WHAT CAN WE LEARN ABOUT THE “CHINESE DREAM” FROM CHINA’S GOLF INDUSTRY?
I think the very fact that a golf industry exists in China is a sign that the Chinese Dream is alive and well for some. There are few things more aspirational in nature than golf in China. It’s so costly to play the game, so expensive to purchase a home near a course, that the activity and the life that surrounds it has become as much a symbol of “making it” in China as a Louis Vuitton handbag or an Audi A6. But I think the larger world surrounding the game shows that the Chinese Dream means different things to different people. Very few can afford the mansion with the fairway view or even the golf club membership. For Zhou, golf allowed him to simply dream of a better life beyond his village or workers dorm. For Wang, although he may have felt forced to sell his land to a golf development, the money he made from the transaction allowed him to dream of a better future for his children in a time a great uncertainty for so many others—a sign that the Chinese Dream is not yet attainable for all.
Read the entire interview at Jing Daily.