Models Saskia de Brauw and Cara Delevingne are regal for Chanel’s Cruise 2013 Campaign, photographed by Karl Lagerfeld. The divine collection draws inspiration from 18th century French aristocracy. Marie Antoinette, anyone?
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The Occupy Wall Street movement popularized the phrase, “the 1 percent.” But a new survey shows most people don’t really have a clue what that means, beyond “pretty rich, right?” and “That ain’t me.”
According to a survey this month by 463 Communications, a majority of Americans think the threshold for being in the 1 percent is an annual income of $1 million. But according to themost recent IRS figures (2009), it’s about one-third of that.
The IRS says to be in the top 1 percent, you have to earn only $343,927. That means “the 1 percent” covers about 1.4 million American households.
Below are the 11 services named by the 463 survey as perks most likely enjoyed by the 1 percent. While they’re probably right when it comes to the highest earners in this exclusive club, those barely qualifying would probably struggle just as much as the 99 percent to pick up the full tab.
There’s no national study we could find that lists gardener fees, although anecdotal evidence seems to indicate you can get a yard service for around $120 a month: easily affordable for anyone in the 1 percent club. But if you’re talking full-time gardener, that’s another matter.
Since the largest portion of “the 1 percent” live in New York, let’s take a look…
According to Salary.com, 9 out of 10 senior groundskeepers in New York City make under $55,000 a year, with a median salary of almost $41,000. And that doesn’t include gardening supplies and health benefits. Nobody making $343,927 annually is likely to dole out that kind of dough.
For ease of comparison, let’s stick with the Big Apple. NYMaids.com offers service starting at $94 per three-hour session, probably running more than $30,000 a year for near-daily service. (Holidays and Sundays cost 35 percent more.) So a few hours a week? Definitely affordable for the smallest earners in the 1 percent. Full-time? No way.
CNBC’s list of Best Cities to Buy a Vacation Home says the median home price is $340,400 in Los Angeles, $177,700 in West Palm Beach (Florida), and $134,200 in Las Vegas. Filmmaker Michael Moore’s vacation home in Michigan – yes, Michigan – is reportedly worth about $2 million.
So, depending on the house and location, most 1 percenters probably can afford a second home.
Presumably, vacationing in your second home gets boring. So rich people might want to see somewhere new – and sometimes they take a lot of friends.
In 2009, Oprah took over a corner of Barcelona with 1,700 of her closest friends (OK, employees) for three days and had a party that included “concerts and performances by flamenco dancers.” Then they all went on a 10-day cruise to Italy, Turkey, Greece, and Malta – at an estimated cost of $5,400 per person, or about $9.2 million total.
The median salary for a senior administrative assistant in New York City is about $53,000. But prices vary nationwide. A company called Your Personal Assistants, LLC in Tennessee offers packages from three hours for $71, while My Personal Assistant in Dallas starts at $118 for the same thing. Other fees (like mileage) not included.
And what does a personal assistant do? Everything from making appointments to doing laundry to picking up the kids. And then there’s cooking, cleaning, and event planning. Is it worth it? The Los Angeles Timesasked that same question a few years ago, when a reporter – definitely not a 1 percenter – tried it out.Verdict: not really.
At Los Angeles company The Slipper and Rose, ”services fees begin at $250,” but for that, a personal chef will help plan and prepare five meals for four – including doing the shopping, cooking, storage, labeling, and cleanup. Chef Daniel Lagana in Austin, Texas, offers a similar service with a little more flexibility: Prices range from $140 to $280 for one to four people, each getting five meals from “3 entrees with 6 sides, plus soup or salad.”
These two were randomly picked through PersonalChef.com and the United States Personal Chef Association, but if their prices are anything close to the average, you’re looking at somewhere between $12 and $14 per meal – and up to $15,000 to have your weekday meals covered all year.
Super Bowl tickets this year dropped as low as $1,600, but prices were more than 10 times that for the good seats – up to “$16,480 for a lower-level seat at the 40-yard line along the Giants’ sideline,” according to TicketNews.
Luxury suites can be much pricier – more than some homes. MetLife Stadium, home of the Super Bowl champs, has snazzy suites for up to 30 for prices ranging from $165,000 to $340,000, according to The Sports Business Journal.
Of course, nothing screams luxury like a private show. According to The New York Times, a 45-minute personal concert five years ago from Nelly Furtado cost the late Libyan Colonel Muammar Gaddafi $1 million. (Furtado donated that cool million to charity once the shows became public knowledge last year.)
If you want to rent one, anecdotal evidence suggests it can cost from $3,000 to $5,000 an hour for a plane capable of seating 10.
Buying? Judge Judy owns a private jet, but then, she makes $45 million a year. Last year, The Wall Street Journal concluded that with prices in the millions, nobody in the lower range of the 1 percent club could possibly afford one. Then there are operating costs: between $500,000 and $1 million a year, because jet fuel is more expensive than what goes in cars.
With prices like that, it’s perhaps understandable if the 1 percenters opt to fly commercial. But they can still have some privacy: $15,000 will get them round-trip passage in a private room on board Singapore Air’s A380s, with full-size beds, “three-feet wide armchairs” and “a multimedia center with integrated 23-inch TV.”
Actually, even a majority of 1 percenters agree on this one: 68 percent of millionaires support higher taxes on themselves, according to The Wall Street Journal. (It’s not clear how many of the 57 members of Congress in the top 1 percent agree.)
IRS data say that the top 1 percent account for 17 percent of American income, but they pay almost 37 percent of federal taxes. Whether that’s a fair share depends on your politics, but income isn’t the same as wealth, of course – 1 percenters accounted for almost 35 percent of American net worth in 2009, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Many people in “the 1 percent” have ordinary jobs. The New York Times has a confusing but highly detailed interactive graphic on what jobs the top 1 percent have. A simpler but older academic estimate of the top one percent’s occupations suggests most of them are business managers and executives at non-financial companies (30 percent), doctors and medical professionals (14 percent), lawyers (8 percent), and engineers (4 percent).
See Also: 21 ways rich people think differently >
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As Pursuitist fans know, I’m a big admirer of Walt Disney. Not only am I inspired by the work of Disney, but I also have great family connections with the parks — my family has appeared in Disney TV ads and has been featured nightly at the “Magic, Memories, and You!” projection show on Disney’s Cinderella Castle. However, when we received our invite to visit Disney’s Golden Oak, their new luxury community, the destination exceeded our expectations (See our initial review, impressions and photos of Disney’s Golden Oak here).
Quality. From Walt Disney movies, theme parks to the Golden Oak project, Disney is all about the quality. Quality that includes amazing experiences, being exceptional and not cutting corners. These themes thrive at Golden Oak. The attention to detail at their new luxury community is remarkable — they take quality and “plus it.” They take something great and make it even better. Plussing.
The Pursuitist had the opportunity to chat with Page Pierce, the vice president of Disney’s Golden Oak. Learn how the Disney tradition of “plussing” is at home within Golden Oak.
Q. How long has the plan for Golden Oak been in the works?
A. The concept of a luxury home development for guests with a high affinity for Walt Disney World began to take shape in 2005, and was announced as Golden Oak in June 2010. Around that same time, Four Seasons approached Disney about opening a hotel near our theme parks in Florida. Disney Imagineers went to work to create the designs and plans for what is now Golden Oak at Walt Disney World Resort.
Q. How is Golden Oak unique compared to other experiences at WDW?
A. This is the first time that families have had the opportunity to actually live at Disney. Additionally, through something we call the Disney Connection, Golden Oak homebuyers have access to VIP passes that provide admission for the pass-holder and up to four guests to eight Disney parks and attractions with no block-out dates. Other amenities include door-to-park transportation, merchandise discounts and free parking.
Q. At the end of the year, how many homes will be built?
A. We are very excited by the progress at Golden Oak. About a dozen families have moved into the community as of July, with even more on the horizon. When complete, Golden Oak will encompass 450 homes across 980 acres.
Q. Tell us about the Club House, what will be benefits for your residents?
A. Summerhouse, the private club for Golden Oak homeowners, is now open, offering residents and their guests exclusive access to lounge areas, a lap and family pool, a game room and state-of-the-art fitness facilities. The Resident Services team is based at Summerhouse, providing guests with concierge-style assistance – from making dinner reservations to arranging VIP park tour guides and door-to-park transportation. When fully operational, Summerhouse will feature food and beverage accommodations in both indoor and outdoor dining areas.
Q. Seriously, you will have concierge garbage pick-up?
A. Yes! Residents don’t need to worry about hauling their garbage out to the curb – we’ll take care of it.
Q. How will Golden Oak residents take advantage of the Parks?
A. Homebuyers who close on the purchase of a home before the end of this year will receive a complimentary three-year Golden Oak VIP pass that provides access for the passholder and four guests to eight Disney World parks and attractions, including Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon, DisneyQuest and ESPN Wide World of Sports. Residents can also enjoy no blackout dates, free parking, door-to-park transportation, and more as part of the Disney Connection.
Q. When will the Four Seasons resort open — and what will be some shared luxuries?
A. The Four Seasons is anticipated to open in 2014 and will offer Golden Oak residents multiple dining options and access to luxury spa amenities.
Thanks to Disney and Page Pierce for the interview.
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As a salty mist rolls in from the tidal river, you duck into Moran’s Oyster Cottage and settle by the peat fire.
