Some Chinese parents in Qingyuan, Guangdong province, take children to visit luxurious villas ahead of Children's Day. (Photo/Youth.cn)
(ECNS) - How should we celebrate International Children's Day? And how should we motivate children to succeed? A group of Chinese parents in Qingyuan, Guangdong province, has provided one controversial answer - take children to visit luxurious villas.
Some parents drove their own cars while others travelled together in groups to visit villas worth 4 million yuan ($645,000) each on May 31, one day ahead of Children's Day.
Pictures from the tour show parents and children walking through the two-storied buildings, admiring swimming pools and lingering on walkways flanked with greenery.
Ma Renwen, a clothing businessman, says he wants his son to understand that fortune influences a person's social status, and that wealth means success in China.
Ma said he hopes his son will inherit and grow his current business, becoming part of China's elite in the process, so he often takes him to show off luxurious living.
Another participant in the visit, Lan Xianming, who is in the office furniture business, said he brought his son to high-end real estate projects and auto shows when he was 10 years old. Now, three years after graduating university, his son is responsible for running plants in the family business.
Lan is working in the same way to train another son, who is 16 years old, to enter the business world.
A staff member working in the resort said many parents take their children to visit the villas on weekdays. Some parents are high-income earners and some are from ordinary working families.
The question of what is the best way to educate a child about success is causing debate. A businessman surnamed Zhang said children need to set their sights high at a young age. But others say fostering a money-worship mentality deflects more important things like helping others or spending time with family.
Zhou Chongxian, the chairman of an author's association in Guangdong, said the "success trips" are harmful to a child's development, and have the potential to turn them into adults who pursue money at all costs.
