Changing China
Giant on the move
from George Chen:
Winners and losers as Hong Kong rents scale new heights
By George Chen The opinions expressed are the author’s own.
When you walk around Hong Kong's Central commercial and business district these days, you may notice a number of stores are holding "removal sales", which means they can no longer remain in the same location. The reason? In most cases, just blame soaring rents.
Many analysts have forecast declines in residential and commercial property prices in Hong Kong for next year, although at a stable pace rather than a sharp drop. This may be true for some suburban areas where purchase options are more plentiful than those in downtown areas, but until that happens, prices are likely to keep rising, at least for the rest of the year.
A couple of years ago, mobile phone industry leader Nokia took a moderately sized space on Russell Road in Causeway Bay just opposite Times Square, one of the busiest shopping districts in Asia, for its flagship store in Hong Kong. Local media said the store used to be one of Nokia's busiest in Asia, thanks to mainland Chinese travelers. But the good old days are going to end soon.
The Hong Kong Economic Times reported on October 27 that British luxury brand Burberry had signed a new lease with the owner of a site currently occupied by Nokia. Burberry is said to have agreed to pay HK $6.5 million (about US $836,600) per month for the two-floor 5,200 square foot space,versus the HK $1.8 million that Nokia is paying.
When the news came out, the reaction from the market was quite naturally, "Wow". One reader on Sina Weibo, China's most popular micro-blogging service, wondered: "How many coats and bags will Burberry need to sell to cover the monthly rent?" In Hong Kong, a coat or bag at Burberry usually sells for about HK $10,000-15,000. You can do your own calculations.
Landlords cash in on tourist influx
All the tourists, athletes, journalists and other hangers-on flooding to Beijing for the Games need a place to stay, and with hotels already filling up fast, some landlords are more than just rubbing their hands at the prospect of a little extra cash.
One friend is desperately hunting for a new apartment after her landlord said her rent would jump nine times if she wanted to renew her contract this summer.
Others are also on the market after slightly less avaricious, but still illegal and crippling increases to their monthly housing bill.
Beijing is worried greedy businesses could ruin the image of the Games and so hotels and restaurants have mostly promised to cap rates at high but just about reasonable levels.
But private landlords are bound by no such promises — and many are determined to get rid of the tenants currently blocking them from claiming the Olympic jackpot.
The only possible consolation for those squeezed out by greedy landlords is that their former homes may end up like the hotel rooms in Athens which sat empty during the last Olympics because of sky-high prices.
The increase in rents is not bad for all Beijingers though — and some of those who own their properties or have more reasonable landlords are getting in on the moneymaking themselves.
Dear British mates, as John said, you need to know the skills of bargaining in China, otherwise you will spend a lot more money. Most of Chinese merchants in the markets like to mark the price much higher than its normal price, it gives a lot space for the customers to show their ‘skills’. If you are not comfortable with that, just go to a supermarket or department store to ‘save’ money. I think it is quite natural to raise the price for the Olympics, demand and supply…But it shouldn’t be too ridiculous.
Many people like to accuse China for human rights abuse like Paul mate. I have to say, if you compare the human rights of an ordinary Chinese and an ordinary British, yours is a lot better,(as you can attempt to grab the Olympic torch without facing serious charges or maybe no charges at all).And it will take many years for the Chinese to catch up or it may never happen. The reason is Chinese and British have been living in quite different societies with very different cultural and point of view. There are a lot of reasons behind this, such as the 2000 years fudal system which may still exist in China if not because of the invasion by many “great” countries in WWII. Also the nature of Chinese people. But this is all changing, if you compare the human rights now in China with what it was like 30 years ago, there has been a significant improvement. But still, this is not enough.
This Olympics game is really a great opportunity for the Western people to go to China and understand China which I am sure is completely different from the impression you get from BBC.
I don’t like to say that we should seperate politics from sport.Olympics has been used as a political and marketing tool for many years (check out how much US earned when they held it in 1984). China is using it to promote itself, its cultural and civilization and to boost its economy. But you have to admit that countries like US are using it to attack Chinese government too, because some people in these countries’ government regard China as a major threat. This is normal, as they are politicians, it is their job to do so. But I don’t really understand why some people blindly get involved without even knowing where Tibet is, without even hearing from the voice of the real Tibetans and without even knowing whether the Chinese people are grateful to the ‘efforts’ to improve their human rights. The world should be more united rather than seperated, why EU is electing a president? Because it gives benefits to all of the members (but may not be true in reality).
Takes this great opportunity to visit China, visit Beijing or maybe even Tibet if possible. Olympics should be a game for the whole world, that is why this Olympics theme is: “One World, One Dream”.
Thanks for reading.
Thanks, mahadragon! Couldn’t tell you what’s up with the bag pricing.