China in the economic crisis
China is seen as one of the few growing economies during the current global recession, although the growth has reportedly been at least cut in half as exports die off.
Last year I looked for signs of the growth here in Beijing, you could see huge numbers of buildings rising up, inflation in food prices, and Porshe Cayennes parked outside the many new pricey dance clubs.
This year I’ve been looking for signs of troubles: pricey dance clubs closing their doors, ads to buy gold and real estate disappearing, and during the Chinese New Year Festival going on right now, fewer fireworks going off (although there still are a lot).
Fireworks seem like a great barometer because they are really discretionary, you just buy them to amuse your friends and family, the way it works here is that anyone can buy fireworks on the street and set them off wherever they want. You can buy pretty powerful ones, last year I was afraid to get blown to pieces just walking around outside. Since they are not a labor-intensive good, they are pretty expensive to the average Chinese person: my Chinese friend’s dad still bought $450 worth of them this year, and that goes a long way over here.
