Behold China’s consumer paradise

‘Cause we are living in a material world

And I am a material girl

You know that we are living in a material world

And I am a material girl

– Madonna

China is now the greatest consumer paradise the world has ever known. Before anyone gets all bent out of shape, let us first define what we will be talking about in this piece.

We will not attempt to figure out how much is being consumed, who is consuming, who is not consuming, the growth rate of consumption, consumption’s share of GDP nor whether consumption patterns are morally or ethically virtuous.

Nor will we wax sanctimonious about the plight of sweatshop workers, migrant delivery men or whether ethnic “slaves” are or are not driving cotton harvesters in Xinjiang.

We just care about shopping. And eating. And drinking. And traveling. And clubbing. And KTV. But we do want value for money. We are not writing this for Saudi princes who have Monte Carlo to race their Bugattis. This is for the rest of us.

Aspirational influencer girls, flexing their swag, showing off their drip and being baddies (on a budget) for their incel followers. Gadget freaks addicted to the latest gizmo that takes spectacular aerial videos, mops the floor or scoots through city streets in eerie silence without breaking the bank. Foodies with hundreds of restaurant choices within walking distance and thousands within shared bike delivery distance.

We are not talking about the countryside, although it can be nice in many places. We are talking about first-tier cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen), the new first-tier cities (Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Nanjing, Tianjin, Suzhou, Xi’an, Changsha, Shenyang, Qingdao, Zhengzhou, Dalian, Dongguan, Ningbo), almost all second-tier