apaul, I honestly didn't know that KayMart had assaulted China some years ago. I am so apologetic.

If you've read everything, you know that I don't like WalMart and have never been into one of its stores. I can't imagine that it would be econmically feasible for WalMart to sell things that are worse than China's export items in China!

Who in hell in China would ever buy anything at WalMart?

Of course many people go to Walmart just like in some other countries.This supermarket do provide cheap and relatively safe products,many people trust it and buy things from it even it is more expensive than buy from some retailers.
Liz, maybe you are a little richer than ordinary people and attach great importance on quality,it is wise to choose better products.

Apaul193, Is starbucks still near Tinamen Square? I think Americans do not realise how prominent their businesses are in other countries.It is as easy to get an American meal at American outlets like Mc Donalds in most parts of Asia as to get a Chinese meal in most Western contires.

apaul, I am a member of the middle-class. I simply don't buy anything we don't need. And, yes, I look for quality in what we do buy since, if you buy 'quality' and non-faddish things, you don't have to buy very often.

I guess we're a part of the recession since we don't simply go out and buy.

aus22,the starbucks was driven away some time ago as too many people protest its business near Tiananmen Square.Mc Donalds and KFC are all around in China's big cities,many people enjoy very much such kind of food which has been proved unhealthy though. I choose to eat such food as less as possible.
Any other healthier food and new concept on health exported??We welcome fast but healthy food.
When go to Chinese restaurant,you also should know which dish is healthy,I suggest you eat more steamed food rather than fried food.

Liz,I am quite in favour of your way of consuming,I would rather buy some 'quality' but not stylish things though they are a little more expensive than ordinary things,but they are more perdurable and symbols one's taste.

I heard that Americans seldom save money in banks,and many are always in debt, is it true?

Apaul193, I agree with your comment on healthy food. I do not eat at Macdonald's in Australia but do in Asia as it is at least Western food.

However I do also like some Chinese frood. My wife is half Chinese so we get some Chinese food. It is not fried but steamed

It would seem so, apaul, since so many homes are being foreclosed and a lot of people apparently have more credit card card debt than sense.

I think it works something like this: a consumer wants to buy something--say a high-definition television set. He doesn't have the money to pay for it out-right, so he puts it on a credit card, because he can make minimum payments on his credit card debt. He doesn't realize that, if he only makes the minimum payment, what he still owes is being charged interest--sometimes at an alarming interest rate. That means he's never out of debt. And it often means he has no money left at the end of the month to put into a savings account.

It would be very difficult for me to live that way--but I didn't grow up in a credit card society.

I see the pattern of consumption in America.But this pattern must have been built on the basis of a very good social security system.
Given that one falls ill,he/she have to pay the fee of medical care by himself/herself,he/she shall have to save money to cope with this risk.Or one has to pay a lot of tuition for his/her children's education,he/she shall have to save money.Or one wants to buy a house,he/she has to save money.These are the things that young people in China have to think about.
In China,people,who take part in the social security system,can receive a discount of 70%~80% on the medical care fee,but a lot of people at rural area can hardly join this system,and still many urban citizens have no money left to join this system,and even someone who has joined this system can not afford the remaining 20% medical care fee,especailly when they are subject to a serious disease.The 20% part means a lot of money to them.The medical situation is very serious.
And the house.Many young people try to buy a house before they get married,but for a postgraduate,all of his/her monthly income can only afford half a square meter of the house.I wonder if the houses are bulit for ordinary people??
But I guess that in America,people don't have to pay the fee of medical care,or only pay a little for that,and can easliy afford the tuition of two or three children's education,and young people don't have to struggle too much to buy a house for marriage.

Is that sarcasm? He's being sarcastic, isn't he?

There are several very misleading numbers floating around about the average American's credit card debt. Some who are bad at math say we carry anywhere from $8,000 to $9,500 in credit card debt per household and some say per person, which would double or more the household debt. This number was based on a company who figured it up by taking the total dollar amount they thought was owed to credit cards and dividing it by 80 something million which is the number of households they believe to have credit cards. Their math is flawed and their numbers suspect.

What some dumb asses did with the math was, well, dumb. Not all Americans have credit cards. Not all Americans carry balances (debt) on them from month to month. Not all Americans were used in the math to figure we each had from $8,000 to $9,500 in credit card debt. No one should ever had said the math showed the "average American" owed anything. The math was not applied to the average American. It was applied to how many people or households were believed to have credit cards at that time.