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A Chinese entrepreneur and his wife who have bought a 3,344-square-meter mansion in Beverly Hills for a reported $34.5-million are being pilloried by netizens who complain the couple have a deeply misplaced sense of priorities.
The report last week by the Wall Street Journal detailed the bargain price paid by Ning Siqiao and his wife, for the mansion overlooking Sunset Boulevard. It was originally listed two years ago by local real estate developer Fred Wehba for $68.5 million.
Western media reports described Ning and his wife as a young couple and said they were China-based business people, but few other details were released. A search of Ning's Chinese name on search engines also provides few clues as to wher the couple live in China or how they amassed such wealth.
Some Web users are not amused by the ostentatious display of wealth and have drawn parallels to a report on a US couple who have spent 20 years helping disabled children in China.
The Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday how Tim and Pam Baker came to China 20 years ago and built the orphanage - Shepherd's Field Children's Village - in Tianjin in 2006, a facility that has been home to about 3,000 mostly disabled orphans.
"Both stories came out over the last few days, but China-bred rich people only pursue material pleasures," a Weibo user Wang Hui, told the Global Times.
"This is purely an individual decision and netizens shouldn't be so sensitive, as long as the money is made legally," Wang Xiaoyu, a professor with the Shanghai-based Tongji University, told the Global Times.
Chinese bought $7.4 billion worth of property in the 12 months ending March 2011, the National Association of Realtors reported.
The Global Times did not receive a reply to an e-mail sent to Fred Wehba as of late yesterday.
Chinese you need:
Entrepreneur：企业家 (qǐ yè jiā)
Mansion：别墅 (bié shù)
Pillory：使被公众嘲笑 (shǐ bèi gōng zhòng cháo xiào)
Bargain：讨价还价 (tǎo jià huán jià)
Real estate：房地产 (fáng dì chǎn)
Developer：开发商 (kāi fā shāng)
Business：商业 (shāng yè)
Search engine：搜索引擎 (sōu suǒ yǐn qíng)
Clue：线索 (xiàn suǒ)
Ostentatious：炫耀的 (xuàn yào de)
Orphanage：孤儿院 (gū ér yuàn)
Disabled：残疾的 (cán jí de)
Pursue：追求 (zhuī qiú)
Sensitive：敏感的 (mǐn gǎn de)
Property：资产 (zī chǎn)