CONTRADICTION: Savings and Waste

The Chinese really know how to save. Pre-2007, when the savings rate in the UK averaged a slight negative percentage of earnings, the Chinese were saving 30% of each paycheck. Day to day you can see the incredible pragmatism of the people here in the ways they come up with to make money. Your local newspaper stand owner will generally also be able to fix your leather shoes and copy your housekey. Retirees drive around three-wheeled tricycles covered in recyclable styrofoam, cardboard, and metal that they exchange at the local dump for cents per kilogram. Waste is hard to find, as most of the time waste materials mean some kind of opportunity to someone else.

The blogosphere has been erupting recently about waste, however, in the form of food waste at restaurant banquets. When eating at home with their immediate family, even monied folks will eat a balanced meal consisting of simple stuff like rice, a couple meat dishes, and some vegetables. During business meetings, holidays, and special events, most locals celebrate by heading out to a restaurant, where they sit around a large table and order a ton of dishes, usually way more than could be eaten by double the amount of people sitting at the table. Between wanting to provide a show of genuine hospitality, and the high minimum fees required by restaurants booking rooms popular for private meals, almost anyone who's spent a significant amount of time here has been privy to scenes of waitresses dumping out handfuls of uneaten food into garbage cans after a Spring Festival bash. Recently, Xi Jinping came out with an "internal memo" made public about disgust with the practice. We'll see how much that changes things, and how quickly.