A German friend of mine was surprised to see so many top-notch fashion shops in Shanghai two years ago. He asked: "Who are the consumers? Are you one of them?"

　　"No, I am not," I replied. Two years ago I was not one of them and today I am still not one of them. I seldom go to these fashion shops, not only because I do not follow fashion but I can hardly afford to.

　　That day when my Berliner friend continued to explain the differences as well as similarities between the glamorous shops in his city and the ones in Shanghai, the word "vogue" began to bother me.

　　Two years have gone by since then and I am still struggling with the word.

　　Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English defines the word as something "popular" or "fashionable."

　　But more often than not, it is not the popular that decides the vogue.

　　If top-notch fashion shops offer extravagant fashionable attire, the offers are certainly not popular with the average Chinese.

　　Even if eye-catching fashion shows paratroop their way over the stage and invade the media, the designs are certainly not popular dress for the people in the street.

　　Fashion shows and shops are on the increase in China, and my German friend will probably even be shocked to see the Chinese tourists shopping till they drop in Berlin's shops and malls at the moment.

　　But do not mistake this for what China is and who the Chinese are today.

　　It is true that Chinese people live a better life today than, say, 30 years ago. Tremendous changes have taken place in this country. Many people have extra money to spend. But how many are able to spend hundreds of yuan a month on clothes or other fashion wear?

　　The number might be big. Yes, because this nation tops the world in terms of population. Considering the scale of Chinese population, even a small percentage of 0.5 can amount to 45 million people, a population qualified for a sizable independent country.

　　In the Chinese perspective it is a small group of people that may have extravagant consumption needs. Vogue magazine, which made its China debut last August, did a readership survey in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou recently, and found out that their readers spend an average of 2,177 yuan (US$268 yuan) a month on clothes and cosmetics.

　　The magazine has every reason to believe that their readers are able to spend on the vogue and have a high potential to consume expensive products and services.

　　But taking this group of people as representative Chinese will mislead anyone except for those targeting the super rich. According to China's 2004 National Economic and Social Development Statistic Bulletin, rural Chinese, who account for 58.2 per cent of the population, made only 2,936 yuan (US$362) a person on average in 2004.

　　The highest income earners are in Shanghai of course. But even in Shanghai, the average annual income that year was 15,749 yuan (US$1,942), about 1,300 yuan (US$160) a month, much less than the Vogue readers' monthly vogue consumption spend.

　　One can see seemingly booming newspapers redesign their papers one after another to include sections on autos, cosmetics, health, women's wear anything that is in the vogue.

　　If you watch TV the same is true. About 50 Chinese TV channels available in our office often flash glamorous models walking on catwalks. The force of great events with picturesque stage and fashion conscious stars let the vogue go far beyond the screen.

　　No wonder there is a big army of vogue reporters to supply the stuff to meet the needs of unsaturated media demands.

　　The vogue is heating up since there is the government call to drive domestic consumption demand.

　　Eyeing consumption, a women's magazine recently conducted a survey on China's women consumers. While commending its effort to inform, I have to say it missed China's majority of women who live in rural areas.

　　The surveyors had very a good intention with the project: to help give guidance to women consumers. But their lack of data and information on rural women made the picture incomplete. The information relating to Chinese women consumption somewhat is unreliable.

　　For example, it says among the things women consume, the first thing is women's wear. The second and third are communication gadgets and travel, followed by health, cosmetics and books.

　　The survey covered women in eight prosperous cities such as Shanghai and Guangzhou. Women in these cities surely live a much better life than women in China's backward northwest rural areas.

　　It is unfair to say that the survey is influenced by business interested in heating up the vogue. But I am sure journalists working for the magazine are like me confused sometimes with the vogue and do not know how to handle the craze.

　　In newsrooms subconsciousness fashion and glamour stand out. So do accidents. But not poverty.

　　If there is a vogue for something in China, media fever in pursuance of a vogue is the vogue.

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