Deng Xiao Bling-Bling

"To get rich is glorious" is the most popular wise saying in Communist Red China these days. Everyone thinks that Mao's successor Deng Xiaoping said it, but nobodys remembers when, where, or even if he did say it.

I wonder what Mao's rpm is? With his 'Giant Leap Forward' a distant memory, he must be spinning in his grave at high speed.

China is now the biggest market for BMW's top-of-the-line 760Li luxury sedan, which carries a price tag of close to $200,000, nearly double the cost in the United States. Wealthy tourists staying at Commune by the Great Wall are housed in villas designed by Asia's top architects, each with a private butler. Italian designer Giorgio Armani plans to open 20 to 30 new stores in China by 2008, joining other luxury brands rushing into the market.

And a country with a per capita annual income below $1,000 is minting millionaires at a rapid clip, with more than 236,000 by one count. -- LA Times, 9.09.04

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