More on the shoes...

Its pretty amazing. The shoes look pretty nice as is, but when you see 100 people wearing them, and then compare them side by side with non-Chinese made shoes, its pretty obvious.

Alex said...

That is very interesting, because I work with this one older mainland woman at my company. In every conversation I had with her she always tries very hard to prove that she is not the poor one.
Example one when I talked about playing blues with my co-worker Pete. She would jump in "oh my son plays the piano" (Sounding like that is a higher class instrument) and while we are trying to push the idea of the entire company is working together as a team, she constantly have the need to point out who is at what level within the org chart (Who’s the boss).

Re: alex

All Mainlanders have a chip on their shoulder. The smart ones were looked down upon wherever they went, despite being pretty darn smart. The rich ones were looked down upon even though they were filthy rich. Think about it: a couple years back when rich Mainlanders started sprouting up and coming out (HKers affectionately call these people 暴發戶, which roughly translates to "New Money"). No one gave them any respect. They wore the best clothes and flung around the most money, yet they were frowned upon. At the same time, they were unmistakably from the Mainland thanks to their haircut, their accent, the squatting, the chain-smoking, and other little nuances. However, that's besides the point.

Years ago, their perception was: "if I get rich, I'll be respected", or "if I get smart, I'll be respected". That's why you see Mainland Chinese guys spending Gs like a rapper: in excess. They want to announce to the world that they've made it. If they're smart, or they've got something to show-off, they're going to make damn sure that everyone knows. That explains why your colleague is so eager to let her "wealth" be known. It is especially important that you: a Chinese person well settled into American society who speaks perfect english and has tons of white friends, understand that she's "better than you".

I see this kind of shit everyday. I deal with these Mainlanders who work for American companies. Some of them have higher wages than me. Because of their high pay and American employer, they really do think that they are light years ahead of you in terms of status. Not only do they think they're "the boss", but at the same time they have to put on a show for their employers to prove that they're worth that high salary. I'm talking high. These guys can make up to ten times the amount of an average worker employed by a local company, doing the same job. I don't see their value, other than some broken english, and some superior arse-kissing ability. Yet, they're still treated like just another Mainlander when they step foot into Hong Kong; hence, the chip on the shoulder.