Willie, a seventh-generation shucker, draws you a creamy headed pint of Guinness and a dozen local oysters with a thick slab of brown bread.
You’ve slurped a lot of bivalves in your life, but all—past and future—will be compared to these.
No matter how awe-inspiring you find the Cliffs of Moher, the cobblestoned streets of Galway, or any of the other attractions that brought you to Ireland, it’s likely that this meal or one like it—hearty, served by friendly folks in just the right setting—will be the memory you keep coming back to. Because, let’s be honest, often sightseeing is just something to fill the time between meals, right? So as part of T+L's bucket list of the 101 places every traveler should know, we’re serving up some of the world’s best foodie experiences.
We’ve got a few seafood places that could give Moran’s a run for its money, such as a harborside South African restaurant and an atmospheric little bistro in the French village of Sauzon. Closer to home, a gut-busting lunch stop along the Pacific Coast Highway and the finest comfort food Montreal cooks up may inspire you to book a quick getaway.
Then, of course, there are classic foodie favorites like Paris, Singapore with its street-food stalls, and the frozen-in-time local hangouts along the canals of Venice. You don’t have to take our word for it. In Oaxaca, Mexico, famous for its complex mole sauces, chef April Bloomfield shares her favorite regional Slow Food restaurant, while designer Anya Hindmarch names London’s best sausage toast.
There’s something for every taste. But every pick hits that sweet spot where food, company, and setting combine for a truly transporting—and delicious—experience. Find out where in the world to satisfy your cravings.
Travel + Leisure's Bucket List
World's Most Delicious Street Foods
Travel + Leisure Survey: Best Beaches
Slurp oysters fresh from Tomales Bay at the Hog Island Oyster Bar ($$$), in the Ferry Terminal Market—or better yet, at its home base, 50 miles north.
Make a movable feast of a tapas crawl, from classic El Vaso de Oro ($) and modern Paco Meralgo ($) to the popular Bar Pinotxo ($) and locals-only Bomba Bar Cova Fumada ($).
“The food in Oaxaca, Mexico, is excellent: complex moles; chicken soups with different kinds of chiles; fresh street-side tacos. I love La Biznaga Restaurant ($$), which specializes in regional Slow Food dishes.” —April Bloomfield, chef
Here’s the first look at supermodel Naomi Campbell’s new futuristic home. Her boyfriend, Russian billionaire Vladislav Doronin, has commissioned Zaha Hadid to design a house in the style of a spaceship. The home features 2 separate section, the main one jutting out from the earth and the other rising high into the sky for views of the area. At 2,650 square meters, the spaceship-like home is located Barvikha, Moscow.
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According to MacRumors, via Dutch site One More Thing, late Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ Yacht, called Venus, has been launched in Aalsmeer, The Netherlands. Jobs’ widow Laurene Powell Jobs and their three children participated in the christening and the launching of the super yacht Jobs designed with the custom yacht firm Feadship. The aluminum-hulled ship is said to be 70-80 meters in length and features seven 27-inch iMacs lined up in the wheelhouse to help run the controls. Below, watch Venus in action:
Mentioned in the New York Times from Walter Isaacson’s new biography of Steve Jobs, which was released after his death, the late Apple leader was working on creating his very own Feadship superyacht. Jobs didn’t like the normal yacht designs so he decide to design it himself, not a surprise, creating a super luxurious yacht to rival his good friend and fellow yachtsman Larry Ellison.
“The book also offers some tidbits about Mr. Jobs’s legendary attention to detail, which, according to Mr. Isaacson, extended to a luxury yacht that he began designing in 2009. The design is sleek and minimalist, with 40-foot-long glass walls. It is being built in the Netherlands by the custom yacht firm Feadship, the book says.”
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Haunted Houses have been making America scream for nearly 40 years, and now Haunted Houses have gone global. The haunted house industry is an American export.
100 percent made in America as haunt vendors design, build and install haunted houses all over the WORLD! Halloween is extremely popular within the US. However, it was not as popular worldwide.
Trick-or-treating is an American tradition, and for years it was the primary way most American’s celebrated Halloween, but many things have changed over the last twenty years. Halloween has become the second largest retail holiday grossing more than $8 billion. The industry of making people scream is now a WORLD WIDE industry. Today, you can find haunted houses in most countries. People of all nations pay top dollar to enter a haunted house…to be SCARED.
So what makes a haunted house one of the best and scariest in America 2012? There are several things a paying customer might look for in a haunted attraction prior to buying a ticket. There are so many established haunted houses, plus so many more that open new each year, and a lot of over the top (potentially false) advertisements promoting them all in every city across America.
At Hauntworld, we suggest attending every haunt possible (of course), but for those of you on a budget, typically you’ll want to steer clear from the brand new haunted houses. New haunts have yet to establish themselves and build up an arsenal of experience to make people scream.
Rather, we suggest you visit the established haunted houses, the ones with years of experience, the ones who spend tens of thousands of dollars every year to renovate for each season, and the ones committed to making their haunted houses the best scream factories in America.
We look for many things when evaluating a haunt for our America’s best list. So many haunted attractions are quite different from each other. Many haunted houses like The Beast in Kansas City, Missouri are inside industrial buildings, while others like Headless Horseman in New York are outdoor haunts with massive hayrides, corn mazes and more.
How do you compare a scream park haunted attraction and an indoor haunted house? In most cases, the indoor haunted house will have the best attention to detail, sets and special FX. However, the scream park style attractions will offer more variety, longer attractions and typically more bang for the buck.
There are scary haunted houses, and then there are THE SCARIEST haunted houses in America. What’s the difference? Some haunts just want to make you scream, but some haunts go all out with over-the-top efforts trying to be the biggest, the baddest and the scariest haunted houses on the planet. The haunts that have that WOW factor can make their guests scream, PLUS they provide horrific atmosphere creating realism in every scare.
They provide a Hollywood movie quality punch to the gut! Who wants to watch horror movies anymore when you can visit a haunted house and be right in the middle of the action? Below is our list of the best haunted attractions in America.
These haunts will put you on stage inside a horror movie atmosphere and basically make YOU the scream queen! Before visiting a haunted house, use Hauntworld.com to find the best haunted houses in America, as we boast the largest and most informative database for finding haunted houses. Shop by city, state and zip to find a haunted house near you or around the World.
So which haunted houses are the best and scariest haunted houses in America 2012? Which haunts can make you scream more than any other, more than the best horror movie? Below you’ll read about the longest haunted houses, the oldest haunted houses, and even about the best rides with a Halloween theme? We have it all for you once again in our annual Top 13 best haunted houses in America List. Get ready, turn out the lights, and get ready to scream!
Located in the shadow of downtown Houston, TX next to Houston’s oldest graveyard, Nightmare on the Bayou is the name people think of when searching “HAUNTED TEXAS.” Nightmare on the Bayou is entering its 12th year in operation and has grown even bigger, even better, and even scarier with every passing year.
Featuring newly designed scenes, Hollywood quality props, professional animatronics and dozens upon dozens of the most well-trained and highly supervised actors, CRAZED ACTORS, whose sole purpose is to scare you to death. Nightmare on the Bayou boasts, “the only haunted house in Houston with REAL ghosts,” and with its location right next to the graveyard…I believe them!
Ghost sightings are frequent from both customers and employees alike. Additionally, Nightmare On The Bayou is one of the only haunted houses in America with a WORLD CLASS Halloween retail store on site for your ease and convenience.
What is the terrible secret hidden within the 13th Floor? Superstition? Conspiracy? Or something much, much worse? As legend has foretold, The 13th Floor Haunted House provides a gut wrenching ride to untold nightmares STRAIGHT DOWN!
The 13th Floor Haunted House is a franchise haunted attraction located in multiple locations. These attractions are a true testament to high action, in-your-face premium production value among all haunted houses. Each attraction offers a massive haunted event, one as big as 40,000 square feet and another as high as 3 floors up! Through the wickedness of its massive Gothic cemetery and into its horrifically fantastic haunted hotel, 13th Floor customers get to experience a barrage of special effects, animatronic monsters and impeccably detailed sets.
Add to that some of the most talented group of performers in the industry, and you’ve got a top notch, first rate haunted house that’s second to none.
For more than 20 years, The Bates Motel Haunted Hayride at Arasapha Farm has been making Philadelphia SCREAM!
This event is one of the biggest haunted house events in America featuring amazing props, digital FX, terrifying actors, professional makeup, pyrotechnics and multiple attractions in one location including a massive corn maze, an infamous hayride and a horrific haunted house.
The Bates Motel has been featured on multiple television shows and ranked as high as THE BEST haunted house in the nation by multiple media outlets including Hauntworld.com. The Bates Motel dominates the Philadelphia market as well as every surrounding area. People travel from miles away just to attend this haunting event.
Ben Spalding wants you to lick his bricks. No, that isn't a euphemism. The ex-Roganic chef, a much-tipped rising star, is about to start cooking at a new Islington bar and restaurant, John Salt, where the menu will include his signature "chicken on a brick". The dish is an elaborate combination of chicken liver mousse and crispy chicken skin, served on - you guessed it - a caramel-glazed house brick. Forget slate. That's so 2010. Now, we're all about eating off other building materials. In fact, customers will be encouraged, says Spalding to, "actually lick the brick".
