This book, set against the background of accounts of globalisation, aims to figure out the consumer orientation of the middle class in contemporary China, in particular how the new elements in consumer orientation operate in the Chinese context. It focuses on the contemporary middle class. Data used in the book are taken from national representative surveys conducted in the recent decade and also from 30 interviews with middle class people in Beijing. The book focuses on the consumption patterns from everyday consumption, taste and material culture. It highlights consumers' self-referential orientations: the pursuit of pleasure, tempered by considerations regarding comfort, is a significant form of aesthetic justification. Living within one's means i.e. keeping a balance between expenditure and income is the main moral justification. Consumers' orientations draw on a new set of elements, conceptualised in this research as "the orientation toward personal pleasure and comfort". This orientation is shaped by social conventions, traditional values and the metropolitan context. The findings challenge the stereotype of the Chinese "new rich" and the one-dimensional pictures of tendencies towards either conspicuous display or frugality.

Introduction; Theoretical Approaches from the Sociology of Consumption; The Formation of the Contemporary Middle Class; The Emergence of Consumer Culture; Research Methodology; Characteristics of the Middle Class and Their Consumption Patterns; Homeownership of the Young Middle Class; Everyday Consumption of the Middle Class; Consumption and Social Conventions; Taste and Material Aspiration; Conclusion;