WIth the backdrop of a pristine Armani store, an elderly couple enjoy evening Tai Chi, seemingly unaware that their surroundings have changed unrecognisably in just a few short years. I suspect that this couple have been performing Tai Chi in this street for decades, but they, and millions others like them, have largely missed the wave of prosperity sweeping the country. With their savings wiped out by inflation in the 1990's, many elderly Chinese resent the changes that have transformed their country and remember fondly the days when everyone was equal.
But for good or for bad, those days are now a fading memory for some and mere history book stuff for the wealthy young target audience of Armani. Gradually, sights like this will be lost from urban China as the older generations pass away, and China's traditional social group activities like Tai Chi become irrelevant.
China will be poorer as a result, no matter how wealthy the county becomes.
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