This outbreak of brick-licking started spontaneously, insists Spalding, with curious diners slurping at the caramel, which, when warm, releases bitter flavours that offset the liver's fattiness. Nonetheless, it's all a bit WTF, no? I'm all for a injecting a bit of fun into restaurants. I'm all for sensory adventure. But - and I suppose it depends on how much you have had to drink - I can't help but think that I'd feel a bit self-conscious, sat in a restaurant, licking a brick. I would be plagued by the nagging doubt that, behind the swing doors, the kitchen staff were sniggering into their Thermomix. "Look at that knobhead, he's actually licking the brick."
But perhaps this reflects the general trajectory of the modern restaurant. Increasingly chefs are playing with the customers' senses - in a way that often challenges people to step outside of their comfort zone - to heighten the dining experience. More and more we are asked entertain ideas which, 10 years ago, would have seemed ridiculous. The benign end of this spectrum is a waiter relaying how the chef suggests that a dish should be eaten or, as at Goodman, a pre-dinner, tableside preview of that night's meat cuts. Personally, I would find that butchery class unnecessary; an intrusion into what would ideally be a relaxing night out.
Sucking on an amuse bouche of "pebbles" at Mugaritz may be a hurdle for some, but Noma's sometime serving of live shrimps takes the whole process of forcing the diner to perceive, engage with and question what they are eating to a new and confrontational level. By contrast eating at the Fat Duck is more likely to make you feel a bit daft rather than guilty.
When I ate there, I'd promised that when it came to the Sound of the Sea (the dish where you're asked to pop in iPod headphones and listen to a shoreline soundscape), I was going start singing Live Forever, point at the headphones and shout at Mrs N: "I THINK THEY'VE GIVEN ME THE WRONG ONE."
I didn't, of course. And I'm glad I didn't, because while I can't say that the soundtrack transported me to the seaside or, so far as I could consciously tell, enhanced the fishiness of the dish, it's too easy for us Britons - with our admirable but occasionally debilitating fear of being seen as pretentious - to take the piss. Undoubtedly, there is something in that kind of sensory manipulation. Even if we don't fully understand it yet. For years, those blacked-out restaurants where you dine "blind" have insisted that it enhances your experience of taste and smell. If licking a brick adds a new dimension to a dish, why deny yourself that pleasure? Surely a kind of open, curious scepticism is the best approach to these things?
Licking a brick is certainly more enjoyable than what you might encounter elsewhere. From being told to sit up straight and chew your food properly, to having to cook your own steak on a volcanic rock, there are many things that you might be asked to do in restaurants, which, frankly, I don't want to. Not if I'm paying for the privilege.
What's the most ridiculous thing that you've ever been encouraged to do in a restaurant? And did you end up enjoying it?
This article originally appeared on guardian.co.uk
We Americans love our coffee. After all, the average adult guzzles around 70 gallons of coffee a year – and spends over $1,000 annually on morning doses of caffeine.
While the habit can be hard on your wallet, the health benefits of consuming coffee are numerous: Research shows it can reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, dementia, and heart disease.
And particularly for business travelers who need to work through the night and then impress clients the next morning – all while recovering from jet lag – a ready cup of Joe is essential.
We’ve found five of the best hotel coffee bars across the states so you can get that jolt you need without having to leave your hotel.
A popular business hotel – with amenities such as a full-service FedEx business center and modern meeting rooms – the Grand Hyatt San Antonio also features Perks Coffee, a cute coffee-bar-meets-convenience-store.
Along with coffee, Perks serves up tasty pastries and prepackaged sandwiches and salads, and best of all, it’s open around the clock so you can work through the night.
Le Parker Meridien’s coffee bar is about as sexy as they come.
The hotel’s website claims it would be “sacrilege” to venture anywhere else for coffee, and it has a point: The large space has a warm, upscale vibe with red velvet curtains, high, stained-glass ceilings, antique chandeliers, and plush chairs and couches that allow for a fluid shift from daytime coffee bar to afternoon cocktail lounge.
Clients will be impressed by the posh atmosphere, as well as the light menu which features pastries and paninis.
If eastside convenience is what you’re looking for, the Marriott Courtyard Seattle Bellevue is a solid choice.
And it delivers caffeine convenience as well: The hotel features an on-site Starbucks, so when you’re on-the-go you can simply head downstairs and order up your daily latte or buy a pre-wrapped sandwich.
Numerous other hotels are home to Starbucks cafes, such as the Eden Roc and the InterContinental in Miami.
Halloween is creeping up, and that means we’re all looking for a little extra spookiness in our lives.
While there are some locales that just ooze terror, you might not be totally sure which destinations are the very scariest on Earth—that is, which cities are the most haunted and which towns have the darkest histories.
Not knowing this for sure can put a real damper on your Halloween trip planning.
But never fear! (Get it?) At Hopper, we ran the numbers to objectively pinpoint the scariest places in the world. With our guide in hand, you should have no trouble picking out a frightful site to get your horror on this October.
To learn about other fun travel destinations, hop on over to our blog!
You might not think of Paris as a scary city, but the City of Light has always had a dark side. With 22 cemeteries filled to the brim with famous and anonymous corpses alike, Paris has just as much in store for ghost-hunters as it does for lovers.
Many claim to have seen the ghost of Marie Antoinette wandering the halls of the Chateau de Versailles. Additionally, the violent end to the brief Paris Commune government in 1871 resulted in what is known as La Semaine Sanglante, or the Bloody Week. Somewhere between 10,000 and 50,000 Parisians were slaughtered in just a few days, and many more exiled from the city. If that doesn’t spell ghosts, we’re not sure what does.
Should you visit Paris around Halloween, don’t miss the Catacombs of Paris, a subterranean ossuary holding the remains of an astounding six million people. Unsurprisingly, many have reported ghostly sightings in the underground caverns.
Another ornate European city not often associated with gore is Vienna. What began as a Roman military camp soon matured into a center of civilization and culture for Europe. A millennium-worth of inhabitants makes for high ghost potential!
An early target of the Barbarian invasions, there is also some evidence that Vienna suffered from a devastating fire around the beginning of the fifth century. The Napoleonic Wars brought even more violence to the area and the Battle of Wagram alone resulted in more than 20,000 casualties. Later, in the 1930s, Hitler’s army occupied and annexed Austria. The Allied bombings of the city in 1944 and 1945 also destroyed large portions of the city and killed many of its inhabitants.
If you manage to stop by Vienna this spooky season, check out the Ducal Crypt under the Stephansdom, which contains 78 receptacles filled with the bodies, hearts and viscera of several members of the Habsburg dynasty. Creepy!
Savannah has often been voted the most haunted city in the U.S. With a war-torn past and three historical cemeteries, this southern city has long been home to phantoms of all stripes. It’s no wonder, when you consider the city’s past. The Siege of Savannah in 1779 was a failed attempt by the joint French-American forces to overthrow British rule, and is considered to have been one of the bloodiest battles of the Revolutionary War, with 948 killed on the French-American side.
Savannah was also the site of the end of General Sherman’s famous March to the Sea (officially titled the Savannah Campaign) during the Civil War. The campaign devastated Georgia and the Confederacy, which surrendered to Sherman at Savannah. However, the city did manage to avoid being burned and ransacked, as most in Sherman’s path were.
This only adds to Savannah’s creepy old-world charm, with buildings that date back hundreds of years and are in nearly perfect condition. Later, Savannah was the site of various segregation conflicts. Six well-known haunted locations include: Mercer House, Marshall House, 17Hundred90, Wright Square, Pirate's House and Sorrel-Weed House.
Want space and privacy this Christmas? You can now rent out an entire luxury hotel in St Mortiz throughout the festive season.
Large families willing to spend lavishly in order to escape domestic duty this Christmas could well find themselves lured to St Moritz in the Swiss Alps. This year, the five-star, 60-suite boutique Carlton Hotel, St. Mortiz is advertising the property to groups who may be seeking to rent it out in its entirety.
Built in 1913, the hotel was refurbished in 2007 and is celebrating the arrival of its centenary by unveiling its new penthouse suite - the largest in St. Moritz - this winter. Although luxury properties are occasionally rented out on an exclusive basis by wealthy travellers from Russia, the Middle East and elsewhere, it's less usual for properties to publicly advertise their amenability to these arrangements.
Anyone looking to hire the hotel will have access to its range of facilities, including the aforementioned 60 suites, two restaurants, two bars, a sun terrace and 1,200sq metre spa. Breakfast and access to a kids' club are also included, and the hotel owners are throwing in free Wi-Fi access.
St Moritz itself has long been renowned as a ski and sports resort and in winter the array of eccentric activities it offers includes greyhound racing, polo, 'ice golf' and cricket. The offer to rent the entire hotel is available throughout the winter season (from December 14, 2012 to April 1, 2013) and costs from CHF80,000 ($84,575) per night.
The recent financial recession has had a disastrous impact upon Americans at large – bankers, shop owners, the elderly and the young have all seen their prospects darken in different yet connected ways. One of the most important groups in America today is young families, specifically Generation Y – this group can be expected to drive innovation, open up new opportunities and shoulder the burden of baby boomers as they retire (as well as raising the next generation of course). But how are they doing in 2012?
Recent information released by the Bank of Montreal (BMO) paints a gloomy picture for Generation Y, yet things could be much worse.
Their report charts economic indicators of Generation Y in their working and family raising years (2002-2011) and compared them with their parents (1972-81). It was easier for Generation Y to find work, they paid less in mortgages, taxes and interest, and had significantly more buying power. On the flip-side of the coin, home-occupiers now have less equity in their homes and carry much more debt.
