Commercial genius is making cities clones

By Rong Xiaoqing Source:Global Times Published: 2014-9-25 20:38:01

Illustration: Liu Rui/GT



A Chinese friend working in the export industry once told me that whatever the Americans invented, China can quickly figure out how to make it and make it better.

This, of course, included some ripoffs that make the inventors of the original products scream about alleged intellectual property violations. But sometimes when the Chinese take an idea from the Americans and add their own intelligence on top, even the initiators can be awed.

Commercialization, in its broadest sense, is one such area. For much of the time after its reform and opening-up began, China has been copying business models that have proven effective in the US from management to marketing.

This helped China quickly make the transition from the collective economy to the market economy. But now China has clearly pushed the boundaries of the market economy further.

When you are in China, you don't have to be a business expert to see this for yourself. In the subway system in any big city, from the dangling handles that passengers hang onto for their safety to the illuminated boards in the tunnels and the screens carrying videos and details of train arrival times are all sold as advertising space. Even the pre-recorded voice announcements have all become "reminders" from paid advertisers.

As a comparison, the wildest ideas for raising revenues at the Metropolitan Transit Authority in New York are no more than painting advertisements on the exterior of the subway cars or on the back of metro card tickets

The chain restaurants in China replicate the McDonald's model, only with more efficiency. And the service quality, which used to be the weakness of Chinese business, also seems to be dramatically improving in some places.

Tables are wiped down more quickly, and customers aren't expected to take their own trays to the trash bins. Hai Di Lao, a hot pot restaurant chain, not only provides hot towels for the customers to clean their hands and faces and covers for their handbags and cellphones to make sure they don't get splashed by the spicy broth, but also hands them wipes for their glasses.

Want to send a big package of goods from one city to another; just summon someone on a motor-tricycle from a delivery service who will weigh it, box it, and get it there within a day or two for only the equivalent of a few US dollars.

This business sense has clearly mobilized people at all levels of society. Even the beggars on the streets seem to be more market-oriented. Instead of simply begging, some of them have tape recorders playing sad music that matches the heartbreaking personal stories they present to potential donors. Some even present pitiful statements in Chinese and English protected by plastic covers, so that they can be understood by foreigners.

Of course, the speed of the development of such a money-focused society has brought its own problems, whether the corruption currently being tackled head-on by President Xi Jinping or the difficulty regulators have in preventing people from selling dangerous foodstuffs or fake products.

However, there are signs that the authorities will be able to get on top of these issues. The pollution problem will unfortunately take longer to control, but arguably that is inevitable if so many people are going to be pulled into a modern economic world so quickly.

All this has been debated ad nauseam. But one thing that hasn't quite as much is the way in which commercial sameness is taking over many Chinese cities.

I have been surprised to see how many tourist sites, especially those focused on retail and restaurants are starting to look similar. In the US, the sameness of shopping malls and strip malls along highways has often been a source of complaint from foreign visitors. See a McDonald's, add in a Starbucks, a Subway and a Pizza Hut, throw in a Gap, an Abercrombie, a Bed, Bath and Beyond, and a Walmart, and you could be in just about any part of the US.

But this affliction is now common in China from Beijing to Shanghai to Chengdu and many cities in between.

It happens even on the ancient style pedestrian streets many cities now boast. These streets may be attractive to nostalgic Chinese visitors. But they could soon get tired by the ubiquitous brand shops like "Carpenter Tan" and "Shanghai Lady," traditional snacks like the "dragon beard floss candy" and "roasted flour soup," and crafts performances like blowing caramel or making figurines out of flour.

Even ethnic Chinese territories that open to tourists are more and more similar. For example, an "open house tour" run by a Tibetan family I participated in Jiuzhaigou, Sichuan, and that run by an ethnic Bai family in Dali, Yunnan clearly followed the same model.

The tour guide claimed his or her father is the leader of the village, presented some background knowledge about their ethnic cultures, and stressed the whole experience is free until the hard sell near the end that pressures the visitor into buying their products, often at inflated prices.

Of course, some of this will correct itself over time, and the truly unique and local will get an audience. For now, too, this particular phase of Chinese development may be necessary.

As a taxi driver in Jiuzhaigou said: "Without commercialization, you wouldn't even be able to find food and drink in such a remote area."

The author is a New York-based journalist. rong_xiaoqing@hotmail.com

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