What aspects of Chinese culture can succeed overseas?
- Source: Global Times
- [21:24 June 17 2010]
- Comments
Nick Vogt, a US PhD candidate studying at a Beijing-based university
Metered resources
During my first post-Olympic visit to Beijing, I noticed a lot of changes - the Bird's Nest, more subway lines and better air. But what's stuck with me the longest is the memory of standing in line at the supermarket, staring at my pile of groceries and waiting in vain for the checkout worker to bag them. When I finally got the idea and forked over an extra couple of jiao for a bag, I wondered if I'd been cheated.
Now that I've lived here for a while, the plastic bag fee seems natural. After all, bags are just one item on a long list of resources that operate on a peruse, pay-as-you-go basis in China.
As any new expat renter knows, a lot of expenses that are billed monthly elsewhere, like electricity and natural gas, here depend on metered card readers that tell you in real time just how much you're paying to beat the Beijing heat or whip up your nightly stir-fry. Even prepaid cell phones, which in the US are the last resort of the credit-impaired, are ubiquitous.
Sure, the conversion rates can be confusing (how many fen per kilowatt-hour?) and schlepping down to the bank to charge up is a pain. But with real-time, pay-as-you-go consumption, it's easy to see how fast you're using a commodity and adjust your behavior to better conserve resources.
As the popularity of purchased carbon offsets shows, putting a monetary value on a resource doesn't just motivate people to save, but also it puts conservation into everyday terms to which they can relate. Watching those little red numbers drain away is the best reminder I've seen to turn the air conditioning off when leaving the house.
China's already at the forefront when it comes to pay-as-you-go resources, and Western civil governments looking to cut consumption rates would do well to consider a push toward this model.
