Young Money by Marianna Cerini

COV ER S TORY

WOR DS OF W E A LTH A LUXURIOUS LEXICON OF THE HOTTEST PHRASES TO DESCRIBE CHINA’S WEALTHY By Marianna Cerini, additional ContriBution By Mia li

FU’ERDAI

TUHAO

/Fù’ èrdài / 富二代

土豪

Fu' erdai literally translates to "rich second generation." It refers to Chinese born into rich families after the 1980s – young and wealthy kids who tend to be eligible to inherit lots of money and assets from their parents. Fu’erdai are then broken down into groups: guan’erdai are the kids of government officials; xing’erdai are celebrities’ children; hong’erdai are children whose families have strong roots in the Communist Party and can “eat from both plates.” Unlike their parents, fu’erdai were born with silver spoons in their mouths, grew up in financially pampering conditions and, given China’s phenomenal economic growth over the last two decades, are currently getting richer by the day. For many in China, the term has somewhat of a disdainful character, as fu’erdai are often associated with negative stereotypes – arrogance, classism, self-indulgence, delusional ideals of entitlement – and lifestyle choices that are completely out-of-touch with reality. Scorn surrounds these kids, and there have been plenty of incidents of backlash against them. The most representative is perhaps that of Li Qiming, a rich youngster who, in October 2010, drunkenly drove his black Volkswagen Magotan into two rollerblading students outside Hebei University, killing one and injuring the other. When apprehended, he shouted “My father is Li Gang!” referring to a well-known local official. The phrase quickly went viral, and to this day symbolizes the arrogance of a spoiled generation. More recently, last month, a multi-million dollar crash in Beijing at the hands of two obscenely wealthy students driving a Lamborghini and a Ferrari at speeds of up to 160 kilometers per hour through Chaoyang District made new, disparaging headlines nationwide. The drivers – Tang, 21, and Yu, 20 – were detained by authorities over the suspected road race and described simply as ‘unemployed,’ which certainly didn’t help things with online and offline commentators. And the ‘bad fu’erdai’ saga continues…

MAI MAI MAI 买买买 A phrase referring to excessive purchasing, either individually or collectively, brought by and in reference to the emerging Chinese middle class’ massive spending power. Against a gray backdrop of post-financial-crisis recessions and austerity, one hub of activity shines brighter than all the rest: the frenzy of Chinese consumers. The generation of newly wealthy shoppers seems to be buying up everything, from milk powder and handbags to cars and real estate in faraway capital cities. Outside China, they can be found hurriedly pulling banknotes and credit cards from their LV fanny packs in exchange for various items. Back in China, they can be found piling newly purchased items into their homes until the front door is set to burst open with a tidal wave of consumer goods. No-one feels the frenzy more acutely than the Chinese themselves, who sum it all up in this straightforward but perfectly apt phrase: mai mai mai, ‘buy buy buy.’ The bluntness of mai mai mai encapsulates just how mindless, careless and repetitive the behavior is. No one looks too closely at exactly what they are buying or has the foresight to evaluate whether they really need it. They buy because things are on sale. They buy because so-and-so did. They buy tacky hats and T-shirts because they are on the Great Wall. They buy leather goods because they are in Italy. They buy jumpers at GAP because there is nothing else to do on a Sunday. Mai mai mai. Buying is the key to happiness, a security blanket, a marker of success, a show of prosperity, the hard currency of social status, the reward for hard work and – if you try hard enough – the answer to everything. Mai mai mai. The consuming must go on. Everything must be acquired and then endlessly upgraded. Otherwise what do you have to show for your hard work and achievements? In China, consumerism is the way to climb a level in the game called life. Everyone must mai mai mai.

May 2015 / www.thatsmags.com

Tuhao is a derogative term for China’s crass nouveau riche – think gold iPhones and pink Porsches – or, as Urban Dictionary puts it, “New money, mostly not well spent.” “Tu” means dirt or uncouth; “hao” means splendor – in translation, they could be described as “billionbilly” or, if you’re into French, something in between an arriviste and a parvenu. The word was first found in the Song Dynasty chronicle The Book of Song, where it referred to the rural gentry or landlords who held great local power. In the mid20th century, the term came to describe rich landowners, enemies of the proletariat, and became synonymous with evil and bullying. In his essays, Mao Zedong defines tuhao as “the most devilish part of the landlord class.” The expression was pretty much unused until two years ago, when a joke about the PRC’s rising minted class went viral on Chinese social media. A young man asks a Zen master, “I’m wealthy but unhappy. What should I do?” The Zen master responds, “Define ‘wealthy.’” The young man answers, “I have millions in the bank and three apartments in central Beijing. Is that wealthy?” The Zen master silently holds out a hand, inspiring the young man to a realization: “Master, are you telling me that I should be thankful and give back?” The Zen master says, “No… Tuhao, let’s be friends!” The butt of jokes, the subject of ridicule and contempt, tuhao represents the opposite of good taste. The term has become so popular that it no longer serves as mere description for China’s emerging, high-profile nouveau riche: tuhao is any behavior that’s deemed expensive and lacking in class. It even applies to things, particularly if gold – from Apple's gold iPhone 5s to a a path paved with 200 gold bricks in a Wuhan shopping mall, the color is now often referred to as tuhao jin, or tuhao gold (土豪金). Derision and jealousy, dirt and splendor: that’s the stuff tuhao are made of. And, love it or loathe it, they are here to stay.

GAOFU SHUAI AND BAIFU MEI 高富帅

白富美

Literally ‘Tall, rich and handsome’ and ‘White [in reference to an ivory complexion] rich and beautiful,’ gaofu shuai and baifu mei are the pretty faces of moneyed China, the ideal husband or ideal wife for those looking to have it all. They are fu’erdai too, of course, but belong to an even more exclusive clan: a clique bestowed with particularly good looks. You’ll find these gorgeous-looking folks at the best tables of the top clubs in town, sitting on the front row of fashion events and on social media, posting, posting, posting. Very much like the Rich Kids of Instagram, this self-identifying tribe of superrich youngsters is obsessed with letting the world know about their enviable lifestyles. This basically translates as a lot of snaps of them posing in swanky restaurants, at exclusive events or in their drive-through shoe cupboards and whatnot. They are aware of their looks and, just as they do with their money, they are not afraid to flaunt them. The sense that any existence is not really happening unless it is being selfdocumented in real time on the Internet is hardly something limited to those with the bank balance to absorb a super yacht charter, of course, but the level of selfinvolvement often shown by gaofu shuai and baifu mei is a thing to behold. Sometimes they upload their astronomical bar bills, or just photos of their actual money – lots of notes spread out on tables or beds in shots that, sadly, seem to be taken pretty seriously by their adoring peers. But look closer and you’ll see a studied, desperate attempt to rake in as many ‘Likes’ as possible online – if not in real life.

www.thatsmags.com / May 2015

COV ER S TORY

POLISHING THE EDGES By Marianna Cerini

t’s Friday night and a group of twenty-somethings in designer clothes recline on sleek couches in Linx, one of Shanghai’s glitziest

Downton Abbey

May 2015 / www.thatsmags.com

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