{"id":125056,"date":"2011-10-17T22:25:59","date_gmt":"2011-10-18T05:25:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=125056"},"modified":"2011-10-17T22:25:59","modified_gmt":"2011-10-18T05:25:59","slug":"chinas-new-unofficial-currency-panbi%ef%bc%88%e6%bd%98%e5%b8%81%ef%bc%89","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2011\/10\/chinas-new-unofficial-currency-panbi%ef%bc%88%e6%bd%98%e5%b8%81%ef%bc%89\/","title":{"rendered":"China's New Unofficial Currency: Panbi\uff08\u6f58\u5e01\uff09"},"content":{"rendered":"
As Steve Jobs\u2019 death triggered enormous reactions from Chinese netizens<\/a>, the Beijing real estate tycoon Pan Shiyi<\/a> has also joined the wave by posting the following tweet on his microblog:<\/p>\n @Pan Shiyi: Apple\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n @\u6f58\u77f3\u5c79\uff1a\u201c\u82f9\u679c\u201d\u8463\u4e8b\u4f1a\u5e94\u8be5\u9a6c\u4e0a\u505a\u4e00\u51b3\u5b9a\uff1a\u5927\u91cf\u751f\u4ea71000\u5143\u4eba\u6c11\u5e01\u4ee5\u4e0b\u4e00\u90e8\u7684iPhone\u624b\u673a\u548ciPad\uff0c\u8ba9\u66f4\u591a(\u4eba)\u7528\u4e0a\u201c\u82f9\u679c\u201d\uff0c\u8fd9\u662f\u5bf9\u4e54\u5e03\u65af\u6700\u597d\u7684\u7eaa\u5ff5\u3002<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The following response, which focuses on China’s surging housing prices<\/a> rather than Jobs’ death,\u00a0has apparently caught many netizens\u2019 attention and been widely re-posted:<\/p>\n @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.<\/p>\n @\u5510\u82e5\u4e019983\uff1a\u6f58\u603b\u54ea\u5929\u8981\u4e5f\u53bb\u4e16\u4e86\uff0c\u4e5f\u8bf7\u8d35\u516c\u53f8\u63a8\u51fa1000\u4e00\u5e73\u7c73\u7684\u623f\u5b50\u5427\uff0c\u5341\u51e0\u4ebf\u4eba\u6c11\u90fd\u4f1a\u7eaa\u5ff5\u60a8\u3002<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Pan soon deleted the original tweet. However, his new title, \u201cthe 1000 Pan,\u201d has been spread all over the cyberspace. Meanwhile, a new form of currency named \u201cPanbi,\u201d 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\u00a0joke.<\/p>\n Below is a sample of a bill of one Panbi which features Pan’s portrait:<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n On top of the bill it reads \u201cSOHO Bank of Real Estate of China.\u201d Pan Shiyi<\/a> is the founder and president of SOHO China, the largest real-estate developer in Beijing.<\/p>\n Netizens have also made a chart comparing major cities\u2019 average housing prices by using Pan as the currency unit:<\/p>\n