Shopping for home wares is better in numbers

Amid the deafening noise of electric saws and a repellent smell of lacquer, I found myself among a group of people in their late 30s scrutinizing doors in a small factory in a remote suburban village.

I was there to help my best friend, whom I met online five years ago when we discussed decoration at the community's BBS. She has since moved to another community, and now, she has bought a house that is twice the size of her first abode.

"How about this one?" she asked, fondling a brown oak door with flowing wooden patterns. It certainly matches her new Mediterranean style home. "That's 4,000 yuan ($520)," said the doors' creator. A few years ago, one set of door cost us 1,600 yuan ($210).

Seeing our incredulous looks, he explained: "I've used special techniques to get the paint into the wood while maintaining its rough feel. Above all, I'm making doors for those who love art and life."

Leaving the doors behind, my friend hurried back to meet dealers of other decorative materials. When you buy an apartment or house, it has become trendy and helpful to join the community's BBS. Netizens are joining forces to fight dealers. The more neighbors they can persuade to buy something, the bigger discount they can get.

The battle for followers became fierce when dealers introduced ground-heating systems - laying electric wires or tubes containing hot water all over the floor.

After an engineer talked about a Danish electric ground-heating system, members of the audience shot questions that I guess no reporter would ask: "Can you guarantee that the radiation won't harm my future baby?" "Why would you charge the same when you can't lay heating wires under the bathtub?"

The engineer seemed well prepared: his company has heated tens of millions of square meters of residential floors in Beijing and even more worldwide.

Still, the audience didn't seem to be convinced. Besides its price, which is three times the cost of laying water tubes, the audience also worried that if they keep the room temperature at least 18 C throughout the day for the young and old during winter, the electricity bill would be astronomical.

"It is OK for DINKs, who can turn off the heater during the day. But it's plain costly for me with a big family," said an elegant lady.

The lady has sold her apartment to finance the down payment of her new house. Before she finishes decoration, she pays rent to the buyer of her apartment. "The rent is lower than the bank loan," she said, smiling warmly.

"Do you still think we are dakuan (rich people)?" my friend asked me.

As we walked out of the community club, an open air party began. Eight race horses and their Mongolian riders lined up waiting for VIP guests. A professional singer and her band were playing Portuguese songs.

For whom the party was held? "That's what we call the super-duper rich," my friend exclaimed.

(China Daily 08/30/2007 page20)