Wealthy Elite Investing In Niche Sporting Lessons For Children#
We tend to take stories that overhype the emergence of traditionally "elite" sports in China with a grain of salt, because even sports considered run-of-the-mill in places like North America (baseball or hockey) are rarely played there for by a select few Chinese. (Although this isn't for the MLB's lack of trying.) Even for middle-class parents of decent means, the choice between investing in niche sporting lessons for their child or something more practical (like foreign language tutoring) is a foregone conclusion.
However, the following Reuters video on a Beijing polo club that offers lessons to the children of the city's wealthy elite to the tune of $14,000 (over four times the country's nominal per capita annual income) caught our eye, as it shows how conspicuous consumption in China now extends far beyond villas or extended-cab BMWs into ballet lessons, Parisian debutante balls, and charm school.