My Wife, the Millionaire....

When I first met my wife in the 90’s she lived in a 5^th floor nondescript apartment building reserved for high ranking officials.  There was no elevator.   Yet lived by foot only 7 minutes or so from Westlake in Hangzhou.  The building itself had a covered, enclosed bicycle garage.   The family an actual working phone.  The year was 1991.

Soon after marriage we had a crisis on our hands.  The rumor was that the government was going to raze the building (which they eventually did).   The parents wanted to buy a home, because by ’96 apartment blocks were beginning to rise in Hangzhou.   The Taiwanese, and overseas Chinese in particular (Indonesia, Malaysia) were beginning to see this and suddenly Hangzhou was being looked upon as a nice place to have a 2^nd home.  That is, the wealthy Chinese were all flocking to the defacto retirement getaway of Mao (whose villa by the way, unlike that of Lin Biao, still hasn’t been opened to the public.  I tried to bike in once when I was a student, as nonchalantly as possible, and the guards stopped me.)

China Wife’s parents were freaking out.  Quite frankly, they were worried of being kicked out with no place to go.  Simple as that.  The government offered them $10,000 for their place.  They took it.  And well, the rest is history.

It was a one bath, two bedroom, plus an office.  From memory it was probably around 90 meters or 900 square feet.  I’d say for $10 grand, the Chinese government got a good deal.  They probably in turn “sold” the land for a higher number. 

From there China Wife’s parents bought an apartment, of which I contributed 20% of the money for the deposit (which my wife claims was paid back, but who knows?)   But I believe they flipped it before moving in, and then over a decade ago bought another apartment. Yet upon my visiting I decided it was in a decidedly more run down location.  The parents claimed it was only a ten minute walk from Westlake, but I can tell you that’s bullshit.  However, by bus it’s only 2 stops away.  Fair enough. 

Hangzhou today has changed markedly in three ways.  It is the host of Alibaba, the influx of “outsiders” is so severe that the Hangzhou dialect is no longer as prevalent as it used to be(especially with taxi drivers), and the cost of real estate is ten times beyond the cost of maddening.  More than most cities, Hangzhou has suffered from its fame as both a scenic destination and a well known center of Chinese History.  Its temples are at all times of the day, uber crowded with out of town peasants and travel groups. 

Still, despite its well known rule banning factories within the city limits, the overwhelming buildup of China’s manufacturing base in and around Hangzhou has still left a mark.   Unlike twenty odd years ago, one can now hardly see across the lake to the green hills beyond except on a really good day.

The inlaws today have a 170 square meter apartment.  they have two solid bedrooms, two baths, an extremely large living room, a fair sized balcony and a decent sized office that the father in law uses as his bedroom(he sleeps on the floor), whenever their glorious son in law(that’s me!) arrives.  

And they have an elevator.

If one opens the window to below one can see a fairly ugly parking lot.  That’s it.  In sum, nothing special about this location.  Except that it’s in Hangzhou.  And as for Westlake itself?  Well, I’m here to tell you on any given day the well laid out concrete banks of Hangzhou continue to be filled with lovers, locals out for a simple stroll, and of course those damn flag waving tour guides.  It’s as busy as Tiananmen or the Forbidden Palace.   It’s a big time tourist attraction. 

Upon buying the apartment the inlaws promptly put their daughter’s name on the note.  (sweet!) Because since this apartment has been bought it has gone up in value 7 times.  (I wish I could say something cool like “quintupled”, but I just don’t the phrase for “7”)

At first we oohed and ahhed when it doubled.  Then tripled.  Crazy!

I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.  And I still am. 

Of course in legalese, the apartment does not really “belong” to China Wife.  All property belongs to the state.  And all “owners” of housing have “only” a 70 year lease.  

China Wife only recently in an unguarded moment of hers told me the per square meter value of the property.   I calculated it at 1.5 million dollars.  Contrast this with a 100 sq meter apartment in the middle of Shenzhen at less than $1 million USD. 

I’ve told you all(all 12 of you) that my wife greatly regrets missing out on the China boom.  In short, her father was a generation too soon.  If he had retired a generation later, he’d be a millionaire many times over.   Recently one of my Chinese friends retorted “but he’d be in jail”, which is something I’ve uttered a few times as well. 

