The Chinese people are known to enjoy life in brief breaks and live for the future, by the future and for the future, according to Zhang Quian of the Shanghai Post. Children are encouraged in early ages to put their money in piggy banks.
However, today, as I was showing my son's nanny how to clean out the nooks and corners of a bookshelf and putting stray coins in a coin box nearby she mentioned the saving habits of chinese people. Apparently, according to her, its more lucrative buying clothes, bags, bedsheets and blankets from a second-hand chinese store than buying the real ones. Her friend had actually found HK$30,000 stitched in an old blanket sold off at second hand good store. She built a house in Phillipines with it but kept on working as a maid in Hong kong. Since most of the maids here earn more here than in their own country its easier to remain a maid here than to go back to the home country and earn less. But instead of saving, for them, its easier however, to go treasure hunting in old chinese stores unlike the chinese people I guess.
Meanwhile. with the future in mind, the chinese people can live a very simple life for one splendid or vital moment in the future. A couple of years ago, an elderly chinese woman living in the countryside was known to have buried HK $4,800 in her back yard. The bank notes got damaged by humidity and insects. The woman said she wanted to live until she could save enough money to buy herself an expensive coffin. Now, thats an interesting concept. One other office woman said that if she was not saving money she would feel she was not earning any money at all. Now, with the shopping malls increasing in the city, one would wonder where and when the saving is done when people here buy so much and spend so much on housing, food and clothing. But thats apparently just one side of the story.
With the future in mind, since big houses are a luxury to Chinese people, to purchase it takes more long term savings, though the young generation are taking out more mortgages according to Zhang Quian's article. He feels that chinese people save to buy new houses and therefore lives a simple life now.
I can relate to that because when I look back, I remember being taught exactly the same thing about piggy banks and saving coins in them and we are not even Chinese!