The general picture is one of a generation under significant economic pressure, yet not outside the scope of past recessions. But how will the stumbling economic recovery impact young families? To raise their economic fortunes Generation Y is counting on the economy to deliver jobs and available credit. In these areas things are looking significantly less positive.
As far as the job market goes, people between 25 and 34 are much more likely to be out of a job (8.2 per cent) than those between 35 and 54 (between 6.1 and 6.3 per cent). We are all too familiar with the story of college graduates emerging to bleak white collar career prospects, yet this dearth of jobs applies to blue collar professions as well.
The availability of credit is also quite limited, and according to July’s Federal Reserve Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey the situation is even worse for people with little money for down payments and those who have low credit scores. This means that young families, with little in the way of a nest egg, will be unable to get on the property ladder. Similarly, short term credit can be incredibly difficult to come by, leaving many families unable to deal with unexpected purchases.
There is of course hope on the horizon – low interest rates mean that those who secure mortgages can most likely pay them, while technological innovation will offer up thousands of new jobs that will be snapped up by the young. But unless the job market recovers and credit opens up, Generation Y will find it very difficult to build families that are stable economic units.
The next four years will be incredibly important for young families. The Obama administration succeeded in stabilizing the recession, saving financial institutions and avoiding a cataclysmic shut-down of the auto-industry. Yet a full-fledged recovery has not materialized; the next presidential term must see real, sustained growth, otherwise Generation Y may find itself termed a lost generation.
In the first of a three-part series, Mick Brown travels to the Chinese city of Wuhan to see whether its emerging great wealth has also brought great happiness.
Night had fallen in Wuhan, and Mrs Wang suggested that we should go for a drive. I had spent the afternoon with Mrs Wang, a woman in her mid-50s who works in local government as an administrator, in the apartment where she lives with her husband, a professor of civil engineering. Mr Wang was away on business, but Mrs Wang’s neighbours Mr and Mrs Li had dropped in for a chat, sitting in the living-room around the large coffee-table – an impressive marble-and-glass construction that doubled as an aquarium – sharing tea served in paper cups, and plates of diced melon. We had adjourned for an early supper at a neighbourhood restaurant, a bustling establishment filled with families and groups of friends, steaming plates of food revolving on each table. Now Mrs Wang had offered to give me a guided tour of the city.
Situated at the confluence of the Han and Yangtze rivers in central China, and the capital of Hubei province, Wuhan, with a population of about 11 million, is a centre for the steel industry and a university town. There are 35 institutes for higher education, and the city boasts the highest enrolment of students of any city in China. Wuhan is what the Chinese call a ‘second-tier’ city. It is the first-tier cities – Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen – that have been the engine of China’s phenomenal economic growth. But it is on cities such as Wuhan that the Chinese government is now concentrating its development plan, to create a rapidly expanding urban middle class that will boost domestic consumption in the face of a diminishing global market for its goods.
I had been exploring Wuhan’s choked, chaotic streets under an oppressive yellow sky for two days – a concatenation of traffic jams, new building developments and the sheer press of teeming humanity that can occasion feelings of claustrophobia and confusion. Mrs Wang had lived in Wuhan all her life, ‘but it’s all changing so fast’, she said, as we sped along a highway past yet another development of high-rise apartments, her voice striking the note of bewilderment at the pace of change that I would hear wherever I went in China. ‘I go to a neighbourhood and it’s completely different from the last time I visited. Even I get lost now.’ The road plunged into an underpass. ‘This only opened last week,’ she said, with a laugh. We passed a monolithic building behind a high fence – ‘Public Security headquarters’ – and sped on to an elevated highway, carrying us downtown, past the new shopping plaza on Han Street with its faux Tower Bridge entryway and a long shimmering bank of neon signs, prominent among them an enormous and strangely comforting display for Marks & Spencer.
We came at last to a huge plaza on the banks of the Yangtze, the old colonial quarter, where a milling crowd was enjoying the warm evening: couples with their statutory single child; groups of young girls giggling together; young boys eyeing them longingly. On the far shore stood a row of spanking-new skyscrapers, etched in red-and-blue neon. Pleasureboats lit up like Christmas plied along the river. We took a ride on a buggy along the esplanade flanking the river, joining the evening promenade. Here, 30 or 40 women were being led in a choreographed dance to the strains of a wistful melody; another group practised callisthenics on exercise machines; further on, a 12-piece orchestra accompanied a woman singing opera to a crowd of appreciative passers-by. Paper lanterns carrying burning lights floated in the sky. It was like passing through a dream.
Mindful of the fact that the Chinese super-economy is showing dangerous signs of stalling – mindful too of the myriad public grievances about the environment, food safety, inflation, the punishing costs of housing, health care and education – the Chinese government has recently been making attempts to address not only the country’s GDP, but the far more nebulous question of gross domestic happiness. In his New-Year address to the nation in 2011 Premier Wen Jiabao declared that the performance of officials would henceforth be evaluated not by how many high-rise buildings and projects they have been involved in, but ‘by whether the public are happy or not, dissatisfied or not’.
This call to greater happiness, the People’s Daily, the Communist Party mouthpiece, declared, was to be a key theme of China’s next five-year development plan, prompting municipal governments into fierce competition to be ‘China’s happiest city’. In August this year the state television station published the results of a survey conferring that accolade on Lhasa, where four years ago there was a popular uprising by Tibetans against the Chinese government. Wuhan was ranked a lowly 26th. But on this warm evening – for the moment, at least – everyone looked as happy as they could be. And no one looked happier than Mrs Wang.
If one had to find a single person among China’s 1.4 billion population who exemplified the dramatic economic transformation the country has undergone in the 33 years since Deng Xiaoping initiated his ‘open door policy’, opening the Chinese economy to international trade and investment, it would be hard to find a better candidate than Mrs Wang. ‘How has my life changed?’ She pondered the question. ‘You couldn’t describe it. In my parents’ time people were very poor; they had lots of children and they couldn’t feed them very well. Especially in the 1960s, there was famine. I remember – people were eating the bark of trees.’ She shrugged. ‘Life was very difficult then. Now people know how to enjoy life. We can go out to restaurants to eat. I can enjoy some luxury goods – a nice dress or a new bag. Our salaries are higher and we can buy what we want.’ She gestured around her neat apartment: the marble floors, the crimson velvet sofas, the Sony home cinema projector, the 56in Samsung plasma television, draped, like some totemic object, in a velvet cloth. ‘3D,’ Mrs Wang said.
I don’t have 3D, I said. She gave me a pitying look.
'Middle class’ is not a term that is officially recognised in what is still, notionally, a socialist country. The preferred term is xiaokang – a Confucian term, loosely translated as ‘basically well-off’. A xiaokang society was one of the objectives of China’s economic development spelt out by Deng Xiaoping in 1979. Estimates of the numbers that constitute this class of the comfortably off – or just how comfortably off they actually are – vary wildly.
According to government statistics in 2010, a typical family of three in China earns about 56,000 yuan (£5,600) a year (a tenfold increase since 1980). But incomes vary enormously from region to region. A study published by the Social Science Academic Press and Beijing University of Technology states that the income of the average middle-class family in the city is about 120,000 yuan (£12,000) annually.
In his book As China Goes, So Goes the World: How Chinese Consumers Are Changing Everything, the Oxford academic Karl Gerth estimates that as many as 430 million Chinese could be classified as ‘the core consumer class’, that is, a household owning at least six electronic products such as a tele-vision, a washing-machine, a telephone, a mobile phone, a stereo, a DVD player, air-conditioners or a microwave. More than 150 million Chinese, Gerth says, can afford to own luxury goods and brand-name watches. Some estimates predict that by 2030 the middle class in China will number 1.4 billion consumers, compared with 365 million in the US. It is on this rising class, in cities such as Wuhan, that the future of China rests.
Mrs Wang’s four-room apartment is on the fourth floor of a 10-storey block in the East Gate area of the city, a part of Wuhan that until 10 years ago was farmland. Her particular development is gated, with strolling security guards, nicely tended communal gardens and a pavilion where people sat listening to piped music. A third of the residents, she told me, worked for the university or the government. So, middle-class then? Mrs Wang thought about this. ‘Middle to upper,’ she said.
The Wangs had bought their property eight years ago at the beginning of China’s property boom, for 2,500 yuan (£250) per square metre – the way property is priced in China. It was now worth about 9,000 yuan (£900) per square metre. A good investment, Mrs Wang agreed. An expensive apartment in Wuhan would be about 13,000 yuan (£1,300) per square metre. By middle-class standards, Mrs Wang said, she was fortunate.
The opening up of China to the market economy had swept away the safety net that communism provided, where housing, education and health care were all free. Now swathes of China’s new middle class were mortgaged to the hilt – fangnu, or ‘house-slaves’, they are called – and while the nine years of compulsory education are free, to send a child to university costs at least 40,000 yuan (£4,000) a year.
But the Wangs’ mortgage was paid; their 28-year-old daughter married and living in Finland. Mrs Wang and her husband spent a third of their income on ‘daily life’; a third was saved ‘for old age and emergencies’; and the remaining third was spent on travel. ‘We love travelling,’ Mrs Wang said.
