Crystal Yu (center), at her themed birthday party in Shanghai last year. The theme for this party was The Great Gatsby.

A young woman is strutting down the catwalk in a pristine white Stella Lam evening gown as 50 immaculately dressed guests dine on beautifully plated fine cuisine prepared by a Michelin-starred chef.

The whole scene looks like a fashion show at first glance, but it is actually just Crystal Yu’s 25th birthday party. The celebrations even have a theme — this year’s was Fifty Shades of Grey but there were no scandalous or lewd acts taking place, just a script-reading session where guests recite their favorite lines from the movie. Last year’s equally extravagant birthday party was themed after another blockbuster movie The Great Gatsby, and it’s also one that Crystal says she can particularly relate to.

“My friends always call me The Great Crystal, in reference to The Great Gatsby who in the movie is also a character with a great mind that enjoys a high-quality life,” said Crystal, who now runs her own wedding and event consultancy. The company name? The Great Crystal.

“We are not partying for the sake of getting drunk. This is just a casual social occasion where I get to share with my friends my personality, my hobbies and my way of living,” she added.

Crystal Yu takes a vacation once every two months as trips are an important part for her "rich-in-soul" lifestyle. PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY

Glitz and glamor

Those who do not know this pretty 25-year-old woman may label her as a fuerdai, or “rich second generation”, a term used to describe young individuals who were born into wealthy families in the 1980s or later. These offspring of the nouveau riche are often stereotyped for being spoilt, arrogant and sell-willed, with many known to senselessly splurge their parents’ money and display a blatant disrespect for the law.

In 2009, a 20-year-old fuerdai named Hu Bin killed a man while speeding in his Mitsubishi sports car. The young man’s dangerous driving and the reaction of his friends, who joked with each other after the accident, later sparked public outrage and has till today been seen as a typical example of fuerdai arrogance.

But Crystal, whose parents are wealthy bankers, refused to be labeled as such. She proudly claimed that she has been financially independent from her university days in Shanghai when she took on part-time jobs that gave her a monthly income of 8,000 yuan ($1,290). It’s an impressive amount to earn for a student, since the average monthly salary in Shanghai is about 7,100 yuan, according to a survey by recruitment portal Zhaopin.com.

One of those jobs was a marketing position at M1NT, one of Shanghai’s most exclusive clubs.

“I really appreciate those years working at M1NT because it showed me the luxury world — not how to spend more money but how to enjoy life and have better taste in things,” she said.

Crystal, who now makes a five-figure monthly salary as the boss of The Great Crystal, pays for all her designer wear and holidays herself. She said that she has always been an independent person — when she was 18, she chose to study in Shanghai, away from her home in Nantong, Jiangsu province. And unlike regular students who would spend their time at libraries and dormitories, she spent her free time organizing events and socializing with sophisticated people.

In early 2014, she made the decision to leave her job and embark on a round-the-world trip for half the year to explore the world and figure out what to do next. She also took time off her sightseeing activities to visit several event organizing companies to discuss how she can bring the western-style party culture back to China.

“I am not rich, but I have set certain standards for my outfits and lifestyle, which should be exquisite and well-tailored,” said Crystal, who is decked out in a white Valentino dress, Salvatore Ferragamo heels and a Louis Vuitton handbag. She said that this inclination was influenced by her mother, who once taught her that it is better to buy fewer high-quality outfits from well-known brands instead of many cheap ones from taobao.com.

These days, Crystal takes a vacation once every two months. She said a diving trip in summer and a skiing trip in winter are essential getaways for her “rich-in-soul” lifestyle.

Yu Qian shows off his collection of flying jackets. The most expensive one costs him almost 50,000 yuan.

The collector

Unlike Crystal who spends most of her time and money on high-class events and luxurious trips, Yu Qian, whose father used to own four coal mines, has a more muted lifestyle — he collects vintage clothing, particularly handmade jeans and flying jackets.

The 32-year-old is the founder of a company that offers personalized home theater facilities priced from 600,000 yuan to 2 million yuan for wealthy families in Chengdu, Sichuan province. The man said that he doesn’t live the life of opulence or decadence — he just loves collecting vintage wear, and admittedly has spent quite a fortune on it.

