Panbi

As Steve Jobs’ death triggered enormous reactions from Chinese netizens, the Beijing real estate tycoon Pan Shiyi has also joined the wave by posting the following tweet on his microblog:

   @Pan Shiyi: Apple’s board of directors should make the following decision: To immediately manufacture iPhones and iPads that are under 1000 Chinese Yuan (about $157 U.S. dollar) so that more people can afford Apple products. This is the best way to commemorate Jobs.

   @潘石屹：“苹果”董事会应该马上做一决定：大量生产1000元人民币以下一部的iPhone手机和iPad，让更多(人)用上“苹果”，这是对乔布斯最好的纪念。

The following response, which focuses on China’s surging housing prices rather than Jobs’ death, has apparently caught many netizens’ attention and been widely re-posted:

   @Tang Rouding 9983: When Mr. Pan passes away some day, your company should offer homes that are under 1000 Chinese Yuan per square meter. Over a billion people will commemorate you by then.

   @唐若丁9983：潘总哪天要也去世了，也请贵公司推出1000一平米的房子吧，十几亿人民都会纪念您。

Pan soon deleted the original tweet. However, his new title, “the 1000 Pan,” has been spread all over the cyberspace. Meanwhile, a new form of currency named “Panbi,” has also been created by netizens ["bi" means money in Chinese]. According to netizens’ definition, Pan is the base unit of Panbi, and one Pan equals 1000 Yuan/sq m. Thus, an apartment home that normally costs 24,000 Yuan/sq m would only cost 24 Pan/sq m in the world of Panbi. Here, netizens have turned their frustration at China’s housing bubble into a humorous yet sarcastic joke.