Chinese golf as a metaphor
Many years ago, I used a news article about the opening of Beijing's first golf course as an illustration of the changes going on in China. In 1989, I used a news report about Zhao Ziyang's golf game as an example of how purged leaders were no longer "sent down."Today, the Washington Post published a new article about golf in China. It's another sign of change. (Somebody want to write a history of the last 25 years focusing on golf and politics in China?)
Once-Banned Pastime Now Par for the Course
"It's 10 a.m. on a weekday, and most of Beijing's movers and shakers are in their offices. And yet, here is golf legend Jack Nicklaus, teaching a children's clinic on the driving range...
"It wasn't always like this. In fact, golf was once banned by Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong, who saw it as a decadent and elitist game. But golf has become the latest fashion among wealthy Chinese -- a way to exercise and, more important, a way to affirm one's status.
"In the past 20 years, more than 200 courses have sprung up in China...
"Membership... can cost a penny or two. The one-time fee for individuals at Pine Valley is $200,000, plus $1,200 in dues each year. Guests fork out $100 green fees on weekdays and $160 on weekends.
"Those kinds of prices have prompted critics to label the game "green opium," addictive but also a drain on natural resources. Last year Chinese officials, worried that the amount of arable land was shrinking, announced a ban on new construction of villas, golf courses and racetracks..."
Labels: change, China, history
posted by Ken Wedding @ 9:51 AM
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