He is definitely right about that. Hongkongers and especially mainland Chinese are not cheap at all. In fact, they don’t even have the concept of “wasting” or “overindulgence” in mainland China. Splurge, splurge, splurge.
I lived in HK and China for 18 years, and I don’t ever remember thinking to myself “Seriously? Is this guy for real right now? How cheap can someone be?” By contrast, I think that almost daily here in Taiwan.
The difference between China and Taiwan is night and day. They lie almost on two ends of the spectrum.
I’ve also noticed that being cheap is frowned upon by society in HK and China, whereas it is considered a good thing here, and rewarded and encouraged even by celebrities on mass media.
Hyper-practicality is at the essence of everything in the Chinese speaking world, especially Southern Chinese.
Things are worth doing if you can get something for them, not for the act itself. If you can half ass something and not get any blowback for it, then do that(thats basically the root of cha bu duo).
Get a fancy watch, so that you can show off, or get a more beautiful girl, but not to enjoy the watch.
we had very different experiences with Mainland companies. My experiences were all about cutting corners and get as much work for free as possible for the lowest price possible with the most chabuduo result possible without making it apparent.
Alot of my wife’s single female friends (30s & 40s) go aboard constantly, and of course show off about it on social media.
It seems to be a coping mechanism for not being married or having kids. On FB everyone’s posting baby pics, while they’re saying “look look, my life is great - even though I don’t have a family I can travel”.
I think on average Taiwanese people are more willing to spend time and money on experiences with friends and families, such as travel and food. There are people who love luxury brands, jewelry, expensive watches, expensive cars, but expect for bag/purse/clothes for some young Taipei people, most wouldn’t carry them daily. If people have a diamond engagement ring, chances are they will rarely wear it, unless a really formal occasion calls for it.
For older people, I know some likes to collect antiques, expensive tea, wine, coffee, and other things. For younger people, many likes to splurge on computers, gaming, expansive shoes and other entertainment. Although unless you know them really well, you won’t get invited to see their collections.
You have to be on an insane diet to eat off of free samples. Like they make one batch per hour or something and there’s an insane line every single time for a small bite of meat. And if you’re 2 seconds too slow you get nada.
It takes insane amount of patience and zen like quality.
A desert island with very few resources is the last place you want a billion dollars in your back pocket. Modern notes aren’t even that flammable, although I suppose you could attempt to knit the notes together into some kind of parka.