All the new Chinese middle class do. According to figures recently released by China’s Ministry of Public Security, despite the recent slowdown in the Chinese economy (GDP has almost halved from a peak of 14.8 per cent in 2007), 38.6 million mainland Chinese travelled abroad in the first half of 2012, a rise of nearly 20 per cent over the same period last year and almost double the number in 2007. It is estimated that by 2015 more than 100 million Chinese will be travelling abroad. The most popular destinations for Chinese tourists are Macau and Hong Kong. Thailand and Bali are particularly popular for beach holidays. The favourite European destination is France, which last year saw about 900,000 Chinese visitors. Britain entertained about 147,000, a rise of some 35 per cent from 2010. That figure is expected to rise to 300,000 by 2020.
Before visiting China, I had joined a group from Shanghai on a 10-day tour of the UK that included Cambridge, York, Edinburgh, Northern Ireland and London. There were 20 people, most of them professionals who had paid about £1,500 each, staying at four-star hotels. Lunch, usually in Chinese restaurants – the Chinese don’t much like English food – was included. At 9am on the morning after their arrival – dressed in neat leisurewear, draped with cameras and clutching smartphones – they were proceeding at a brisk canter through the streets of Cambridge. Time was tight. ‘When Chinese people play DVDs, we are always pressing the forward button,’ the young guide, Wu, said. At the gate to Gonville and Caius College the group swarmed past the closed to visitors sign and into the quad, camera shutters snapping as the porter emerged from his office, shooing them back into the street like a flock of unruly geese.
Two women paused to photograph an elderly man outside a Save the Children shop. Local colour. ‘Keep up!’ Wu shouted. ‘Our viewpoint is not here!’ Our viewpoint was the pavement outside King’s College. There was a collective intake of breath, a fusillade of camera shutters, and we moved on. We had done Cambridge in under two hours.
On the coach to York I fell into conversation with Mr Chen, an engineer, travelling with his wife. It was his first trip to Britain, he said, and he had been studying British history and culture in preparation. He particularly admired the British education system, the NHS and the British system of parliamentary democracy, he said. ‘I think for many people in China what interests them about Britain is the shopping. But not for me.’
Mr Chen liked John Denver and the Carpenters, ‘and one song, from a film, Waterloo something – do you know it?’ He hummed a few bars. ‘Auld Lang Syne.’ I found the film later on the internet, a love story, Waterloo Bridge, made in 1940 and starring Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor. ‘This is a very lovely film,’ said Mr Chen wistfully. We were approaching York – or ‘downtown York city’, as Mr Chen put it, and he pointed out of the window, admiring ‘the houses of ordinary people’ – an Edwardian terrace, flowers blooming in the gardens. ‘They’re so beautiful!’ he said.
We parked and walked through the narrow streets to the Minster. ‘You have two hours' free time now,’ said the guide. I took a photograph on Mr Chen’s camera of him and his wife against the towering spire of the Minster, and then he took a photograph of me. The rest of our party had scattered.
Where have they gone? I asked Wu.
He laughed. ‘Shopping!’
Liberated from the constraints of a society where you could buy nothing, the Chinese have embraced consumerism with something of the manic fervour of children given free rein in a chocolate factory. The Chinese spend, on average, almost 10 hours a week shopping, and two in five describe it as their favourite leisure activity. Americans spend slightly less than four hours, Britons 1.2. Consumer spending is forecast to account for 43 per cent of China’s GDP growth by 2020, up from about a third currently, according to the management consultancy McKinsey & Co. That is in line with the nation’s current five-year plan, which aims to help the country become less dependent on exports and investment-led growth.
The Chinese have also developed a taste for luxury. According to McKinsey, China is on target to overtake Japan as the world’s largest market for luxury goods, with sales projected to rise 18 per cent annually to reach $27 billion by 2015. That is a fifth of the worldwide total, up from $10 billion in 2009.
Among the legion of retail analysts and marketeers that has grown up in recent years studying the Chinese market, certain fundamental truths have emerged. To the Chinese, goods are displays of status, a way of reinforcing one’s social position or furthering one’s professional prospects. There is no point in paying a lot of money for a brand if no one knows what you own. Chinese women returning from a European shopping trip keep their receipts, not in case of a refund, but to show to their friends.
In China the family is considered paramount, followed by society and then the individual. And despite the new-found appetite for luxury, self-restraint and modesty are held in high regard; individualism is regarded with suspicion; as the saying has it, ‘the bird that stands out gets shot’. A sober Prada dress is more likely to sell than a garish Versace shirt. Because they tend not to entertain at home, the Chinese will spend a lot on a handbag but not on an expensive German washing-machine, which will not be seen by their friends. Like shoppers everywhere, they love a bargain. China’s punitive tax on imported foreign luxury goods means that a Burberry wallet or Louis Vuitton bag is 30-40 per cent cheaper on Bond Street than it would be in Beijing or Shanghai.
Britain has been a major beneficiary of the Chinese taste for shopping. According to the retail tourism company Global Blue, Chinese shoppers are the second-largest market for tax-free spending (after visitors from the Middle East), accounting for 22 per cent of the tax-free spend in Britain. The average Chinese shopper spends £642 per transaction, favouring handbags, watches and jewellery. British retailers complain that this market would be substantially bigger if visa regulations were relaxed to make it easier for Chinese tourists to enter the country. Britain is not party to the Schengen Agreement, whereby only one visa is required for a foreign tourist to travel to any or all of the 26 European Schengen countries. Chinese visitors must apply for a separate visa for the UK – a process that is both time-consuming and expensive (it costs £47 for a Schengen visa, a UK visa costs £78).
As Westminster is to abbeys and Windsor is to castles, so, for the Chinese tourist, the discount shopping village in Bicester, Oxfordshire, is to retail. ‘Just wait till we get to Bicester,’ Wu, my tour party guide exclaimed. ‘They’ll go crazy.’ Bicester Village, which opened in 1995, is a phenomenon. It is one of the nine ‘Chic Outlet’ stores around Europe owned by the European company Value Retail, which describes the outlets less as shopping villages, more as ‘international tourist’ destinations. Quick to realise the potential of the Chinese market, Value Retail first started promoting Bicester to Chinese tour operators in 2004, when the Chinese government first indicated that it would be relaxing travel restrictions for tourists, and designating Britain an ‘approved destination’. The first group of 80 Chinese tourists arrived in Britain in July 2005, to be greeted by the Duke of York at a formal reception at the Tower of London.
Bicester is now visited by more than 100,000 Chinese visitors a year – two out of three of all Chinese visitors to Britain – and is a mandatory stop on most tour party itineraries. When in 2010 David Cameron asked the Chinese ambassador how Britain could attract more Chinese visitors he reportedly replied, ‘Build more Bicester Villages.’
Value Retail declines to specify figures for the average spend of its Chinese customers. ‘But it tends to be high,’ Scott Malkin, the company’s founder and CEO, told me. The Chinese have a strong tradition of gift-giving, or ‘buying multiple purchases ceremonially’, as Malkin put it – one for yourself, one for a member of the family, friend or business contact; another, perhaps, to sell back home. ‘The Chinese customer,’ he went on, is ‘maturing incredibly fast’ in terms of sophistication, recognising the subtle distinctions between brands and the definition of value and quality. ‘In the history of modern consumer behaviour, there’s never been anything like it. In three years they’re covering ground that it took 15 years for Russian customers to cover.’ Value Retail is now investing $75 million in building a ‘Chinese Bicester’ – Suzhou Village, near Shanghai.
Bicester runs a daily ‘shopping express’ bus from London hotels. On the day I took it, the passenger breakdown was roughly 60 per cent Chinese, 38 per cent visitors from the Middle East, one per cent Japanese, and one per cent British – me. Strolling around the clapboard, faux-colonial stores in the village, it was immediately apparent that the Chinese approach shopping with a rigorous perfectionism; their eyes sweeping shrewdly over the racks and shelves, shopping lists and calculators in hand. They favour Gucci, Prada and Burberry, harbour a particular affection for Clarks shoes, but appear to show scant interest in Victoria’s Secret. (Sexy underwear, according to one Western retail analyst, is not high on the wishlist of most Chinese: ‘When you’ve got 124 men for every 100 women, a man is thankful just to see a woman’s underwear; he won’t be worrying about what it looks like.’) Sitting on a bench outside Burberry I fell into conversation with Mr Zhong, a salesman of medical equipment from Shanghai. He was visiting Britain for the first time, with his daughter, a student who next year would be going to a college in America to study music. Could he have imagined 20 years ago that this would be his life? ‘Impossible!’ Mr Zhong said with a laugh. A tall, striking girl in jeans and Ugg boots emerged from the shop, and Mr Zhong rose from the seat, reaching for his wallet with a sigh.
I headed back to catch the bus. Driving back into London, the driver pointed out sites of particular interest. Westfield shopping centre, Harrods, Selfridges. ‘Just in case you’ve any money left…’
On my third day in Wuhan I finally saw a bird. A sparrow. I was walking in a park beside one of the city’s lakes – a quiet respite from the urban tumult. Wooden boats bobbed on the water. There was a small amusement park with children’s rides shrouded in tarpaulins. On the far side of the lake yet another new skyline of tower blocks, draped in scaffolding and sales signs, was taking shape. (Who was buying all these apartments? It was a constant mystery.) Strolling along, I came upon a group of girls seated on a wall. They were university students, applying for part-time jobs as attendants at the amusement park – pay: 100 yuan (£10) per day. (‘Terrible!’ my interpreter said.) They looked unlike any students you would find in Britain; chic in their miniskirts and heels, primping their hair and peering into their compacts. I asked what Western brands they liked. I meant clothes, but the question was lost in translation. A girl riffled through her handbag. ‘L’Oréal, Maybelline… When we’re working, we’ll move on to higher brands.’
