by YU JINCUI
ILLUSTRATION/Peter C. Espina/GT
Downton Abbey, a British TV show that is an outrageous hit in China, has a new credit for prompting wealthy Chinese fans to try traditional British upper-class sports such as hunting. According to a recent report by the Daily Mail, inspired by the popular ITV period drama, superrich Chinese tourists are splashing out up to 100,000 pounds ($167,790) on a trip to Scotland, emulating the lifestyle of Downton Abbey’s Earl of Grantham.
Chinese hunters were reportedly employing castles with butlers and staff included in some of Scotland’s most picturesque locations, and participating in what was called the “sport of kings” as royalty and aristocrats often participated.
Among the comers was billionaire Jack Ma, China’s e-commerce giant who is listed as one of the top 200 richest people in the world.
Ma was said to hire four helicopters to fly him and his 11 friends. They spent $60,000 renting an old Scottish castle near Loch Ness for a hunting holiday of seven days and shot 17 stags.
The report made waves in China. The business tycoon responded immediately, claiming that the deer-hunting expedition which happened two years ago was under the aegis of the Nature Conservancy, a large environmental NGO that advocates a business-friendly approach to hunting and preservation, and the trip was for animal conservation, not recreation.
As China’s economic strength goes, the Chinese super-rich have been often portrayed as cruel and ostentatious trophy hunters.
The Daily Mail in 2012 attacked China’s nouveau riche in a story that accused an agency running a club allowing them to hunt down endangered polar bears.
The report exposed wealthy Chinese to the condemnation of international animal rights groups and the public, though it’s unclear whether any Chinese actually took up the offer to hunt bears.
True, there have been a growing number of wealthy Chinese travelers going abroad for trophy hunting in recent years. As a shrinking and unpopular activity in the West, the emerging Chinese rich have become prey for an industry keen to find new customers.
Global Times for more