The People’s Republic of Desire

43 Matchmaking

Since "sex goddess" editor Lulu left her abusive ex-boyfriend, Ximu, Beibei has become our matchmaker. Her plan is to find both of us fat cats who might become her business partners. Surely, Beibei has many connections with wealthy people.

Beibei has never approved of Lulu falling in love with poor artists like Ximu. She has a theory: in today's world, poor men and rich men are equally corrupt, so why not go for the rich ones? Beibei wants to arrange a party for Lulu's birthday, but she's not sure where to hold it. Not Beijing, because the Communist Party convention is about to take place, and it'll be harder to keep a low profile.

Beibei's friend in Shanghai, a banker called Dan Ke, invites Beibei, Lulu, and me to come to Shanghai where the hype is. "My company bought a colonial-style mansion in Xuhui district," he says. "We spent one million yuan just on the renovations. Let's celebrate Lulu's birthday here. I'll invite all my bachelor friends. We've got a huge living room, big enough for ballroom dancing!"

No sooner has Beibei accepted Dan's invitation than her Shenzhen friend, real-estate developer Little Wan, calls. "Why did you guys choose Shanghai?" he asks. "You'll find only middle managers and compradors, not the taipans or real bosses. I recently bought a 625-square meter villa in Shenzhen up on a mountain. Come here to party."

With two invitations, we decide to have an afternoon tea party in Shanghai at Dan's and then fly to Shenzhen for dinner at Little Wan's.

In Dan's mansion, "The Storm" by the sexy violinist Vanessa-Mae is playing in the background and the air is filled with the mingling smells of goose liver pate, caviar, aged Irish whiskey, French wines, and Cuban cigars. The guests, all in their thirties, have names such as Vincent Yu, Johnny Chen, Michael Wu, David Lee, Peter Lam, and Eric Pan. They seem to be either directors of investment banks, CEOs of dot-coms, or chief representatives of foreign companies. Lulu's reputation for being a Chinese Marilyn Monroe, along with her enchanting eyes, grabs the attention of all the men, who are soon trying hard to impress her with their wealth – of course, without mentioning money directly.

Eric talks about his vacation at his luxury villa in the south of France, dropping words in French. Johnny tells of his gambling experiences in Las Vegas and the VIP treatment he received. Michael divulges details about his wine collection. David whines about the poor service in certain five-star hotels in different parts of the world. And Vincent compares golf courses in different countries.

"How lucky they are to have us as listeners," says Lulu with a twinkle in her eye.

I reply: "For the past twenty years, the Chinese men have been listening to the Taiwanese and Hong Kong people brag about their money. Now I guess it's their turn."

Dan, the host, suggests that Lulu and I, pick at least one potential candidate. Lulu, Beibei, and I strike up a discussion in the women's bathroom. Johnny is out of the question: a compulsive gambler is the worst choice for a husband unless he has the looks of Robert Redford (in Indecent Proposal). Michael is addicted to wine and spoke of a villa in southern France where he might keep a mistress. French might be his pillow language. Vincent has sexy thick lips like Tiger Woods, but when he writes down his favorite golf course in English, there is an impossible mistake: "golf" becomes "gulf."

David, chief executive of Coyote.com, is not bad. If he can complain about the service in five-star hotels, it means he travels. So we pick David to take us to the airport. But none of us expects what we find at the door. As David signals for a taxi from the waiting queue, he explains: "With the downfall of the Nasdaq, I had to sell my sedan five months ago!"

"But you still travel and stay in five-star hotels!" Beibei exclaims.

"My company pays for these trips; it doesn't cost me a thing." Without other men around, David speaks the truth.

Once he leaves, Beibei says to us: "A golfer can't spell the word golf correctly. A traveler stays in five-star hotels only when they are paid for by his company. Apparently, they misrepresented themselves."

"I thought downplaying yourself was fashionable among the rich," I say.

"It might be true in Silicon Valley, but not in Shanghai, where face is everything! They even have a bar called The Face!" Beibei says.

"Well, forget about these rich wannabes. Let's check out the men in Shenzhen!" Lulu says.

We storm to the airport and arrive in Shenzhen to attend the dinner at Little Wan's. This Little Wan is Beibei's family friend. His father, Old Wan, was Beibei's grandfather's former secretary in the early 1980s. After Old Wan retired from the army found a job in a state-owned tourist agency. Old Wan was promoted to director of the agency for the last year before his retirement. That year was 1993. Deng Xiaoping gave a talk during his trip in Shenzhen, saying that the economic reform should be faster. Inspired by the talk, his son, Little Wan, who failed to enter college that year, started his own travel agency. With his father's network and his friends' help, business has flourished.

Shenzhen turns out to be completely different from the Shanghai scene. Goose liver or caviar isn't popular among this crowd. Instead, the dinner is mainly seafood: fresh lobster flown in from Boston, Australian abalone, and shark fin soup. Here no guests bother to have English names, but they bring along secretaries who have English names. One guy even has an American as his secretary. These guys are even more blatant about their wealth than Shanghai guys.

Mr. Lam speaks Mandarin with his heavy Hong Kong accent, "Niuniu, I've been in the apparel business for twelve years. Women like you can turn your beauty into wealth. I have a proposal: There is a Western brand called Miu Miu. My company can create a Niuniu brand and use your face as our logo. I bet it will sell like hotcakes."

Mr. Leong, a real estate developer, says to Lulu, "Just tell me which style of house you like, Victorian, Spanish, or what? I can build one you like and name the development Lulu's Garden or Lulu's Verde or the Lulu Dynasty."

Mr. Lee, a Chinese media magnate says to me, "Hey, Niu-niu, with your beauty and knowledge, you can be the hostess of our nightline program. You should also be the leading actress of our new TV series."

Beibei quietly says to Lulu and me, " Shanghai and Shenzhen can be different in taste and money, but they have one thing in common: they both love beauty, especially your beauty." Then she nudges Lulu. "Just think of the pain and humiliation you had to suffer with the poor designer. Doesn't it feel good now to be the focus of all these rich boys?"

"I think it's their egos that are getting all the stroking," Lulu says.

"I agree with you." I add. I say, thinking, actually, Niu Niu does sound like a nice brand for a clothing line. Surely, mother would embrace this idea. "They are using us to compete with each other."