BEIJING // The middle-aged man in a suit slams shut the boot of his silver E-Class Mercedes as a diminutive female caddy struggles with the large bag of golf clubs she has taken from the car, before dropping them gratefully on to a cart.
"Golf is becoming more and more popular in China," says the businessman, before settling in the cart and being driven off without giving his name.
Early on a Thursday afternoon, the car park of Beijing Links Golf Club is full with Audis, BMWs and Mercedes-Benz, the cars and 4x4s mostly in dark colours and all with tinted windows.
The vehicles leave no doubt golf is a rich man's sport in China. At this club, where life membership costs 6 million yuan (Dh3.39m), the manicured fairways are a world away from the life of China's migrant workers, who would have to save every penny they earned for 25 years before having enough to join.
"It's a very expensive sport," says Zhang Xiaobo, 25, the club's member services supervisor. "Twenty years ago it wasn't very popular, but recently a lot of rich people have become interested in playing."
The club has more than 400 members, and despite its hefty fees offers reasonable value compared with others in the capital.
The club, which is 10 years old, bills itself as the oldest in the city proper. Many others have opened to vie for the yuan of the capital's nouveau riche, who have seen their bank balances climb rapidly over the past decade of double-digit economic growth.
There is also Pine Valley, featuring a course designed by the US professional golfer Jack Nicklaus, and the Beijing Longxi Hotspring Golf Club, which is built alongside a five-star hotel.
The English champion Nick Faldo designed the course at Beijing Honghua International Golf Club, while Beijing Cascades Country Golf Club promotes its deluxe villas. And there are more than 15 other courses in the capital.
Despite a supposed ban on building golf courses in China, well-connected developers have been able to increase to 600 the total number of courses in the country, according to recent reports citing Beijing Forestry University figures, up from just 170 seven years ago.
Some stand as testament to the impotence of central edicts in the face of provincial or municipal corruption.
China's golf enthusiasts appear to savour its associations with wealth.
"We treat it as a kind of sport but [mainland golfers] don't," said Douglas Ho, the membership sales executive with Hong Kong's 007 Golf Society. "They treat it as a sport where they can express their social status."
China's golf industry has not yet repeated the excesses of pre-crash Japan, when speculation on golf club memberships meant they were worth a combined total of US$200 billion (Dh734.59bn), according to information posted by San Jose State University.
But there are echoes of what happened there, says Patrick Chovanec, an associate professor in Tsinghua University's school of economics and management.
In many parts of the world, a round of golf is used as a way to entertain clients but in China this importance is magnified by "guanxi", the murky web of connections and influence behind so many of the country's commercial success stories.
"It has an aspirational aspect to it as well," says Mr Chovanec, a high-profile commentator in Chinese media on the interfaces between economics and society.
"You're doing something that's showing you're wealthy. You're doing something that, especially if you're part of a club, you're showing your influence. It's conspicuous consumption, affluence."
In Chinese business circles, there is a focus on "demonstrating success", he says, so if it is not a round of golf, it might be an evening banquet of expensive dishes.
"It's not that you don't take people out to dinner in the US and want it to be nice, but there's not such an emphasis on impressing people," Mr Chovanec says.
"It's part of the social dynamics of China and it has been for a long time. You're showing both your success and the degree to which you're honouring your guest. Golf fits into that cultural pattern."
business@thenational.ae
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
Torque: 475Nm
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Price: From Dh215,900
On sale: Now
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
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Australia World Cup squad
Aaron Finch (capt), Usman Khawaja, David Warner, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Jhye Richardson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
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Other must-tries
Tomato and walnut salad
A lesson in simple, seasonal eating. Wedges of tomato, chunks of cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, coriander or parsley leaves, and perhaps some fresh dill are drizzled with a crushed walnut and garlic dressing. Do consider yourself warned: if you eat this salad in Georgia during the summer months, the tomatoes will be so ripe and flavourful that every tomato you eat from that day forth will taste lacklustre in comparison.
Badrijani nigvzit
A delicious vegetarian snack or starter. It consists of thinly sliced, fried then cooled aubergine smothered with a thick and creamy walnut sauce and folded or rolled. Take note, even though it seems like you should be able to pick these morsels up with your hands, they’re not as durable as they look. A knife and fork is the way to go.
Pkhali
This healthy little dish (a nice antidote to the khachapuri) is usually made with steamed then chopped cabbage, spinach, beetroot or green beans, combined with walnuts, garlic and herbs to make a vegetable pâté or paste. The mix is then often formed into rounds, chilled in the fridge and topped with pomegranate seeds before being served.
MIDWAY
Produced: Lionsgate Films, Shanghai Ryui Entertainment, Street Light Entertainment
Directed: Roland Emmerich
Cast: Ed Skrein, Woody Harrelson, Dennis Quaid, Aaron Eckhart, Luke Evans, Nick Jonas, Mandy Moore, Darren Criss
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
PRO BASH
Thursday’s fixtures
6pm: Hyderabad Nawabs v Pakhtoon Warriors
10pm: Lahore Sikandars v Pakhtoon Blasters
Teams
Chennai Knights, Lahore Sikandars, Pakhtoon Blasters, Abu Dhabi Stars, Abu Dhabi Dragons, Pakhtoon Warriors and Hyderabad Nawabs.
Squad rules
All teams consist of 15-player squads that include those contracted in the diamond (3), platinum (2) and gold (2) categories, plus eight free to sign team members.
Tournament rules
The matches are of 25 over-a-side with an 8-over power play in which only two fielders allowed outside the 30-yard circle. Teams play in a single round robin league followed by the semi-finals and final. The league toppers will feature in the semi-final eliminator.
THE BIO
Favourite car: Koenigsegg Agera RS or Renault Trezor concept car.
Favourite book: I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes or Red Notice by Bill Browder.
Biggest inspiration: My husband Nik. He really got me through a lot with his positivity.
Favourite holiday destination: Being at home in Australia, as I travel all over the world for work. It’s great to just hang out with my husband and family.
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now