I enjoy making new connections, the strategic hard work, the satisfaction at the end of the day, and all the other little bits. Because of this love I'm subscribed and read many articles pertaining to it. I can firmly tell you lately everything has been about China. No surprise there, China continues to grow as a bigger world superpower day by day, but in this post I want to discuss Shanghai as the future financial hub of the world.
Today, Shanghai houses 116,000 of the worlds multi-millionaires. From real estate mongols to shipping tycoons. Dubai may be the playground for the super rich but Shanghai is where they reside. Here you can find nothing short of every capitalist luxury the world has to offer. Roll Royce showrooms, high end fashion houses such as Louis Vuitton, infinity pools, sought out French wines; the list is endless.
You may go to Los Angeles to make it big in entertainment Shanghai is the equivalent business-wise. Over 20,000 from central China move to the city every year in hopes of making it big.
Now that you have some background of elite China let's talk about the novel I'll soon be indulging in: Crazy Rich Asians written by Kevin Kwan.
I first discovered the novel flipping through my June 2013 Vogue subscription(no surprise if you know me). The magazine offered an exclusive peek of real text from the novel. From the first page I knew I had to get my hands on this book. Thanks to school and other matters I'm finally get my hands on this book... nine months later. I ordered my copy from Barnes and Noble today and I'm highly anticipating Wednesday.
The snippet in Vogue starts on page 220 of the novel.
The novel drops us off in another big city in China: Singapore. Our main character Rachel Chu and her boyfriend Nick Young is making their way to a fortified "palace" as Rachel decribes to us. Nick casually says it's his grandmothers home.
She is instantly greeted in the palace by a magnificent parlor and a ferocious Tiger taxidermy. She has many questions Nick is glad to answer blandly. Still awestruck Nick leads her up a staircase to the living room where his relatives and notable well dressed guest lounge enjoying each other company. Rachel makes a round around the room to introduce herself in an embarrassing fashion. She had not expected Nick's family to be so grand and aristocratic, she wishes he had prepared her better to meet them.
She does not have much time to dwell on how little she knows about Nick or how innocent she was not to ask before a xylophone sounds a melody indicating dinner is ready.
Rachel is astonished by the variety and amount of food offered. She fills her plate and heads to the table where she is stopped by Nick's cousin Oliver, who steals her plate moving it to the table at the far end of the terrace. She questions why they are avoiding the rest of the family. Olivier tells her honestly, everyone is gossiping and talking smack about her. Rachel, a penniless nobody is dating the heir and most available young man to an enormous fortune.
The snippet stops there! If you want to know more pick up the book yourself or stay tuned future blog post!
