Snippets of news revealing glimpses into the lives of some of China’s rich and famous, and what they spend their money on, have appeared in Chinese media recently. Netizens were quick to collect and comment on them on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like service, calling them “crazy lifestyle of China’s millionaires.”
1. Human Milk
A Chinese domestic service company has expanded its “nursing mom’s service” to include adult customers.
“Human milk is now a trendy drink in high-end circles in Shenzhen,“ Lin Jun, the company’s manager, told Guangming.net (gmw.cn). ”Especially for people recovering from major surgery, human milk is the best nourishment. It’s better than bird’s nest,” she said.
Drinking human milk has gained popularity among the rich in Shenzhen. It was exposed by the media a few years ago that in some east coast cities, wealthy people were paying nursing mothers to provide human milk for them every day.
If the price was right, clients can “directly drink from the breast,” according to Lin Jun.
This caused a storm of comments from readers, who mostly thought of it as amounting to selling sexual favors.
2. Swiss Mud Lunch
A bank in Switzerland invited around 20 of its very rich Chinese clients to their headquarters in Alps. On the menu was a dish of meat wrapped in a mud-herb paste.
3. Fair, Rich, and Beautiful
On Aug. 19, 2012, a young woman in heels and a bright red dress tried to attract the attention of a suitor in a Wuhan shopping mall. She was accompanied by three male body guards who displayed a banner and a poster board listing the young lady’s assets.
The banner read: “I am a Baifumei (fair, rich, and beautiful girl), with an overseas college degree, a luxury estate, a Mercedes Benz, and an annual income of 300,000 yuan (US$49,000), seeking a man who has a good appreciation of life.”
Her live “want ad” created a lot of attention, but after standing there for more than an hour, no-one showed any interest in her offer.
4. Hainan Party
The annual “Hainan Rendez-Vous” is a super luxury party for millionaires and celebrities to mingle and show off their luxury cars, boats, and private jets.
Last year the party allegedly turned into a big sex orgy, and many guests later distanced themselves from the event that has since been called a scandal.
5. Private Island
Huang Yimin is the first Chinese billionaire to buy an island. He paid over $3 million for a 50-year lease of Danshanmen Island near Zhejiang Province.
Huang has already invested vast sums of money and turned the 192-acre island into a private wild animal zoo, where tourists can hunt pheasants, rabbits, deer, and goats.
Another Chinese billionaire Huang Nubo, has plans to spend $3.27 billion on developing 116 square miles (74,240 acres) of land in Iceland that cost $6 million to purchase, it into a resort and mountain park. Previous foreign investment laws in Iceland had blocked his bid, however the newly elected government has plans to “review” those laws. [According to Sept. 19 CCTV news ]
6. Private Collection
Chen Lihua, chairwoman of Fu Wah International Group, was ranked as China’s second-richest woman in 2012, according to the Hurun Rich List. With a fortune of $5.4 billion, media have touted her as the “first rich woman in mainland China” and the “richest female entrepreneur in mainland China.”
Chen has built the first privately owned museum in China, the Red Sandalwood Museum, where she displays her collection of more than 300 antique furniture pieces from the Ming and Qing dynasties. Chen claims her grandmother buried many cultural relics during the Cultural Revolution to prevent them from being destroyed. They were unearthed “as good as new” twenty years later, she said.
7. Private Clubs
Beijing claims more than 4,000 private clubs that cater to the wealthy, political elite, and famous people.
The “Big Four”—American Club, China Club, Chang’an Club, and the Capital Club—boast membership fees of around 2 million yuan ($300,000).
These are places where rich and powerful people with connections make deals. But being well-heeled isn’t enough to get you in the door; it’s not about what you know, but who you know.
Translated by Jenny Yang. Written in English by Christine Ford.
