“To get rich is glorious.”

Deng Xiaoping’s infamous statement to stimulate economic development. You’d think though that people with little money to spend, wouldn’t care about the latest iProduct or Louis Vuitton bag.

Yet in China even the poor schmuck that can hardly afford to clothe himself properly will probably be walking around with an iPhone and iPad. Now mind you, these luxury products that are already ridiculously expensive in the west (comparable or better hardware than Apple products is EASILY found for less money; just like how you can easily find a good, strong and fashionable bag for less money because it doesn’t have the LV logo on it) retail for the same or even more expensive than in the west, easily 3-5 months wages worth.

This makes no sense since everything is made in China, but it cements their position as luxury products whose biggest value comes from brand recognition instead of actual functionality or quality.

So why then is the poor girl or guy buying into these products that costs them several months of salary? Because of a concept the Chinese have coined as 'face' (mianzi), a term that can be loosely corrolated with 'status'. More than often one of the first questions someone will ask you right after “What is your name?” and “Where are you from?”, is “How much money do you make?”. The Chinese seem to be constantly busy evaluating their position compared to their peers, sizing up a person's worth with the grace of a half-steamed baozi. In what used to be a nation that supposedly practised confucianism (albeit generally in combination with legalism), many are now completely controlled by greed and money.

Do note that I say many, not all. In my travels so far I have met people from both sides. Kind and caring people that don’t care if you’re poor or rich as well as the greedy people that care about nothing but their own status.

China communist? Nah, I'd wager we've been outdone as capitalists.