Size Matters In China

The new Crown Plaza hotel in the center–right now the tallest building in town–next to the Convention Center in Yantai.

Maybe it's because China is geographically so large, or maybe it's because there are 1.3 billion people, but size matters here.

For example, driving just outside Yantai to Changyu Castel winery, the landscape is dead flat. Suddenly surrounded by dwarf fruit trees, there is a shiny new 30-story building or even a group of 30-story buildings. They are totally unoccupied. So was the developer anticipating growth 20 kilometers out of town, or did he simply want to build something big?

Chateau Huadong-Parry winery with the city of Qingdao in the distance. Is this not big enough?

The General Manager of Huadong winery near the beautiful coastal town of Qingdao has a beautiful Chateau nestled in the mountains. But she is building a new and bigger one not far away in Penglai.
Why? "Because in China, big is important. If it's not big, it's not important," she replies.