| I think James brought up a good point and one that I'd expand upon. In the US, most "white collar" workers move outside of the city and live in suburbs, commuting to work, but this has yet to happen in China. We are slowly seeing a change, I'm not sure how much its happening in Shanghai, though the city is expanding further and further on Pudong. In Beijing, it is very apparent as now there is the new addition of the "cheng tie" for those who are living outside of the city center. It is getting to the point where Beijing, out in areas like Shunyi and Fatou, is developing suburbs. The people who live in this area are an interesting mix, you have the very rich with large apartments or even houses who are looking for more space, cleaner air and who don't mind the commute because they have a car. You also have younger professionals who may not be able to afford an apartment inside the city yet (ie within 2nd or 3rd ring rd) and you have poorer people who just can't afford those places, period. Beyond the points that Wang JianShuo brought up in the original post, Chinese have too strong a belief in regionalism and sense of pride. It would be hard for a person from Shanghai to move to a smaller city in the West for example, unless there really was a great opportunity there. |