ABSTRACT
During a trip to Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, we bought a painting by a local artist. Upon seeing the painting, the first sentence out of the mouth of a business owner who was part of our group was, “How much was it?” When we told him the price we paid, he instantly lost interest in the painting; evidently, it was too cheap to catch his interest. Asking how much people have paid for a product they own, either directly or indirectly, is a common practice in China. The more expensive it is, the more impressive it is. While the Chinese are often characterized as being obsessed with luxury products, we feel it is more appropriate to say that they engage in the relentless pursuit of expensive products.
