CHINA TIMES (Taiwan), XINHUA (China)
XIAMEN – Recently, a 17 year-old boy from the Chinese northeastern city of Changchun, in Jilin Province, secretly sold the four tires of his parents’ sports car to buy an iPhone 5.
He sold the tires for about a sixth of their real value. His mother had previously refused to fork out for the newest iPhone.
According to the China Times, this week a young woman in her twenties was seen in front of the Xiamen post office holding a cardboard sign that said “10 Yuan ($1.6) for a hug – to buy an iPhone5. Exact change only.” She might have been slightly embarrassed — she was hocking her hugs behind a pair of dark sunglasses.
She seemed to have a good thing going. As a Xinhua video shows, apart from all the gawping passersby, “There were three customers in the 10 minutes I was present. One of them was too shy to embrace her so he asked to take a photo with the girl”, one microblogger reported.
This post immediately went viral on the Chinese microblogging services. Many criticized the young woman’s materialism. “At least she sells her own labor to earn the money in comparison with the boy who sold his parents sports car tires!” wrote one blogger.
When the previous Apple offering – the iPhone 4 – was launched in China, a young man sold a kidney to be able to buy the phone. One can’t help wondering what will be up for sale when the iPhone 6 comes out?
Going gaga for the iPhone. Photos iPhone
