Even the best dog isn't worth 4 million yuan

• Source: Global Times
• [02:40 September 11 2009]
• Comments

By Wu Meng

Led by two Mitsubishi SUVs, 30 shiny black Mercedes Benzes entered Xi'an Xianyang International Airport in Shaanxi Province Tuesday morning.

The guest they were picking up was not a government minister or a film star, but a pureblood black male Tibetan Mastiff called "Yangtze II." A welcome banner held by a group of young men announced that Yangtze II was worth no less than 4 million yuan ($585,788).

The lucky – and expensive – dog was greeted with a big wreath made of red ribbons and warm applause. People rushed forward to take pictures with him.

The new owner of the dog is a young lady from Xi'an who claims to be a dog lover.

In the 1950s or 1960s in China, walking a dog would have been considered a dangerous sign of Western bourgeois decadence, a subject newspaper cartoons criticized as rotten capitalism.

Although times have changed and pets are increasingly fashionable, showing off wealth should not be something fashionable.

Such extravagant scenes are not that uncommon nowadays, even if they don't normally involve dogs. This has aroused public attention and criticism.

As a matter of fact, a new word was coined for such behavior: xuanfu, which literally means "show off the wealth."

For many rich people, the conspicuous consumption of products and the display of wealth is a lifestyle they have been accustomed to.

Conspicious consumption has become all too common in China. Some people gained their wealth in a very short period of time, and frugality and proper behavior seem to have been replaced by gross displays of money and power.

Some do not understand the value of money and certainly do not know how to use it.

This is especially distasteful when it's done by the offspring of the rich. The lavish lifestyle of the young people born in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s is exposing some serious social problems in China.

Moreover, a series of fatal accidents with wealthy young people – who are also known as fu erdai, meaning "the second generation of wealthy people" – driving expensive sports cars and hitting pedestrians has aroused public anger at their irresponsibility.

Another thought-provoking new term in China is choufu, meaning "hatred toward the rich." Choufu, as a matter of fact, has much to do with xuanfu.

The rich are becoming less and less respected by society; instead of being valued for their economic performance, they have become a target of the mass media.

Undoubtedly, wealth as a result of hard work should be respected. But purely displaying one's wealth for the sake of showing off will only bring the wealthy hatred and criticism.

Their money won't be enjoyable if they are surrounded by people who have nothing but contempt for them. Only by taking more social responsibility can wealthy people gain respect from society.