www射-国产免费一级-欧美福利-亚洲成人福利-成人一区在线观看-亚州成人

USEUROPEAFRICAASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
Lifestyle
Home / Lifestyle / News

Why the cash is always greener on the other side

By Dinah Chong Watkins | China Daily | Updated: 2012-03-20 10:34

Why the cash is always greener on the other side

The bus jerked along the dirt path and shuddered to a stop. It was dusk, and I could barely make out what looked like a small barn.

I was first off the bus. The owner of the farm waded through the muck toward me smiling, showing off half a set of blackened and gnarly teeth. He waved to his children to take care of our luggage.

There I was, just a couple of years after the "cultural revolution" (1966-76) in the middle of a pig farm with a group of other Chinese-Canadian on a three week tour in China.

For the most part, the adults were immigrants themselves and not completely shell-shocked at the conditions. Their children, on the other hand, were Canadian-born teenagers constantly whining about the lack of McDonald's, pizza and the unbearable nastiness of squat toilets.

It turned out our hotel reservations were bumped by an incoming foreign experts group, and, being "compatriots", they thought the pigpen inn would be acceptable to us. It didn't take long for the screaming to begin.

Let me shorten the story by saying I was the leader of the tour.

I was 17. I hid on the bus.

Today, that farmer is probably sporting thousand-dollar titanium implants in his mouth, driving a Porsche SUV and visiting his grandchildren in Monterey Park, California, thanks to the toy, shoe or plastics factory he traded up to.

There are more than 1 million US$ millionaires worth more than 10 million yuan ($1.58 million), 60,000 multimillionaires worth more than 100 million yuan and more than 200 US$ billionaires in China.

Foreign citizenship for this wealthy class is not, however, a must-have item in their portfolio.

It's interesting that historically, while the labor and middle classes have sought immigration as a means to improve their lot, the wealthy class of Chinese have decided to stay home.

I don't blame them. In the West, everyone is equal. Rich or poor, you wait like everybody else for the cable installer to arrive at your home anytime within a four-hour window.

Hiring household help is so expensive that learning "how to Swiffer", a DIY mopping system, is one of the top searches on Chinese websites. Drivers are unheard of, unless you're referring to the Callaway's in your golf bag.

Yet, potential emigrants cite their children's education, air quality, food safety and financial security as reasons to emigrate. It's ironic that for the less wealthy, assimilating into a new culture may be easier. In China, the rich, the famous and the powerful are accommodated daily through deferential shows of "face".

In the West, all Chinese are treated the same - like an immigrant. There's no favoritism, no guanxi, no shortcuts to the front of the line.

And then there are the kids. Not only can they expect the teenage rebellion against their heritage, where Chinese is understood but not spoken and chopsticks are delegated to the dustbin, but also interracial marriage is at an all-time high.

In the West, Asian females have a 1 in 3 chance of marrying a non-Asian, although the flip side shows that Asian/White interracial newlyweds had a higher combined annual income than any other pairing, including Asian/Asian, at more than $70,000 per year.

For the uber-wealthy, the tradeoff for a healthier environment and independence may not be enough.

Worldwide tax rates of up to half of their income, a loss of status and the dilution of their cultural heritage may be too dear a price to pay.

Since the '90s, China has presented opportunities for success beyond what other countries can offer.

When I first stepped off that bus, I was more than grateful to my grandfather for immigrating to Canada a century ago.

But when I look at the sophistication and progress in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou today, I wonder where I would be if only he stayed a little longer.

Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 国产亚洲一区在线 | 亚洲成人高清在线 | 国产福利最新手机在线观看 | 欧美videosex性欧美成人 | 久久草在线视频播放 | 深夜爽爽爽gif福利免费 | 欧美一级免费 | 久久一区二区三区不卡 | 一区二区免费看 | 宫女淫春 | 欧美激情精品久久久久久久九九九 | 午夜剧场福利社 | 97精品国产福利一区二区三区 | 91久热| 久久在线影院 | 国产免费一级精品视频 | 久久一本 | 一区二区三区国模大胆 | 欧美a在线视频 | 亚洲高清毛片 | 日本欧美一级二级三级不卡 | 国产福利不卡一区二区三区 | 久久国产精品一国产精品 | 成年大片免费视频播放手机不卡 | 亚洲第一视频在线观看 | 精品久久久久久无码中文字幕 | 国内精品久久久久久野外 | 无遮挡一级毛片私人影院 | 国产精品一区二区免费 | 最近中文在线中文 | 97人摸人人澡人人人超一碰 | 欧美在线视频免费观看 | 亚洲高清视频网站 | 男女扒开双腿猛进入爽爽视频 | 国产区最新 | 国产一二三区在线 | 国产成a人亚洲精v品久久网 | 亚洲国产精品久久久久久网站 | 国产午夜免费视频片夜色 | 香港三级日本三级妇人三级 | 亚洲三级视频 |