In the 1980s the west watched the Japanese “miracle” with wonder and tried to figure out how to copy its success. Britain still believed in the Japanese model in 1990 when Shirayama Shokusan bid for London’s County Hall, to create a luxury hotel over the river from the Houses of Parliament. The Chinese economic model has supplanted Japan (and the US of the 2000s) as the latest favourite – even as growth slows and problems build. Now China’s Wanda plans its own luxury hotel and apartment complex on the Thames.
上世紀80年代,西方驚奇地注視著日本「奇蹟」,試圖弄明白如何複製這種成功。在1990年Shirayama Shokusan公司競購倫敦市政廳(County Hall),以便在英國議會大廈(Houses of Parliament)的河對岸打造一家豪華酒店的時候,英國仍相信日本模式。如今,中國經濟模式已取代日本(和本世紀頭十年的美國)成爲最新寵兒,即便中國經濟成長已在放緩,問題開始累積。現在,中國的萬達(Wanda)計劃在泰晤士河畔建造自己的豪華酒店和公寓大樓。