“I like to buy original-colored jeans and wear them out. The colors then fade as time passes by,” said Yu, who has been collecting traditionally handmade jeans from Japan since the age of 20. He now owns hundreds of pairs of such jeans.

However, it is his collection of flying jackets that he has invested more time and money into. Yu’s wardrobe contains more than 30 such jackets, with colors ranging from light tan to dark brown. Some are adorned with World War II US Army Air Corps squadron patches and elaborate back artworks. Caricatures and patches of scantily-clad women, a Native American chief and even a Walt Disney-designed flying tiger accompanied by the insignia of the Flying Tigers, a US volunteer group that fought alongside the Chinese against Japan in World War II, were painted on the flight jackets.

Even though Japan was the Flying Tigers’ enemy nearly 70 years ago, today it is the home of the amekaji (Japanese pronounced American casual) subculture that’s also growing in popularity in China. Every year, no more than 100 handmade flight jackets are carefully copied from the originally numbered World War II US Army Air Corps leather jackets and issued by a popular Japanese flight jacket brand Toysmccoy.

“Flight jackets are a product of war. Wearing them makes a man feel more masculine. The jackets’ decorations and history made me fall in love with them,” said Yu, who regularly flies to Japan to buy flight jackets that cost between 20,000 yuan and 30,000 yuan each. The most expensive piece in his collection is a flight jacket painted by a Japanese artist, which cost him almost 50,000 yuan.

Like other Chinese amekaji fashionistas, Yu likes the nostalgic appeal of the clothes and the way they are reinventing retro American fashion, particularly military wear.

“Collecting those nostalgic items requires a great deal of investment of time and money, but it also enriches my life with a deeper understanding of history and culture,” said Yu.

He has now started to create his own flight jackets, designing the patterns and drawings according to history before having professional artists paint on the handmade flight jackets that are purchased from Japan.

Yu also created a section in an online forum for people to discuss about this unique hobby.

“I don’t have any unhealthy habits like drinking or smoking, but I just cannot help throwing money at these clothing with cultural and historical backgrounds,” said Yu, who also collects hundreds copies of magazines about the history of the US Air Force, more than 20 pairs of Redwing shoes (it has manufactured boots for American soldiers during World War II), and many silver vintage accessories.

Misunderstood people

Like Crystal, Yu refused to be labeled a fuerdai, saying that it is a negative term that connotes a person squandering money he or she does not earn. Both individuals have described themselves as people who focus more on achieving a good quality of life, and that they’re not necessarily rich.

“As with most labels, fuerdai simplifies a complex issue, serving as an anchor for negative feelings about societal, economic, and political conditions in today’s China,” said Yu Hai, a professor of sociology at Fudan University.

“Many young people born into wealthy families have their unique, luxurious lifestyles as they don’t have to worry about how much they spend,” added Zhou Ting, director of Fortune Character Research Center.

This issue has even gotten the attention of the central government. At a working conference of the United Front Work Department (UFWD) in May, President Xi Jinping called for more efforts to “guide the younger generation of private enterprise owners to think where their money comes from and live a positive life”.

According to the China Spiritual Investments White Paper 2014 co-released by Industrial Bank Co Ltd and the Hurun Report, more than 85 percent of China’s non-state enterprises are family-owned. In the next five to 10 years, around 75 percent of the family-owned enterprises will see the second generation take over. And problems with rich youth could affect the succession and even dampen the public confidence in the private economy. The UFWD urged wealthy young people to devote their money to expanding production, investments in public welfare and charity work.

The report also stated that the most affluent Chinese are more likely to care about “spiritual rewards” now that they no longer have to worry about having enough money. The report defined spiritual investments as those that satisfy inner needs but don’t necessarily have a direct financial return.

Meanwhile, there are also experts who have backed those like Crystal and Yu.

“Although certain people have given this group a bad name, most second generations are responsible and hardworking. They are ambitious and use their innovative ideas to run businesses,” said Xiong Bingqi, an education expert from the 21st Century Education Research Institute.

He urged for a more impartial and objective way at looking at things, saying that these second generation children shouldn’t be judged by how much they have inherited, but by how hard they have worked to be independent and a valuable member of society.

yuran@chinadaily.com.cn