44 CultureShock! China
in many Chinese cities today, and prostitution has returned
with a vengeance. As in other nations, those ‘sin trades’ as
practised in high society evoke sumptuous night-clubs, well-
dressed escorts and genteel whiffs of extremely expensive
powders, while the lower-heeled versions involve a lot of
dirty needles and exposure to AIDS.
China’s more freewheeling atmosphere today also allows
far more experimentation than in the past in virtually every
musical and artistic genre, and every form of lifestyle choice.
Enjoying some of the cultural fruits of these experiments is
an exciting part of life in China today. But when thinking
about what they do and do not represent about China as
a whole, it’s worth keeping in mind that they are still very
much a fringe phenomenon, even in that cutting-edge fringe
of China that is the wealthy coast.Summing Up
The above categories are obviously based on general
employment and social status. We could offer many other
ways of breaking down China’s population—by age, gender,
political views and so on—each of which would likely paint a
different picture of China, all no doubt valid. Again, China’s
is an enormous, complex and rapidly changing society.
We offer the above merely as one way of thinking about
the problem.What Chinese Want?
Marketing firms spend enormous sums trying to pinpoint
the needs and desires, values and aspirations of the various
groups within Chinese society—at least those groups
potentially able to afford the marketer’s client’s products. The
question of Chinese values is thus at once a philosophical,
psychological and economic concern. We do not pretend
in this brief chapter to explore all aspects of these complex
questions, but do offer here a brief overview of some of the
ways they are often discussed.
From a philosophical standpoint, many have observed the
long persistence of many traditional Chinese values despite
all the meanders of modern Chinese history. The village