Hulme, Alison: The Changing Landscape of China’s Consumerism

Abstract

China is often pictured as a “global factory” or the manufacturing powerhouse of the world. Few truly know that China’s consumerism has undergone rapid changes in the recent decades along with her dynamic economy. Once self-sufficiency of food in this most populous country was a global concern, the now cash-rich Chinese consumers buying luxurious goods all over the globe has become iconic nowadays. “The Changing Landscape of China’s Consumerism,” edited by Dr. Alison Hulme from the University of London, helps to decipher the present-day consumerism in China. There are eight contributors, coming from diverse backgrounds as Sinology, Literature, Chinese History, Comparative Philosophy, Cultural Studies, and Anthropology, adding to the book an inter-disciplinary flavor and fun to read. The book covers a wide range of topics including the mentality of the middle-class in China and the consequences of their consumption behaviors; consumption of fashion in China; shanzhai (fake) products; medical consumption with the developing state medical insurance programs; cultural impact on consumption; the promotion of selflessness in a world of materialism; and advertising. In the first chapter, which discusses the middle-class consumption, the book develops a logic chain where the middle class in China, for fear of being called “upstarts” (the nouveau riche or baofahu), is more concerned with their suzhi, the human quality of character, thus leading to cultural consumptions such as visiting art galleries and museums, travelling culture-rich destinations, reading classic texts etc. To maintain their intergenerational status, the middle-class also spends huge amount of money on their children’s education. The ‘quasi middle-class’ does the same to facilitate their children’s accession to the genuine middle-class. Cultural consumption is an inherent part of the ‘petite bourgeoisie’ lifestyle (xiaozi). Certainly, the middle class does