| It is very common people are gradually going for material wealth and show off their socio-economic status in a "foreign" environment like Starbucks, esp. in a fast-changing city like Shanghai. The face of Shanghai has changed so much so that you feel you are way behind the times if you don't go out and see things every few days. I have no problem with Wang's preference with Starbucks. The thing is.... Most people in Shanghai need to think twice to go to Starbucks to have a cup of coffee. In Shanghai, these foreign food or coffee shops are considered very high-class or something. But you see the crowd, right? In his novel (THE BESIEGED weicheng) Qian Zhongshu said Fang Hongjian detested the urbanization of rural areas. And in some ways, Shanghai people give too much credit to the foreign brands and they got to pay more money. I have only been to a few countries in Southeast Asia. Take Singapore for example, they have these Kopitians or local coffee shops that are reasonably priced and the atmosphere makes you want to stay longer there. Are there many good and cheap coffee shops for ordinary working class people? No. You might argue that there are many tea-houses. But they are for lovebirds mainly and you go into any of them, you are like watching a live video of love-making.... You see we are still a long long way from building a healthy attitude towards daily consumption.
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