China: 21st Century Cultural Changes

China: 21st Century Cultural Changes Once upon a time, China was seen as a poor nation, the source of manufactured goods for the world. However, China's expanding middle class is changing its world image. More Chinese citizens can afford cars, consumer goods, and also to aspire to a new life far different from that of their parents: "For China's emerging middle class, this is an age of aspiration -- but also a time of anxiety.

Opportunities have multiplied, but each one brings pressure to take part and not lose out, and every acquisition seems to come ready-wrapped in disappointment that it isn't something newer and better. An apartment that was renovated a few years ago looks dated; a mobile phone without a video camera and color screen is an embarrassment. Classes in colloquial English are fashionable among Shanghai schoolchildren, but everything costs money" (Chang 2008:1).

While poverty still exists, particularly in rural areas, the appetite for what is new and foreign has been sharpened, particularly in urban areas. Currently, China's middle class is said to number between 100 million and 150 million people, with a household income of at least $10,000. More and more middle class families have their own (rather than shared) apartments, their own cars (where once they might have walked or ridden a bike), eat fast food with American brand names splattered upon them, and wear foreign clothes.

Although the wealth has not 'trickled down' to all Chinese, "in 2007, China had the second largest number of billionaires in the world, behind the U.S., where the number of Chinese billionaires totaled at 108, rising about tenfold from the previous year. Meanwhile, there were about 300,000 Chinese millionaires in 2007" (The Chinese consumer, 2011, China Knowledge). Consumer spending has surged amongst the new rich and also the new middle class. Speculation in the domestic property and shares market, continues to fuel the expansion of wealth (The Chinese consumer, 2011, China Knowledge).

This culture of aspiration is both intensely Chinese and intensely American. For example, the child of one middle-class Chinese couple's favorite foods is Pizza Hut and KFC -- yet she is also subjected to hours of tutoring a day, to ensure she receives entry to a competitive middle school, which is deemed critical in ascending the economic ladder. These fears are not entirely unfounded, given that only 10% of the Chinese population will attend college, versus 64% of the U.S., and openings are scarce.

Thanks to China's one child policy, the pressure is on Chinese 'only children' to succeed (Chang 2008:1). Chinese teens today are more wiling to sexually experiment, to talk frankly about homosexuality, to challenge their elders than the previous generation. Many parents, while they once might have proudly exercised authority over their children, are now reticent to do so because they believe their knowledge has sank into obsolescence: "Fathers used to give orders, but now fathers listen to their sons" (Chang 2008:3).

Consumerism and the desire for quality is particularly acute amongst the 18-29-year-old demographic who are more willing to buy Western-branded goods, even when they are more expensive (The Chinese consumer, 2011, China Knowledge). Parents are aware that the competitive economy combined with the pressure to succeed means they must push their children. Schools and teachers are also under tremendous pressure to perform. "Some schools link teacher pay to student test performance, and the pressure on teachers is intense" (Chang 2008:5).

However, despite the economic gains of recent years, there is also a profound sense that something has been lost of China's native culture. One recent editorial in the Chinese Communist Party's official newspaper stated that Chinese cultural development "lagged behind rising diplomatic and economic clout, reducing China's overall influence and exposing it to foreign dominance" (Boden 2011). The Party stated its desire to build up China's organic culture, rather than importing it from the West, which risks the possible tainting of the populace with western ideas.

"It decried that Walt Disney Co.'s Mulan appropriated a Chinese legend that proved popular at the box office," and stated "a country that can only export television sets but not its ideas will never become a great power" (Boden 2011). However, Chinese fascination with popular Western culture, despite government censorship, is still evident, in consumer's media consumption habits. The appetite for Western products continues unabated, despite the tisk-tisking of the party leadership.

A "culture of corporate gift-giving for the purpose of building guanxi" has resulted in a brisk Chinese business for companies like Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Ferragamo and the former GM brand Hummer (The Chinese consumer, 2011, China Knowledge). If growth continues, China will become largest luxury market in the world in 2015. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Wal-Mart is also doing a brisk business (The Chinese consumer, 2011, China Knowledge). But consumerism.