Well, turns out all that doesn’t matter. 

One day China Wife came home talking about how “we” should by a condo.  She’d obviously been talking to her China Friends.  It irritates me so when her friends have more sway over our family decisionmaking then I do.   Which is easy when you live with a person so keen to keep up with the Joneses’.

I heard it out, then said “no”.    I was politely blunt. 

We don’t have the money I need to plan for the kids’ tuition, etc.  All the usual excuses.

But China Wife insisted. 

Then she announced her parents would buy the condo.

And like any good honest Chinese, they would pay for it in cash.   

WTF?

It would only be $130 grand or so.   I was astounded to hear this from China Wife.  After all, where would her parents get the money?

To this day, I consider China Wife’s father to be the most honest Chinese government official  I’ve ever met.  His breed is quickly going the way of Beijing’s City Walls.  Within a decade or so his Kind will be gone, and people will reminisce about his ilk in the history books.

(Quite some time ago I wrote a post about a particular corruption case in China before the rise of Deng.  Here it is. )

Still, when China Wife told me this, my first thought wasn’t “where will they get the money?”, but “how dare you try and shame me by getting your parents, of such modest means, to spend so far above their budget just to satisfy a selfish need of yours!”

China Wife calmly looked me in the eye and said,

“Of course they will pay in cash.”

Why do we love Chinese Consumers again?  

It took me a bit to process this information.   Today, with the crazy rise of real estate in China, many an undeserving person is wealthy beyond their dreams, all before they complete their first year of high school.  I mention again my wife’s best friend in Shenzhen.  Their house has “only” quadrupled in value, but they’ve also bought a house in semi-nearby Huizhou, which itself has doubled in value, all without going through the hassle of actually “renovating” it.  That is, not laying down carpet, or painting the walls, or even turning on the power. 

This lady along with her husband have long since fallen out of love with each other, yet are bound to each other by their only child.  A very smart, mature young lady, that will someday be very disinclined to start and develop a career on her own.   And there are millions of other Chinese Kids just like her.   Simply waiting for the peach to fall from the tree.

To this day, I still wonder how China Wife’s parents have the means to pay for a condo in cash.   And I do not have an answer for that.  Initially, my impression of my father in law took a hit.  But then  I realized the money couldn’t have come from him.  He simply retired too early.   Yet I didn’t pry.   But now I can’t help but wondering exactly how much money do my China inlaws have? 

I can’t help but contrast them with my own parents.  My father hasn’t owned a house in decades, and only collects a meager pension.   Still I don’t pry.  The note is in China Wife’s name.   She claims some day we will use it to pay for our children’s tuition.  I don’t know.   I wonder what else China Wife’s parents have up their sleeve.   I conservatively estimate my wife’s parents are worth around $2 million.   But who knows?

Unfortunately, according to Chinese law, so I’m told, one cannot pass property down to family.  So eventually my wife will have to sell the property, probably in her 80’s or something.  As such, my kids are already taken care of.  I think.

Still, my wife has already announced come her 60’s she will be spending 6 months in Hangzhou and 6 months in America. 

Meanwhile I struggle with my IRA, my 401(American retirement accounts).   I have 8 years of continuous college tuition just around the corner and well, I’m freaking out.  I’ve prepared.  For them.  But not as well for myself.  Unfortunately we live in an age where one family in America with both parents working only just cuts it for expenses and then a bit more.   An upper middle class nightmare where ones’ kids go to all the proper schools, and check off all the boxes, with the aim of getting into some sort of college that will be a springboard worthy of the effort for future success. 

Slowly but surely, like the noose millimeter by millimeter tightening around one’s neck, I find myself working not for enjoyment or fulfillment but for the sole purpose of ensuring I can afford what’s coming less than a thousand days from now.   As such qualities I once had in abundance, such as ambition, and the need for self fulfillment are slowly crowded to the wayside.   Conformity has begun to creep in.  It’s inexorable grip slowly tightening around my soul. 

Meanwhile I can’t help but wondering what else does China Wife’s Family have up its sleeve?