China The New consumerist culture Allan McDonnell Drexel University HNRS 450, Professor Knowles Arrival The Malls Yu Yuan Gardens Yu Yuan Expo Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 5
A Arrival Upon arrival in China, we did not quite know what to expect. My thought of China conjured images of traditional Chinese houses, beautiful mountains, and wide calm rivers. This view was thrown from my mind the moment we left the gigantic modern Shanghai airport. Suddenly, we were speeding from the airport toward the city center on huge highways with Englishtranslated signs, Chinese McMansions, and eventually high-rise apartments as far as the eye could see. The huge houses seemed out of place and many of them were still being built. Who lives here? I wondered. Why such disparity of housing in a Communist country? It was then that I realized that this is the image of New China, the first symbol of capitalist systems slowly making their way into China s economy, creating new classes based not on political power or family ties, but on fundamental economic success. B 2 C
B The Malls D One of our first experiences of Shanghai was at the malls. The mall we saw through the windows of our bus had all the familiar brands: Sephora, H&M, Espirit. We saw hundreds of well-dressed young Chinese coming and going from the mall on foot or in luxury Audi and Mercedes. Our first in-person mall experience was one which made even the most upscale American malls look infantile. A sleek white building with countless floors and a huge glass doom, housed the designer names that we, as college students, could not afford ourselves: Prada, Chloe, Armani, Burberry. This mall was connected through vast tunnels with other malls just like it, all placed in what appeared to have been office buildings, a small city of shopping. Every store was packed with customers eager to indulge themselves in the brand image, the manikins and posters throughout the mall all featuring distinctly white European or American models. Where were the Chinese stores? I wondered. Certainly not here; the stores in the mall sold more than just Western products, but they were selling the ideals of Western life. Last but not least, we found a Wal-Mart Supercenter. 3
Yu Yuan Gardens As we visited Yu Yan Gardens in the old part of Shanghai, my original image of China was resurrected. The gardens made me feel like finally we were seeing traditional China, old buildings with sloped roofs, ponds filled with koi and beautiful rock formations. For a few hours while wandering the gardens, it was easy to forget the pressing feel of consumerism. Once again I was brought back to reality when I came across a worker blasting Lady Gaga music in one of the oldest temples on site. Soon afterward we were outside the gardens, and it was impossible not to notice the stark contrast of Starbucks and Dairy Queen logos pointing out of ornamental Tang-dynasty designed buildings. The shopping in the area was certainly less upscale than the malls, but the hysteria of shopping was still apparent. Yu Yuan Gardens is the center of the Old City of Shanghai. First established in 1559 as a private garden for the family of a highranking official, the 5-acre garden is now one of the most popular tourist destinations in Shanghai, with hundreds of small shops nearby. A C 4
Expo As the prime focus of our trip, we spent much of our time in China at Expo. In some ways, Expo was the greatest example of the consumerist culture s rise in China. Hundreds of countries and companies touting their tourism industry and commercial products alike to the Chinese consumer, all loosely hidden under a veil of the Better City, Better Life theme. In the USA pavilion, the treasures of our country were represented by the wall of corporate dominance- Microsoft, AT&T, Disney- companies all expanding their global reach and penetrating the Chinese market. The Joint Africa pavilion featured a shopping area, more organized and popular than the individual country pavilions themselves. In France, Louis Vuitton was the capstone of the pavilion, complete with a woman holding one of the precious purses while dancing. Strategically placed after the show was the gift shop, with all the designer French brands inside and a line to get in. Was consumerism the theme the world wanted to portray to China at Expo, or the only theme the Chinese really wanted? 5
Shanghai as China? Our image of China as a whole has been one shaped decisively by that of Shanghai. As Shanghai is one of the most modern cities in the world, and one of China s extremes, it certainly does not represent the entirety of China. It does, however, reflect the country s astounding growth and ever-increasing productivity and accumulation of wealth. However, for consumerism to be successful, the economy must be supported by the entrepreneurial spirit and hard-work of the country s base, the construction laborers, the flower and fruit salesmen, the shop-owners. For these people, consumerism can mean either opportunity or repression. The consumerism reflected in Shanghai is a window into this cultural tension and economic transition China is experiencing. I can t help but wonder if all Chinese cities will one day mirror that of Shanghai, or if the rapid change will leave China struggling to keep up, an expanding bubble of consumerism waiting to burst.