amazon.com/One-Hour-China-Book-University/dp/0991445023/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420502835&sr=8-1&keywords=one+hour+china+book http://www.amazon.com/One-Hour-China-Book-University/dp/0991...
cylinder 12y ago
Red Obsession on Netflix

manticore_alpha 12y ago

Money doesn't buy taste, clearly.

jonathantm 12y ago
... ugh...
serve_yay 12y ago
Maybe not, but money does dictate what "taste" means.
- boracay 12y ago
  Not really. "Luxury" though.
  - seanmcdirmid 12y ago
    Or taking trips to Boracay during Chinese new years.
angkec 12y ago
It will for the second and third generation.
team8 12y ago
What is taste?
theorique 12y ago
It does, however, buy swag.

rahimnathwani 12y ago

One of my favourite slang phrases in Chinese is 土豪, for which the closest English equivalent I can find is nouveau riche. Gold-coloured consumer products (e.g. champagne-coloured iPhone) are described as 土豪金 (金=gold）。On Taobao, this will often appear alongside other colour choices (white, black, silver) described in more plain language.

xster 12y ago
It's a rather diminutive term for the newly rich. The tone is almost like dirt barons.
- bobbles 12y ago
  So the same way that 'new money' is used to describe newly rich people? (as in "look at his car, you can tell he's 'new money")
  - ky3 12y ago
    If you plug in the chinese into google translate, it comes up as "Tyrant." The zh wikipedia has an entry, a real hoot under machine translation.
  - mimighost 12y ago
    Actually a little different. In chinese, the term "tu hao" can be also used with a humorous context, not entirely critical.

FLUX-YOU 12y ago

>There are also 60,000 Chinese people worth at least $200 million—another line of demarcation between being wealthy and being a photon cannon of currency. Jesus christ, spend your minerals and gas.

cylinder 12y ago
That's $12 trillion dollars. 71% of USA GDP. Although I imagine much of that is tied up in speculative real estate which is on its way down in value.
- lawnchair_larry 12y ago
  As long as China continues producing more rich people, it isn't going down in value any time soon. It has no mortgage, and is completely detached from the American market.
  - seanmcdirmid 12y ago
    Until China introduces a property tax to get all that unused property [1] in use working for the economy. And a lot of people have borrowed from banks, family, and loan sharks to speculate in real estate; the landing won't be as soft as the wumao want you to believe. [1] 3-40% of all apartments in Beijing aren't even renovated, and that is supposed to be a first tier hot market.
    - unimportant 12y ago
      Too much of the economy relies on the already shaky real estatemarket for this to happen in the near future imo. A sales tax on third properties and beyond was introduced in Shanghai to curb speculation and couples simply divorced or used straw men to avoid having to pay it.
      - seanmcdirmid 12y ago
        The straight up property tax (per property, no exceptions) will be added at some point. Municipalities can't make so much money by selling land anymore, and the central government doesn't kick back enough tax revenue. Not only that, but they have committed to eventually providing social services to migrants, like you know, schooling for their kids. That has to be paid for someway. But they will definitely hold off for now, a property tax would cause huge devaluations in property prices inflated by the lack of one. But if we get a crash anyways, it will be easy just to add it at the bottom. The question is what is next, with transaction reaching a very low bottom to keep prices from falling, we seem to be in for a long bout of stagnation which will drag down the larger economy even more than if a crash would just happen and we could be over with it.

throwaway9889 12y ago

The newly wealthy are pretty fascinating. The closest i can think of in the US that would relate to them are professional athletes. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-arcadia-immigration-architecture-20140511-story.html#page=1 http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-arcadia-i... I would suspect in the near future (5-10) years there will be lots of "Antoine Walker" stories coming out of china. The one way to easily go through all your money and have nothing to show for it is to live like a rockstar in the US.

mc32 12y ago
Perhaps, but the Chinese attitude towards money tends to be different [and deeply ingrained over centuries], I think. Broadly speaking, they tend to invest and save --yes, they might invest and save in lousy deals, but the intent is to make money work rather than outright squander it as some movie or athletic stars in the US might. But, who knows, maybe the mindset will breakdown and they will squander it --ie lose it all in places like Macau. Now, for sure, some will go Moscow-nuveau rich style and and waste a lot in gaudy and flashy items but I just think a lower percentage will end up destitute (as say, some lottery winners in NAm might)
- rasz_pl 12y ago
  seems they are mostly investing in ghost cities property, that will work really well
  - mc32 12y ago
    Right, but what else can they reasonably 'invest' in? Do they have other options? I suppose they can 'sit' on their money. They need to park their money somewhere. People who make money typically didn't make it by idling whatever they started with.
  - abandonliberty 12y ago
    They don't trust their currency, so aim to convert it into anything else they can.

unimportant 12y ago

Wealth is a funny thing in China, because it hardly buys you a real lifestyle, as the author already hinted. I would argue that broke foreign students partying in Shanghai have more fun than local multi millionaires struggling to find stuff to buy and places to go that give them more status and better entertainment than average mid management joe. If you never thought that getting rich as a way to attain happiness was a trap in the west, then going to China will open your eyes...

kyllo 12y ago
This is why they all have an exit strategy--buying real estate in and sending their kids to university in the US, Canada, and ANZ.
- seanmcdirmid 12y ago
  It also helps given that those countries don't have extradition treaties with China, so embezzling money in China, sending it abroad with your kid and wife, and then making a last minute escape before you are caught and executed is a good strategy (see naked officials).
- unimportant 12y ago
  The real estate and university thing is more of status symbol than a real exit strategy. Most wealthy chinese people would not feel comfortable living outside of China due to a lack of language skills, cultural unfamiliarity and a lack of extended family and friends. Those making the move long term are usually economically motivated and not very old.