people's republic of desire

Sometimes, while driving in Shenzhen or Beijing, I see so many luxury cars on the road. I can't help wondering how wealthy the Chinese have become compared with 20 years ago.

Take a classmate of mine as an example. She came to Beijing 10 years ago from a town so small and isolated that most of the people living there had never even seen a BMW. Now, she works for a Beijing newspaper, drives a European car and has just bought an 800,000 yuan condominium. Yet according to my college classmates, she is doing 'just so-so'. As a returnee who lived in Silicon Valley for 10 years, I see that young urban Chinese are catching up with the middle-class life of the west. And the effects of this change are both positive and negative.

Today in China, to get rich is glorious. But does a higher standard of living make people better? Are the rich more generous than the poor? What about the tension between rich and poor? Can money buy satisfaction? Our protagonist Niuniu's experience may give us some answers.

One Saturday night, Niuniu is waiting in a line of cars to get out of a crowded outdoor public parking lot. There are five cars ahead of her. For 10 minutes, the line hasn't moved.

She soon discovers that the owner of a BMW sports vehicle, a man in his 30s, is refusing to pay the one-yuan parking fee because he didn't like the way the attendant had knocked on his car.

His car is undamaged, but the driver remains defiant. So does the parking lot attendant, who is wearing cotton-padded clothes and looks to be at least 50 years old.

He insists the driver pay the fee. And he gathers four buddies who work in a nearby food stand to block the BMW from leaving. Then he threatens to beat the driver if he doesn't pay.

Niuniu doesn't know if she should get out of her car to help or stay where she is in case a fight breaks out.

At a crucial moment, a man on a bicycle approaches the group, which is on the brink of a serious altercation.

This passerby carries a ragged bag. He pulls out one yuan from his pocket and offers to pay the fee for the driver.

'It's not about money. I have money!' says the BMW driver, showing the cyclist a thick stack of bills from his wallet.

The cyclist waves his hand at the BMW driver and says: 'Go on, then. Drive safely.'

Niuniu becomes curious about the cyclist. Four drivers of fancy cars behind the BMW had offered no help. Similarly, a policeman who witnessed the entire incident did nothing. But the poor-looking cyclist intervened and solved the problem.

She follows him on foot and sees him stop at a bicycle repair shop next to the parking lot.

'I need my bike aligned and the tyre fixed,' he tells the three men at the shop.

'We all watched you!' one of them says. 'At first, we thought you worked for that guy in the BMW, but now we see that you are not with him. You're by yourself!'

'Yes,' the cyclist nods.

'You're just a man with a good heart,' says another one of the attendants. 'We can't believe we've met such a good man tonight! We will fix everything on your bike and give you a 60 per cent discount. You only need to pay 6 yuan!'

The cyclist searches his wallet, and says: 'I'm sorry, I only have 3 yuan left.' Niuniu feels moved. How can the poor people be so giving? She walks towards them with three coins, and says: 'Let me pay for him.'

'Oh, another stranger who turns out to be a good person!' the other repairman says with a wide grin. Niuniu starts walking back to her car, feeling good about herself.

'Hey, wait a minute,' says the cyclist. 'Is that you, Niuniu?'

Niuniu turns around - this time recognising the cyclist as her grandfather. Under the dim lights of the parking lot she hadn't been able to see him clearly.

She is happy to see him, but embarrassed she didn't help sooner. What's more unnerving is that her grandfather isn't even close to being poor.

'Merry Christmas, Grandpa!' Niuniu gives him a big hug, a kiss, and a brilliant smile before saying goodbye.

As she walks back to her car, a thought crosses her mind: maybe getting rich is glorious, but the combination of looking poor and offering help is so much more glorious than looking rich and acting petty. The new generation of Chinese may be getting wealthier, but are they getting any wiser? They could all take a few lessons from Niuniu's grandfather.