China's Bobo

Bobo is often used in place of the word yuppie, which has usually negative connotations.

Often of the corporate upper-middle to upper class, they rarely oppose mainstream society, claim highly tolerant views of others, buy lots of expensive and exotic items, and believe American society to be meritocratic.

The term BoBo, short for bourgeois Bohemian, has caught on in China since David Brooks's book "BoBos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There" was translated into Chinese and published in separate editions in Taiwan and China.
.In cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the word is on everyone's lips — especially young executives and other members of the nouveau riche, known in Chinese as "xiaozi" or "petit bourgeoisie" — a group that was once a target of ideological campaigns.

For more information visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourgeois_bohemian, http://www.iht.com/articles/2003/11/26/edlee_ed3_.php, http://www.forbes.com/businesswire/feeds/businesswire/2007/04/02/businesswire20070402005197r1.html
and http://www.chinatoday.com.cn/English/e20038/8p44.htm

China's Illusary Middle Class

Everyone has a different definition of the "middle class" that is supposed to be behind this growth in consumer spending.

"There's no real definition of middle class," said Jonathan Anderson, chief Asia economist at investment bank UBS. "If you want to identify the number of people who can afford a mobile handset, the answer would run to nearly the entire population. If your definition is how many people have 'significant discretionary power', [it's] 100-125 million."

For more information visit: http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/may2007/gb20070509_866451.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_global+business

Way of Life

Today, the way of life in China is not different at all from anywhere else in the world due to Western influence. You can see in China today modern apartment complexes and towering high-rise buildings as well as modern style homes. Clothing in China is very similar to that of the Western cultures now.

However, tradition still lingers in all Chinese households and societies all over the world. In older neighborhoods, rural mud and straw houses can still be seen, and in rural areas the traditional way of life are still very alive. And although the way of life now is very modernized, traditional values of family importance and reputation still is felt by all families.

For more information visit: http://library.advanced.org/20443/way_of_life.html

Disecting Middle Class

Who is considered middle class? This is a subject of debate for most people.

It suggests that "middle class" is no longer an abstract concept in sociology but a strong force that could help reshape society as a whole. Political sensitiveness in China means that "middle class" can be termed in many other ways - such as "middle-income stratum," "middle-income group" or just "middle stratum." But it usually refers to a group of people with stable incomes who are capable of purchasing private houses and cars, and can afford the costs of education and holidays. In fact, the emerging "middle class" in China carries special meaning for multinationals that are counting on the huge Chinese market to boost their growth.

Based on an annual growth of one percentage point, the "middle class" people in China is expected to make up for 40 per cent of the total population in 2020, the academy report said.
According to the academy's standard, families with assets valued from 150,000 (US$18,137) to 300,000 yuan (US$36,275) can be classified as middle class.

For more information visit: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-10/27/content_386060.htm

Chinese New and High-Tech Industry

According to statistics, China has made 493,000 important scientific and technological achievements since 1981, of which nearly 20 percent have reached the advanced international levels. To speed up the transfer of scientific and technological achievements, and promote the development of high-tech industry, the Chinese government has implemented a series of policies. At present, over 80 percent of the nation's sci-tech force has been engaged in economic development work and the overwhelming majority of the scientific research institutes specializing in developing technology have gradually taken the road of independent development geared to market operations. In recent years, the business volume of the nation's technology market has increased at an annual rate of over 50 percent.

For more information visit: http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_aboutchina/2003-09/24/content_23224.htm

$$$ Income 收入

The chinese words for income is 收入

Tremendous changes have taken place in the life of the Chinese people in the past 50 years, especially in the past two decades. People's income has been constantly on the rise, and personal properties have steadily increased. Houses and apartments, cars, computers, stocks and traveling abroad have become the main contents of people's daily investments or consumption. In 2000, the GDP per capita exceeded US $800, calculated according to the current exchange rate.
The past 20 years have witnessed the Chinese economy developing at the fastest speed, and the people's income increasing by the largest margin. According to statistics, between 1978 and 2001 the net income per rural resident increased from 134 to 2,366 yuan, at the average annual growth rate of 7.3 percent in real terms; and the disposable income per urban resident increased from 343 to 6,860 yuan, at an average annual growth rate of 6.4 percent in real terms.

For more information visit: http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_aboutchina/2003-09/24/content_23834.htm

Chinese Family 家

Family is the cell of the society, and archons of past dynasties all paid great attention to the stability of families, which affected the stability of the society and the regime of the archon as well.

The Chinese for "family" is Jia 家, which generally means the basic family group, those who are related by blood, marriage, or adoption, living and managing their finances together. In a Jia, the males are all agnatic kin (i.e., blood relations). Sons live in their father's house with their wives, who have been brought in from outside the family. As soon as daughters come of age, they are married out, that is, they join another Jia. They are members of their parents' Jia only as long as they are unmarried. During the wedding ritual, daughters officially sever their ties to their father's patriline, and are pledged to serve their new family, including its ancestors. Males are permanent members of the family they were born into; females, however, are expected to eventually leave their natal family. Women, therefore, are only assured a place in a patriline -- that of their husband, not their father -- when they give birth to a son.

For more information visit: http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_aboutchina/2003-09/24/content_23819.htm