Non-existent 40 years ago, the beauty industry is now the fifth-largest sector of the Chinese economy. Cosmetic and beauty sales rose from $24 million in 1982 to more than $168 billion in 2009. China now trails only the US and Brazil in the world table of cosmetic surgery. According to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, 1.3 million operations were performed by licensed Chinese clinics in 2010, with many more carried out illegally.
I had not expected to find an establishment such as the Zhong Han Whole Body Beauty Clinic in Wuhan – I would have been astonished to find it anywhere – but there it was, an enormous street-level premises, marble steps leading up to sliding glass doors, an imposing foyer decked with posters, and a reception desk where three girls in red uniforms stood waiting to greet you. No discreet brass plaque and understated entrance here: this was the business of beauty in your face. The director, Mr Luo, a heavy-set, smiling man in his 40s, dressed in a sports shirt and jeans, led me to a conference room.
An assistant brought hot water in paper cups stamped with the company motto, charming face. charming life. Another assistant came in to take photographs. The clinic’s CEO, Mr Liu, appeared. A distinguished surgeon in the state sector, Mr Liu founded the clinic in 2005, the first such private clinic, he said, to open in Hubei province. It now employed 14 doctors, performing an average of 20 surgical procedures a day, and a further 10-15 laser, Botox and collagen procedures. The clientele was divided, he went on, into fashionable professional women, and university students looking to gain some advantage in the competitive market for jobs and boyfriends. ‘Social competition is fierce nowadays,’ Mr Liu said. ‘First impressions are very important. Many Chinese are superstitious; they believe to change their looks is to change their luck.’
The most popular procedures were ‘double-fold eyelid’ surgery, narrowing the nose and pointing the chin. ‘Like Fan Bingbing [the popular Chinese actress],’ Mr Luo said. ‘The trend is the pointier the better. We call it “nail chin”. In ancient times people preferred a face like an egg, now they prefer a pointed face – and the skinnier the better.’ The market, he said, was already huge, but its potential was infinite. There are 350 million women between the ages of 16 and 50 in China. The girls they needed to reach, he said, were the ‘average to pretty’ girls who don’t, at present, have the motivation to come to a clinic such as his. ‘We need to educate them by making commercials more persuasive, convince them that it’s a real social benefit, and improve our techniques to make the scarring totally invisible. If people can see that it improves their status it will give them more confidence in the procedures.’ There was something almost Darwinian about his pragmatism. Life is a competition. To get on, it helps to change your appearance, by whatever means necessary. No one here was going to argue that beauty comes from within. ‘Everybody wants to look better,’ Mr Liu said, with a smile. ‘To me, it’s a sign of progress that people can do that through plastic surgery.’
The desired standard of beauty was not, as one might imagine, Western, Mr Luo said, but South Korean – a result of the popularity of South Korean soap operas, films and pop music (‘K-Pop’ as it is known). ‘A lot of South Korean actresses and pop stars have had plastic surgery, so that’s a good selling point for us.’ Did Mr Luo have any ‘before and after’ photographs that would help me better understand the procedures? He could do better than that. He gave instructions to the assistant, who left the room, reappearing a few minutes later with a very attractive girl dressed in a white coat.
This was Peng Shu, a junior doctor at the clinic, and the proud recipient of a double-fold eyelid job. ‘Most of the doctors here have had one or two procedures done themselves,’ Mr Luo said. He traced a finger over Shu’s eye lids. ‘So, before, there was fat here, and now you can see the double lid.’ Shu blinked demurely. It was a nice job.
‘I’m fully satisfied,’ she said.
Shu is 28, from Hunan, the daughter of a concrete worker and a teacher. She had studied medicine at university in Wuhan, and always dreamt, she said, of working in plastic surgery. ‘I like to be beautiful myself, and to bring more beauty to people is a public service.’ A lot of people had misunderstandings about plastic surgery, she said. They think that if they have surgery they will look like a film star. Beautiful people will look more beautiful, but ordinary people will only be improved a little bit. We’re always very careful to tell them that. Sometimes people walk in and we’ll tell them, "You’re already beautiful; we can’t do any more for you." They’ll say, “You just don’t have the technique, I’m going to Korea!” Then they’ll be back here again, still not satisfied. For some people it’s like a disease.’
And does plastic surgery really help in getting a job? ‘It gives you an advantage,’ she said.
And a boyfriend?
‘Definitely. There is a lot of pressure. Before I was married I felt that pressure too, but now it has eased.’ Her husband is also a doctor. Her salary is 36,000 yuan (£3,600) a year. ‘I’d describe myself as middle-class,’ she said. Forty per cent of their income goes on living expenses; the remainder she saved for travel, a child to come, their parents, ‘the future’. She isn’t interested in luxury goods, she said. ‘A lot of clients come here, students from rich families, and their handbags are worth more than 20,000 yuan.’ A note of disdain crept into her voice. ‘I don’t understand their parents doing that.’
Until a few years ago, the trappings of Western-style luxury were visible only in Shanghai and Beijing, but now every growing Chinese city has its luxury malls, with its branches of Cartier, Gucci and Louis Vuitton that make the stores of London and Paris look almost diminutive by comparison. For the luxury brands, these stores serve as much as showrooms and marble-floored advertisements – a form of high-end consumer education for the aspiring middle class – as genuine, profitable retail outlets. Ground rents are cheap, and the stores serve as status symbols for the city.
They are mostly patronised by the local officials, developers and bankers who between them concocted the deal to build the mall in the first place. One Western retail analyst described the clientele to me as ‘the three Cs: the criminal, the corrupt and the concubine’. Wuhan has its own Louis Vuitton and Cartier stores, its own Aston Martin and Ferrari showrooms. But for most of the city’s population such things remain in the realm of dreams. It is the rise of mid-market Western brands such as Zara and H&M in second-tier cities that is the surest sign of the growing middle class.
Han Street is a new shopping plaza that seems to have been taken out of its box only yesterday, a seemingly endless thoroughfare of faux-colonial and glass-box buildings, its shops a lexicon of the global Esperanto of high-street fashion: Gap, Uniqlo, Zara, as well as M&S – along with brands unknown in Britain: PRich and Teenie Weenie, owned by the South Korean conglomerate E-Land. The street was thronged with window-shoppers, mostly young – the ubiquitous girls in short skirts, couples walking hand-in-hand. A girl walked past with a Prada bag over her shoulder. ‘Fake,’ my interpreter said.
M&S got off to a faltering start in China in 2008, dispensing with its regional managing director three months after launching its first store on Shanghai’s main shopping street, Nanjing Road, following complaints about the availability and range of products. But since then the company has gone from strength to strength, opening a further six stores in Shanghai, and branches in Changzhou and Ningbo, two other second-tier cities. It is Shanghai, Stephen Rayfield, who took over as the managing director of M&S China a year ago, told me, that remains the focus of the company’s ‘core strategy’. The Wuhan store was the result of an invitation from the developers of Han Street. ‘We’re very pleased to be here, but at this stage what we’re aiming to do is get a strong representation in Shanghai and learn more about what happens when you saturate a big city.’
Walking into the Wuhan store it was immediately apparent that something was different. This was less the comfortable, middle-of-the-road department store familiar from the British high street, and more a fashion store, with its rails of predominantly young designs and rock music percolating through the public address system. Rock music in M&S! The average Chinese customer, Rayfield said, is 10 years younger than the average British one – ‘They’re definitely looking for fashion’ – and it is the ‘sub-brands’ such as Autograph and Indigo that sell best. ‘We’re still learning what the customer wants. It’s an evolution. As we get to know our customer better and we learn more about what they’re buying, how they’re buying, we’ll keep evolving. Customers here know we’re an international brand. That carries real weight.’
Grocery shopping has been one of the big engines of domestic retail sales growth in China. In 1990 there was one supermarket in the country; there are now 24,000, more than 800 of them foreign-owned. M&S China is not, Rayfield said, in the business
of supermarket staples, as it is in Britain: ‘We’re doing top-ups and treats.’ The food department in Wuhan was small: gourmet canned soup, marmalade, honey, crisps, biscuits – and racks of wines. ‘The Chinese customer is really developing a taste for red wine. They like Bordeaux wines and they’re becoming familiar with some of the names. They’ve heard of some grape types as well. It’s a real sign of how this society is changing.
‘Chocolate digestive biscuits are very popular, too,’ he added. ‘Shortbread is really popular, chocolate chip cookies...’
Anything else?
‘Percy Pig,’ Rayfield said. ‘They love Percy Pig.’
'Percy Pig?’ Mrs Wang poured another cup of tea, and fixed me with a quizzical look. She had never of it, never heard of M&S, and had yet to visit Han Street – but she promised she would take a look. She wasn’t keen on Western food, she confessed, but she liked Western fashions. ‘I don’t buy by the brand name, but if I like the design of something I’ll buy it.’
