Home » Opinion » Chinese Views
Overseas shopping surges, but you can’t buy fulfillment in a Japanese pharmacy
Print Edition
THE Spring Festival might have been a quiet one in Shanghai thanks to a ban on fireworks, but this didn’t stop some Chinese people from making noise overseas with their aggressive shopping habits.
In a front page tribute to their amazing consumption power, the Oriental Morning Post reported on February 17 that six million Chinese tourists shelled out over 90 billion yuan (US$14 billion) overseas during the holiday period.
While many returning holiday-makers were still burdened with Japanese toilet seats and rice cookers, some bold trend-setters have already diversified into new arenas: Okamoto condoms, Merries diapers, Kao’s sanitary pads, Suwada nail scissors, Thermos bottles, South Korean instant noodles, Philips electronic toothbrushes, Laduree keychains and Lamy pens, to name just a few. Japanese cold medicines were also in high demand, including Ryukakusan cough drops.
For readers who did not have the privilege of taking part in the spree themselves, here are some illustrative quotes from the above-mentioned Oriental Morning Post:
“The duty-free shop (in South Korea) is packed with Chinese, as if they no longer need to pay for their purchases.”
“(In a Japanese store) many Chinese visitors are in a mad scramble to get at cosmetics and chocolates.”
“(In a duty-free shop in Hawaii) the crowds and long queues remind you of a mainland railway station just before the Spring Festival.”
Shopping as a mass movement
Although the Chinese as a whole are far from well off, some spend so much abroad that they are sometimes referred to as “walking wallets.”
In a bid to woo more Chinese customers, visa application procedures are being eased in many countries, Mandarin-speaking shopping assistants are in high demand, and Unionpay terminals are being installed in major tourist destinations.
Xinmin Evening News reported on February 16 that in Australia some unscrupulous shop owners falsely styled their shops as “duty-free” to cash in on the surge in Chinese shoppers. Ironically, these owners are mostly Chinese themselves. By comparison, shopping at home is a bit lackluster these days as many potential shoppers are spending the holiday at home.
But it is unfair to suggest this material quest as a mass movement detracts from our spiritual enrichment.
Consumption doesn’t always mean loading up on consumer products.
It was also reported over the holiday that at Huangshan Mountain, a popular tourists destination in Anhui Province, visitors had to wait up to six hours just to get onto a cable car.
A temple in Kunming, Yunnan Province, has introduced a value-added service “to redeem the souls of the deceased.” And for an extra 500 yuan, the temple promises to effect the reincarnation of the deceased in the United States — a bargain compared to more earthly methods of obtaining American citizenship.
Not all see consumption as liberating. While commenting on this new phenomenon of observing the Spring Festival in Japanese stores, the well-known author Jiang Zilong observed in Xinmin Evening News on February 15 that drugs are meant for the sick.
“If you are ill, you should buy drugs with a doctor’s prescription. If you are well, are you not inviting disease by stockpiling drugs?” reflected Jiang with regard to Chinese spending at Japanese pharmacies over the holiday.
But Jiang is perhaps a bit superstitious. I am more concerned that these overseas splurges will help little in curing the malaise already afflicting a sizable portion of our compatriots: spiritual impoverishment. To put it simply, this disease is a superstitious faith in all things foreign.
Recently three Chinese students have been imprisoned in California for attacking their classmates. Both the attackers and the victims are among thousands of “parachute kids,” who travel to the US to study while their families remain in China. These families willingly stake their wealth for an overseas education or an overseas property. Overseas property is so sought after that in some countries curbs have been introduced to stabilize prices.
All this suggests a lack of confidence in one’s indigenous culture, and is damaging to China’s future. Of course, I am not criticizing overseas travel. Managed properly, overseas exposure can be educating.
For instance, instead of ransacking Japanese shops for condoms and toiletries, it would do many Chinese good to observe how Japanese motorists give the right of way to pedestrians and refrain from unnecessary honking, how they avoid making noises in public, and will go out of their way to help a stranger.
To sum up, a rising nation should learn how to express their aspiration in ways other than conspicuous consumption.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
