The average wage slave in Shanghai may find it harder than ever to get a job or pay the rent, but when it comes to cheap grub, the Communist party is there for them.
Almost 200 eateries in the posh Jing’an district of Shanghai – ranging from upmarket restaurants and five-star hotels to even convenience stores – have begun offering discounted lunches for office workers. Another Shanghai district is even treating stressed-out salarymen to free afternoon teas. It seems Mao Zedong’s “iron rice bowl” (guaranteed lifetime employment) has morphed into more of an iron tea cup.
The Jing’an government gives the impression that high-end eateries are clamouring to be included in the lunch programme. Maybe they are: these are hard times for top-end dining spots, since Beijing decreed a new era of abstemiousness.