‘Our generation doesn’t know about these things,’ said her neighbour Mrs Li, a serene woman in her 50s, a primary schoolteacher, whose workaday dress suggested a distinct lack of interest in keeping up with the latest trends. ‘You’ll have to ask my daughter if you want to know about all that,’ she said. ‘One of my friends got a Louis Vuitton bag from her relation, but she didn’t know it was a real one. She thought it was just a 20-yuan bag from the market. She took it to the food market, everywhere. Her
relation said, “Are you crazy? This is Louis Vuitton!” And she said, “What’s Louis Vuitton?” She didn’t realise! She heard the price of the bag and she was astonished.’ Mrs Li laughed. So which would you rather have, I asked, a Louis Vuitton bag or a 20-yuan one from the market? ‘Chanel!’ Mrs Li said, and everyone laughed.
‘For a lot of people,’ Mrs Wang said, ‘buying a certain bag is a matter of status. It’s peer group competition, a way of keeping up with your friends.’ And was that a recipe for happiness, I asked. ‘Not for me,’ Mrs Wang said. ‘I’ve lived through the period where you have the desire but there is nowhere to buy things. I welcome more money, but happiness embraces wider aspects – the relationship between people, family and work. Keeping up brings stress, but at the same time that stress will drive your ambition; you’ll have more motivation to work hard and make more money to satisfy your desires.’
Mrs Li sipped her tea thoughtfully. When she was younger, she said, her dream was to save enough money to go to Beijing – just to see it. But the children she teaches don’t think like this. ‘And also they don’t have the same idea of what constitutes a hero. When I was younger we had good role models. For example, in the factory if there was a good worker people would look up to him and learn from that example. Now they’re more concerned with what kind of shoes other people are wearing and what to consume. Their role models are rich kids.’ Mr Li nodded his head in agreement. Young people today!
Mrs Wang had pulled the cover off the television, preparing to give me a demonstration. It’s funny, I said – rather tactlessly perhaps – 40 years ago every home in Britain had a colour television set, a car, a refrigerator, a hi-fi. Now, in the past 10 years, almost every home in China has gained these things. And in 3D too!
Mr Li nodded. ‘In Britain, you’re still walking. In China, we’re running.’
Mrs Wang was pointing the remote control at the screen, engaged in a fruitless search for the right channel. ‘It’s hopeless,’ she said with a sigh. She threw the remote to one side. She’d have to wait for Mr Wang to come home.
Milan's cultural charms may not be immediate, but once discovered they're greater than those found in Rome, Florence or Venice. Giovanna Bertazzoni shares her insider guide to the city's hidden attractions.
Milan is a city of secrets and surprises. Every time I go back for business or to see my friends and family, I am taken aback by its elegance, beauty and style. Milan is the city in Italy I feel closest to, because of its openness, its cosmopolitan outlook and its intense energy.
Milan requires more effort and dedication than other Italian cities but, once discovered, the rewards are much greater than those offered on ‘easier’ trails through Rome, Florence or Venice. Milan is an intelligent, challenging and supremely elegant Italian city; a foreigner can learn more about the best of Italy here than anywhere else in the country.
Inside Villa Necchi Campiglio. Image: Giorgio Majno
A place that epitomizes my passion for Milan and its sophisticated glamour is Villa Necchi Campiglio, a tour de force of 1930s design and architecture. The villa is situated at the very heart of the historical centre, surrounded by a wonderful secluded garden with centenary trees. In recent years the family donated it to the FAI (Fondo Ambientale Italiano), the equivalent of the National Trust. This gift was the catalyst for another very significant donation to the house, from the late Claudia Gianferrari, one of the grandes dames of the Milanese art market. She bequeathed her exquisite collection of paintings and sculpture, gathered by her father throughout his important career as an art dealer. One of the best ensembles of the Italian Novecento, with seminal and moving pictures by Sironi and Carrà, and rare sculpture by Arturo Martini, it can now be discovered in the most precious and purely designed contemporary setting. The FAI’s restoration of the house has also coincided with the opening of a wonderful small café in the garden, made famous by the dramatic final scene of the recent film Io Sono l’Amore (I Am Love), which was all set in the villa and its garden. During mild weather breakfast, a light lunch or an afternoon tea in this café are an absolute treat.
Another private house, which has been converted into a museum and has the atmosphere of a 19th-century treasure trove, is the Museo Poldi Pezzoli, the equivalent of the Parisian Jacquemart-André or Isabella Stewart Gardner’s Bostonian mansion. A selection of the most astonishing masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance are housed here; the collection’s Portrait of a Lady, by Piero del Pollaiolo may be the most exquisite profile in the history of Western art. The Poldi Pezzoli is housed in a secluded courtyard, opening up onto Corso Manzoni, just a few metres from the Teatro della Scala. Strolling from Corso Montenapoleone towards Piazza della Scala on Corso Manzoni, among the most elegant shopping streets in Milan, is still one of the most pleasurable moments I can have in Milan. I make time for it on even the busiest trip. I have recently been asked to join the Board of Trustees of this unique museum. I’m grateful for the honour not only because it allows me to give back to my city, but also because it truly is one of my favourite spots.
From the Poldi Pezzoli, one of the best walks is through Brera, the neighbourhood of antiquarians and art galleries, to Corso Garibaldi, where the anonymous latteria (milk shop) still sells the best cappuccino in town, and Mr. Spelta still makes his elegant handmade shoes for young Milanese fashionistas. At the end of Corso Garibaldi one can find another hard-worn gem: what looks from the outside like a flower shop is actually a sublime little coffee shop, perfect for drinks or dinner. It is called Fioraio Bianchi, and it serves one of the best carpaccios I’ve had in a long time.
One of Milan's most beautiful courtyards is secreted within the Università Statale. Image: Alamy
Milan is also a city of secret gardens and courtyards. One of the most splendid moments in the city’s history was the Quattrocento, when two of the most beautiful cloisters were built: the most monumental one now houses the Università Statale. One can simply walk in and promenade alongside these superb terracotta courtyards, mixing with the students, and taking in the latest fashion and design trends. For a more melancholic experience, I recommend the cloisters of the Stelline, also open to the public and close to the noble church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, famous for Leonardo’s Ultima Cena.
Milan is all this and it is also a city of long nights which start with never-ending aperitivi outside stylish bars. There is nothing more Milanese than the aperitivo, the pre-dinner drink or cocktail that starts around 7.30pm and can end anywhere between 10pm or 4am. One of the undisputed kingdoms of aperitivo is the bohemian neighbourhood of the Navigli. This is the name the Milanese give to the canals once connecting Milan to Genoa, and now existing only between Milan and Pavia. The southern part of the city is built around two of the surviving canals. It is the Milanese equivalent of the bars around the Canal Saint Martin in Paris. All the best cafes, restaurants, pizzerias, jazz bars are aligned on the canals’ borders.
But the best of all, and the most rewarding way to end one’s vagaries of Milan is the Trattoria Al Pont de Ferr, possibly the only Michelin-starred 'trattoria' in the world, and one of the best-kept secrets of a city that, for all its cosmopolitan allure, displays its greatest charms only to the cognoscenti.
Christie's international head of Impressionist and Modern Art, Italian-born Giovanna Bertazzoni travels the world from her London base to work with the auction house's clients and to appraise the works of private collectors and major cultural institutions.
Portrait of a Lady by Piero del Pollaiuolo, on show at Museo Poldi Pezzoli. Image: David Keith Jones/Alamy
Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- I could get used to life as a cavewoman.
Banish from your mind images of slimy walls and bat- infested gloom. The boutique hotels of Cappadocia in central Turkey are for the discerning would-be troglodyte. My cave at Alkabris hotel in the village of Ortahisar had heating, a chic bathroom, careful lighting and tasteful decor including mosaics crafted by our artist hostess.
Cappadocia is a moonscape of wacky rock formations created by eroded volcanic tuff, interspersed with bucolic valleys cradling vineyards and orchards. Rock-hewn fortresses tower over quaint cave villages. Below the surface are ancient underground cities and sculpted cave chapels adorned with Byzantine frescoes, some of which are 1,500 years old.
The bizarrely shaped monoliths, obelisks, columns and needles studding the landscape are known as “fairy chimneys.” They are best viewed from above by hot-air balloon, or explored from the valleys below on foot or horseback.
We were picked up at 5:25 a.m. for our balloon ride. Bleary eyed and coffee-deprived, we sat in the dark outside a cafe in Goreme, the main tourism center of Cappadocia, waiting for the pilots to decide whether the weather was good enough to fly.
The pungent aromas from dozens of pots of instant noodles being devoured by the 100 or so Asian tourists waiting with us was overpowering at that time of day. My traveling companion, a vertigo sufferer, was nervous, and passed the wait by making friends with a white street dog that was missing one eye.
“How many people are they going to put in each balloon?” she asked, wide-eyed, looking at the crowded tables of the cafe.
There were eight of us in our bijou balloon basket. Most others carried 20. The nerves and wait were forgotten as soon as we left the ground, floating over surreal rock characters (is that group of cubist figures a huddle of gossipy old ladies?) We watched as dozens of balloons behind us puffed up with air and lifted off gracefully.
The cloudy weather added to the ethereality of it all. At times we were low enough to scrape the tops of the trees; at times so high, the balloons below us shrank to freckles on the face of the earth. It was an exhilarating trip. Something about the way our youthful pilot Cem punched air into his balloon to a catchy rhythm suggested that he reckons he has the best job in the world.
Many visitors to Cappadocia stay just three days and sightsee on organized tours. There is really no excuse for that. Everything is easily accessible independently and three days is not nearly long enough.
We hired a car to explore the Ihlara valley, where priests and hermits dwelt at the dawn of Christianity, as long ago as the fourth century.
