> Have to make one last last comment: you > X-posted this to soc.culture.china. Well. I have to say that I'm now > not as amazed to see how many overseas (former) Chinese see China in > such romantic light from a distance now matter how crappy the country > is. Blood is thicker than water. That put China on par with Europe. Just as crappy. Blood is thicker than water, indeed.

On Jan 23, 12:23 am, pg <pen...@catholic.org> wrote: > > Have to make one last last comment: you > > X-posted this to soc.culture.china. Well. I have to say that I'm now > > not as amazed to see how many overseas (former) Chinese see China in > > such romantic light from a distance now matter how crappy the country > > is. Blood is thicker than water. > > That put China on par with Europe. Just as crappy. > > Blood is thicker than water, indeed. I think by mentioning China and Europe in the same breath is really an ignominious insult to Europe, even East Europe!! For many East European countries that we think are poor (e.g. Russia, Poland, Hungary etc.) are actually much richer than China in terms of per capita PPP. And much more educated too. I should not, parenthetically, that this halo effect, this European aura, permeates every day life in China and I think it reveals about a people's cultural zeitgeist. See this excerpt from a very readable book called "The Cult of The Luxury Brand": Quote: "One brand manager explained: the perception is how can the Chinese worker, who was a peasant yesterday, make a fine luxury product? It is not even conceivable. The French worker is better than the Chinese one in the mind of the Chinese consumer." * * * * * "Why Do Chinese Love Western Brands?" As with most other things in China, there is a paradox to unscramble. On the one hand there is immense pride in being Chinese and jubilation that China is finally taking its rightful place in the center of the universe; on the other, there is an obvious admiration of Western objects. The market for imported goods wouldn't be growing at this dramatic pace but for an immense hankering of Western brands. As we saw, ask the nation's richest men to name their favorite brands and you get a list of Western makes. Ask teenagers to name their coolest brands and there is not a single mention of a Chinese company in the top 10. The reason? In a country where projecting status as a central theme, Western luxury brands do it best. To an extent this is a theoretical discussion as there are hardly any local luxury brands, but even if they were, it's unlikely the Chinese consumer would go for them with the same gusto. It's the Westernness of luxury brands - and the ideals of prestige and worlds best they represent- that is central to their appeal. Perhaps the most extreme example of the lure of Westernness comes from the growing popularity of Western wedding gowns all over China. In a delightful study of Chinese Muslim bride in Xi'an, anthropologist Maris Gillette found that these young women abandon traditional conservative rules of propriety in dress and risk angering their elders, but still they go ahead and don body hugging, low-cut western wedding gowns. These gowns stand for modernity, sophistication, and affluence and allow these brides to announce to the world that's what they represent themselves. For that day at least, they're participating in the international fashion world." We asked Gu Ming why the Chinese addition of Elle consistently chooses to use Western models on its cover rather than local ones. Her view confirms what the Xi'an brides so graphically demonstrate: Western brands say "I'm up to date, young, and cool"and that's what counts. With China becoming the manufacturing base for just about everything in the world, including some Western luxury brands, pointed situations arise. Will the Chinese consumer buy Western luxe that is made in China? The answer is no, at least for now. Pierre Cardin, the master licensor and pioneer in China, make waves in the early 1980s as a luxury brand, but when people discovered he had a factory in China they said no thank you, this is for "countryside people". One brand manager explained: the perception is how can the Chinese worker, who was a peasant yesterday, make a fine luxury product? It is not even conceivable. The French worker is better than the Chinese one in the mind of the Chinese consumer. The classic country of origin effect at work. In one of the sweet ironies of life, managers of European brands in China are specifying that only product made in Italy or France be shipped to them, even if the brand also has a production facility in the middle Kingdom. (!) A strange tug of war takes place in the mind of Chinese consumers. At one level there is an acknowledgment that Western is more desirable and there is a rush to adopt its culture-whether it's nightclubs blaring Western pop, or the Western styles of clothing, or the trendy cafes, bars, and restaurants that the cool crowd collects at-and it certainly helps your image to have a Caucasian boyfriend dangling on your arm while you clutch your Chanel purse. At another level, the thinking goes, "if I buy you, then I'm superior." If a lovely French saleswoman plying the French brand is showering you with sweet attention, then who's boss? In fact one store manager we talked to brings out her beautiful female European assistant every time the male Chinese customer walks in, and apparently the ploy is extremely effective. Chinese men, it seems, are fond of more than Western brands."