The latest viral story in China is the rags-to-riches tale of a young man named Mr Mei Aicai. A working-class high-school graduate who scored abysmally on China’s college entrance exam, Mr Mei now runs his own business, claims title to three-quarters of an acre of land, lives in a split-level house, and is married to an 18-year-old who — the Chinese Internet universally agrees — looks like a model. One more thing: Mr Mei achieved all his good fortune after leaving China for Ukraine. For the Chinese public, the moral of Mr Mei’s story is clear: For anyone who lacks family connections, elite academic credentials and a big bank account, it is now easier to achieve upward mobility in Kiev than in Shanghai. It is not hard to imagine what would have happened to Mr Mei, with his modest background and limited education, had he remained in China. Faced with a slowing economy, high housing prices, widening income inequality and a tough job market for college graduates, millions of young Chinese now feel stuck on the lower-middle rungs of their country’s ladder of success.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 03:19:16 +0000
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