Bulging middle

China's emerging middle class is not just important to its own economy but is also a global phenomenon.

Demystifying the middle-class myths

Quotable

"I won't bet against anyone unless I'm sure about the result. I think in 10 years, the situation will be a lot more surprising than we think. So I advise Wang not to bet with me."

IN BRIEF (Page 2)

Xi lays out his caring credentials in provincial trip

Prescription for change

A decade of economic growth has created an ever-expanding middle class in China. With a better education background and bigger disposable income, they have become a major force as consumers in pursuit of a better way of life.

More cars in the drive

The endless boom

This isn't just a trend

Doors are open to China's home-improvement market

Changing winds of consumerism

A drama that could have an unhappy ending

Survival of China's fittest luxury brands

In search of the middle-class dream

On the cusp of a boom

Pollution solutions

China's efforts to assess the problem of smog hanging over Beijing and other cities has meant business for Western providers of specialized air-monitoring equipment, and this could pick up with efforts to clear the skies.

I can breathe clearly now

Energy drive

Quotable

IN BRIEF (Page 19)

The long-distance kiss that put flowers on Net

Yingli hopes sun shines on market shift

Great snakes!

Let's face it, the snake has an image problem. In preparation for the Year of the Snake, a mammoth decoration in the form of the reptile was erected at a highway toll plaza in Sichuan province. Somehow, they gave the snake the countenance of a chicken. Onlookers joked that whoever sculpted it must have been born in the Year of the Rooster, and others chimed in that they would no longer be afraid of the snake now it had taken the shape of a friendlier animal.

The miracle that begot another

Food of good fortune

How to pass your next taxi audition

From the beginning

The history of Shaoxing stretches back 5,000 years to the earliest settlements of China. Sitting on the southern banks of the Qiantang River, it was once home to the Neolithic Hemudu Culture. Hemudu people lived by hunting and farming. Their staple food was rice, but they also ate acorns, gourds, monkeys, deer, rhinoceroes, and elephants among other things, according to archaeological finds in the area.

Aiming for the A-list

China's most flamboyant designer, Guo Pei, whose outrageously extravagant gowns are much sought after by movie stars and socialites, aims to make an international impact in the near future. Beijing-based Guo is famous in her native country for producing her signature gowns, one-offs that can cost up to $50,000 a time. Among her clients have been A-list stars such as Li Bingbing and Zhang Ziyi and singers Tang Can and Sun Yue.

Baba's birth

Unfulfilled potential

Too much talk and very little action sum up the two-decade old energy cooperation between China and Russia, says Keun-Wook Paik, senior research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies and author of Sino-Russian Oil and Gas Cooperation: The Reality and Implications.

Why the lion danced

Deep in the mountains of ancient China, every thirteenth moon the dreaded monster Nian pays a visit to the village. The villagers must protect themselves, but which animal can save them? Come and find out and help the villagers scare the monster away!

Conferences & Meetings

Diplomatic Pouch: With Mike Peters

Understanding the difference

Foreign companies will have to add more Chinese elements to their management style, if they want to cash in on the new growth opportunities in China, says Charles-Edouard Bouee, president of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, Asia.