The Bling Dynasty – The Nouveau Riche in China

[rahimnathwani]

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]

It's a rather diminutive term for the newly rich. The tone is almost like dirt barons.

[unimportant]

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]

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.

[throwaway9889]

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-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]

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)

[rafaelm]

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.

[Hates_]

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/0991...

[unimportant]

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.

[cylinder]

Red Obsession on Netflix

[FLUX-YOU]

>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]

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.

[manticore_alpha]

Money doesn't buy taste, clearly.

[angkec]

It will for the second and third generation.

[theorique]

It does, however, buy swag.

[team8]

What is taste?

[serve_yay]

Maybe not, but money does dictate what "taste" means.

[jonathantm]

... ugh...