中國中小城鎮掀起不必要奢華消費
Mao Zedong would not be amused.
毛澤東恐怕不會對此感到高興。For more than a decade, Mao lived in a cave in the remote mountain town of Yan’an, central China, giving birth to Chinese communism. Now, more than 60 years later, the town is at the centre of a revolution in Chinese Consumerism. Conspicuous consumption has arrived – and the Communist party could not be more delighted.
在十多年的時間裏，毛澤東都居住在偏遠山區城市延安的一座窯洞中，在這裏孕育了中國的共產主義。60多年後的今天，這座城市成爲了在中國掀起的一場消費主義革命的中心。炫耀性消費已經來臨——中共對此高興不已。From Beijing to the boardroom, communists and capitalists around the world are counting on China to encourage a new generation of big spenders in cities such as Yan’an, and in other places that even Chinese people have never heard of.
從北京到企業董事會，世界各個角落的共產主義者和資本家，都指望中國在延安這樣的城市以及在其他連中國人都從未聽說過的地方培育出新一代大手大腳的消費者。
The aim is to substitute consumer-led growth for the investment boom that has powered the economy for decades. That is all the more important given that recent data show the country’s economy is showing signs of slowing.
此舉旨在用消費拉動的增長取代推動中國經濟增長數十年的投資繁榮。鑑於近期數據顯示中國經濟正露出放緩的苗頭，此舉就顯得更加重要。Just minutes away from Mao’s cave, Zhang Peng, 36, is responding to the modern party’s call to consumption.
在距毛澤東所住窯洞幾分鐘路程的地方，36歲的張鵬（Zhang Peng，音譯）正在響應時下中共呼籲消費的號召。He has paired a lime green striped T-shirt with grey sweatpants and blue sneakers at the town’s newly opened Adidas store – an ensemble that would set him back Rmb1,250 (about $200), more than a month’s rent.
在延安新開的阿迪達斯(Adidas)門店中，他挑選了一件淺綠色條紋T恤、一條灰色運動褲和一雙藍色運動鞋。這套行頭得花掉他1250元人民幣（約合200美元），比一個月的房租還多。The German sportswear brand is banking on shoppers like him – and cities such as Yan’an – to deliver the growth that is so elusive in Europe and in first-tier Chinese cities that are becoming saturated with foreign brands.
這家德國運動服裝品牌正寄希望於張鵬這樣的顧客以及延安這樣的城市來實現增長。目前在歐洲，阿迪達斯已很難實現這樣的增長，在中國一線城市也是如此，因爲這些城市充斥着各種國外品牌、日漸飽和。With his Gucci watch and rapidly expanding paunch, Mr Zhang needs gear to help him work off the extra weight – but also to show off to his friends. “If I am out playing badminton with my friends, and I am wearing Adidas while others are wearing Nike or Anta [a Chinese brand], then the one wearing Anta will lose face.”
張鵬戴着古馳(Gucci)手錶、肚腩日益隆起，因此需要運動裝備來幫自己減掉多餘體重，但同時也是爲了向朋友們炫耀。“如果我出去和朋友一起打羽毛球，我穿着阿迪，其他人穿着耐克(Nike)或者安踏（一箇中國本土品牌），那麼穿安踏的人就很沒面子。”Colin Currie, managing director of Adidas China, explains why towns such as Yan’an are so important. “Two-thirds of the growth in China will come from lower-tier cities,” he says. To do that, the German group will have to go where no foreign sportswear brand has been before in China: to fifth and sixth-tier cities, where even existing Adidas franchisees lack the local contacts they need to get prime retail sites and butter up the local bureaucracy. (Adidas defines fifth-tier as a minor province level city with an average population of 700,000, while sixth tier cities are county level, with an average population of 500,000.)
阿迪達斯大中華區董事總經理高嘉禮(Colin Currie)解釋了爲何延安等城市如此重要。他表示：“我們在中國市場三分之二的增長將來自中小城市。”要實現這一目標，這家德國企業必須進入外國運動服裝品牌此前從未涉足的地方，也就是中國的五、六線城市。在這些地方，即便是現有的阿迪達斯門店也缺乏搞到黃金零售地段以及逢迎地方官僚所需的本地人脈。（阿迪達斯把五線城市定義爲小型地級市，平均人口70萬，把六線城市定義爲縣級市，平均人口50萬。）China’s smaller cities are only just now opening their first modern fast-food restaurants, department stores and car dealerships.
在中國較小的城鎮，現在纔剛剛出現首批現代化的快餐店、百貨商場以及汽車經銷店。“Consumers in lower-tier cities have a lot more time to participate in activities that do not cost a lot, like running, and there is not so much choice in lower-tier cities in apparel so it’s OK to wear sportswear for going to work or even to a wedding,” says Mr Currie.
高嘉禮表示：“中小城市消費者有多得多的時間參與各種不需要花太多錢的活動，例如跑步。而且中小城市的服裝選擇不多，所以穿着運動服上班甚至參加婚禮也沒什麼關係。”Any lingering doubts about the disposable income of the modern Yan’an dweller are dispelled by the price tags on luxury bicycles for sale near one Adidas shop: Lamborghini bicycles retail for Rmb7,580, and staff say the best seller is a Ferrari toddler bike with training wheels, for Rmb2,880.
如果你還不能打消對現代延安居民可支配收入的懷疑，只需去看看阿迪達斯門店旁邊待售的高檔自行車的價籤：蘭博基尼(Lamborghini)自行車，零售價7580元人民幣；這裏的員工表示，最暢銷的是帶輔助輪的法拉利(Ferrari)兒童自行車，零售價2880元人民幣。