Twelve churches are entombed in the canyon’s caves -- including one in a rock sculpted like a Walt Disney fairy-tale castle, though entirely natural. At Belisirma, we ate a fish lunch on a floating wooden platform on the river.
Many of the chapel paintings are in a terrible state of repair, damaged by centuries of vandalism and neglect. Some are covered with the soot of cave fires; many biblical figures have their faces scratched out; others are damaged with graffiti.
It was good to see that the beautiful, 1,000-year-old indigo frescoes at Tokali Church, one of the most important in the Goreme Open Air Museum, are being restored by an Italian- Turkish team.
The Red Valley, close to Ortahisar, yielded the most civilized hiking I have ever experienced, along a path that meanders through airy cave tunnels and orchards. The route is punctuated by little open-air cafes every kilometer or so.
At one, the owner gave us the key to explore his secret Byzantine chapel with spectacular orange frescoes. At the next, we bought walnuts and dried apricots from a gray-bearded old man. Further along, we sank onto cozy cushions for a rest with a young modern-day hermit who insisted on giving us free tea because we were staying in his village.
What draws me to Turkey time and again (this was, I calculated, at least my sixth trip) is not just the cultural heritage of centuries, the climate or the fabulous cuisine. It’s the warmth and hospitality of the people; the ease with which a smile and hello can slip into a chat over tea in a glass.
The smallest interaction is richly rewarded. I helped a young peasant woman by passing her bags of heavy shopping as she got off the dolmus minibus from Urgup market. Her face erupted into wreaths of smiles and thanks, and I was sure a tea invitation was on the tip of her tongue as the door slid shut.
Cappadocia feels like a region on the move. The roads are newly surfaced, the vibe is positive and the amount of building work going on is astonishing. Boutique hotels are springing up by the dozen, it seems.
Still, it would be hard to find one better than Alkabris, with just five snug cave bedrooms. Our hosts Sait and Kamer Kazuk baked fresh bread and cakes for breakfast, served homemade jams and borek (flaky Turkish pastries) and organized everything from car hire to balloon rides for us.
They also cooked in the evenings for an extra charge of 25 euros ($32) per person if we requested it -- a treat well worth staying in for.
I could definitely get used to life as a cavewoman.
(Catherine Hickley is a writer for Muse, the arts and leisure section of Bloomberg News. Opinions expressed are her own.)
Muse highlights include Mark Beech on music, Warwick Thompson on U.K. stage, Rich Jaroslovsky on tech, Jeremy Gerard on New York theater and Ryan Sutton on New York dining.
--Editors: Mark Beech, Richard Vines.
To contact the writer on the story: Catherine Hickley at chickley@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Manuela Hoelterhoff at mhoelterhoff@bloomberg.net.
Look up…
It’s what I always remind visitors to the Happiest Place on Earth. Be it a visit to Walt Disney World in Florida, Disneyland in Anaheim or Paris — always look up and appreciate — admire — the craftsmanship of the Walt Disney Imagineering Team. It’s easy to miss the nuisances, the attention to details, as you rush — with your family — from queue to queue to queue…
Take in the beauty of these true artists. They’ve created atmospheric experiences — amazing destinations — that teleport us to different times and places. Pause, take your time and look up. See the inspiring work of men and women inspired by Walt Disney.
Here’s our photo tour of Disneyland Paris, as we spotlight the architecture and design of the Parisian Disney Park. At the Pursuitist, we look up, and showcase, the hand-crafted design, brilliance and artistry of Disney Imagineering.
From Main Street USA, to Phantom Manor in Frontierland and Pirates of the Caribbean in Adventureland, take a walk with us through France’s Disneyland. Also, check out our separate spotlight on Walt’s, An American Restaurant, at Disneyland Paris.
Look up, at the magic, and be amazed…
Disneyland Paris, located in the Paris suburb of Marne-la-Vallée, is the Disney Empire’s European variant of their archetypal “Magic Kingdom” theme park. It was the second Disney theme park resort to open outside the United States, after Tokyo Disney Resort.
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When it comes to children, more Americans are just saying “no.” In 2011, the U.S. fertility rate fell to the lowest rate ever reported — 63.2 births per thousand women ages 15 — 44. It’s now dropped for five straight years and reflects the longer term trend toward smaller families.
Historically, child-bearing fluctuates with the national mood — it rises when people feel optimistic and financially secure. But with the cost of children continuing to increase, and income stagnant, many experts think the U.S.’s baby boom days are over.
Today, parents are paying closer attention to the added costs of having a baby — and many are waiting to conceive until they have their finances in order. The experience of being a parent may be priceless, but it’s wise to plan ahead for the income needed to support that next generation.
If you’re a new parent this year, that cute bundle will cost you anywhere from $169,000 to $390,000 (in 2011 dollars) by the time they’re age 18, depending on your income level, according to data released in June by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The report shows that housing constitutes the largest share of that expense — about a third of the total cost — followed by food, child care, education, and transportation. And that’s only what happens up to age 18; the total doesn’t include college tuition and fees, which at in-state public universities now average $8,655 a year, according to the College Board.
For middle-income families — those earning from about $59,000 to $103,000 — all of those costs are up since 1995. Even after accounting for inflation, housing is up by about 5 percent, child care and education by a huge 172 percent (private school tuition has more than doubled in that period), transportation by 12 percent, and college tuition by 120 percent.
The cost of children also varies considerably depending on where you live. Yearly median child care costs run about $11,200 in the state of New York but only $4,200 in South Carolina, for example. New Hampshire and Vermont have the highest published in-state tuition charges, at around $14,000 each. Wyoming has the lowest at $4,287, followed by Utah at $5,595, according to the College Board.
To calculate the most expensive states, we looked at annual child care and housing costs from Child Care Aware of America’s Parents and the High Cost of Child Care: 2012 Report, and divided the total housing cost for a family by four. In-state tuition and fees come from the College Board’s 2012 Annual Survey of Colleges, and food costs were calculated by using the Consumer Expenditure Survey Data Table for the Northeast, Midwest, South and West regions and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. To obtain the average annual food cost for an individual child, we divided the total food cost for a family by four.
Here are the states:
12. California
Total: $23,018
11. New York
Total: $23,760
10. Hawaii
Total: $24,115
9. Connecticut
Total: $24,630
8. Pennsylvania
Total: $24,930
7. Illinois
Total: $25,018
6. Minnesota
Total: $25,088
5. Vermont
Total: $25,707
4. Rhode Island
Total: $25,949
3. Massachusetts
Total: $26,419
2. New Jersey
Total: $27,299
1. New Hampshire
Total: $28,376
See Also: The 10 best states to retire in this year >
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Here’s the first look at supermodel Naomi Campbell’s new futuristic home. Her boyfriend, Russian billionaire Vladislav Doronin, has commissioned Zaha Hadid to design a house in the style of a spaceship. The home features 2 separate sections, the main one jutting out from the earth and the other rising high into the sky for views of the area. At 2,650 square meters, the spaceship-like home is located Barvikha, Moscow.
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According to MacRumors, via Dutch site One More Thing, late Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ Yacht, called Venus, has been launched in Aalsmeer, The Netherlands. Jobs’ widow Laurene Powell Jobs and their three children participated in the christening and the launching of the super yacht Jobs designed with the custom yacht firm Feadship. The aluminum-hulled ship is said to be 70-80 meters in length and features seven 27-inch iMacs lined up in the wheelhouse to help run the controls. Below, watch Venus in action:
Mentioned in the New York Times from Walter Isaacson’s new biography of Steve Jobs, which was released after his death, the late Apple leader was working on creating his very own Feadship superyacht. Jobs didn’t like the normal yacht designs so he decide to design it himself, not a surprise, creating a super luxurious yacht to rival his good friend and fellow yachtsman Larry Ellison.
“The book also offers some tidbits about Mr. Jobs’s legendary attention to detail, which, according to Mr. Isaacson, extended to a luxury yacht that he began designing in 2009. The design is sleek and minimalist, with 40-foot-long glass walls. It is being built in the Netherlands by the custom yacht firm Feadship, the book says.”
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Look up…
It’s what I always remind visitors to the Happiest Place on Earth. Be it a visit to Walt Disney World in Florida, Disneyland in Anaheim or Paris — always look up and appreciate — admire — the craftsmanship of the Walt Disney Imagineering Team. It’s easy to miss the nuisances, the attention to details, as you rush — with your family — from queue to queue to queue…
Take in the beauty of these true artists. They’ve created atmospheric experiences — amazing destinations — that teleport us to different times and places. Pause, take your time and look up. See the inspiring work of men and women inspired by Walt Disney.
Here’s our photo tour of Disneyland Paris, as we spotlight the architecture and design of the Parisian Disney Park. At the Pursuitist, we look up, and showcase, the hand-crafted design, brilliance and artistry of Disney Imagineering.
From Main Street USA, to Phantom Manor in Frontierland and Pirates of the Caribbean in Adventureland, take a walk with us through France’s Disneyland. Also, check out our separate spotlight on Walt’s, An American Restaurant, at Disneyland Paris.
Look up, at the magic, and be amazed…
Disneyland Paris, located in the Paris suburb of Marne-la-Vallée, is the Disney Empire’s European variant of their archetypal “Magic Kingdom” theme park. It was the second Disney theme park resort to open outside the United States, after Tokyo Disney Resort.
Read more posts on Pursuitist »
