Making money does not yet mean you know how to behave in an international setting of fellow rich, China´s multimillionaires have discovered. Rupert Hoogewerf, founder of the China Rich List, sees a watershed in the community he studies, he tells Australian Financial Review.
The Australian Financial Review:
One possible reason is the word tuhao, which has emerged this year as the ultimate put-down in China. It loosely translates to hillbilly, but has come to signify those with money but no taste.
“I think the emergence of tuhao is a watershed moment in the development of the Chinese luxury consumer,” says Rupert Hoogewerf, founder of the HurunReport, which documents the lives of China’s rich via a monthly magazine of the same name.
“It shows that many more luxury consumers understand the difference between what is tasteful and what is crass.”
The Eton-educated Hoogewerf, who should know all about the “correct service of tea”, says even though the newly rich use the term to gently mock each other, no one wants to be labelled a tuhao. “People who are being called a tuhao are changing,” he says.
More in the Australian Financial Review.
Rupert Hoogewerf is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch, or fill in our speakers´ request form.
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