ABSTRACT
Deng Xiaoping’s introduction of market reforms in 1978-1979 unquestionably represents a watershed moment in the history of the modern Chinese state and society. The vast economic transformation that ensued, described by some as a consumer revolution (Davis 2000; Chao and Myers 1998), has lifted an estimated 635 million people out of poverty, altered social structures and practices after decades of egalitarian redistributive policies and introduced new patterns of household spending for the fi rst time in China since 1949. Even with memories of the Mao era “shortage economy” (Kornai 1980) and strict rationing that characterized centralized economic planning still fresh in the minds of many, PRC citizens have taken avidly to window-shopping in enormous indoor shopping malls, perusing a ready selection of luxury brand items and frequenting the upscale department stores that now dot the new central business districts sprouting up in China’s major cities.
