China's middle class: Beating out the US to be the largest in the world for the first time, but still not secure
On the mainland, a white-collar worker copes with losing her home in a recent disaster as basic expenses eat up her entire monthly salary
Until a few months ago, Meng Fanjie considered herself among China's rising middle class. A Tianjin-based white-collar professional, she earns more than 10,000 yuan (HK$12,000) a month, travels frequently for leisure and has some savings.
Until August, Meng lived in a leased flat into which she had poured over 100,000 yuan to transform it from bare concrete walls into a chic and cosy home.
But things changed on August 12, when a series of explosions at a chemicals warehouse less than 1km from her home rocked the city, killing at least 165 people and damaging the homes of more than 17,000 households nearby, including Meng's.
Since then, she has been staying in a hotel as she waits for her landlord - who received the government compensation for the disaster - to pay for her losses.
"It's a great loss to me … I'm homeless now," she said, adding that there was now a lack of flats available for rent as many people had lost their homes after the blasts. "Whatever they call me - office lady or middle class - I'm incapable of withstanding such disasters."