中
国物价上涨近来引发多起"大战"：学生与食堂对阵、政府和报纸口水战，现在又轮到杭州和波士顿对峙。这次两个城市争夺的目标是，谁更有资格说自己生活成本高。
根据北京商业新闻杂志财新，这场"大战"比大家想象中的要激烈。财新网发布的一篇博文中，博主王佩与波士顿的一位朋友联手，分头在杭州和波士顿购买相同的物品，包括19种食品和两种能源。任务就是回答这个问题：中国有多贵？
王佩承认，这种调查方法并不科学，但调查结果也能说明一些问题，包括绿豆和香蕉在内的十种食品在中国竟然更贵。在杭州，每500克牛腩的价格和一打鸡蛋的价格都是波士顿的两倍，每升牛奶的价格是波士顿的近四倍。
93号汽油在杭州的价格也高出23%，所购商品总价比波士顿高8%。
据杭州政府统计，杭州2009年人均收入为26,864元（4,024美元），波士顿2009年人均收入为32,255美元。
最近一段时间中国通胀水平急剧攀升。11月，消费者物价指数（CPI）上升5.1%，这是自2008年7月以来的最高涨幅。
这与美国市场形成鲜明对比，11月消费者物价指数仅上升0.1%，与2009年相比上升1.1%。
中国CPI上涨的罪魁祸首是食品价格，食品价格11月上涨11.7%，10月攀升10.1%。美国的食品价格几乎没有变化，11月仅上升0.2%。
房地产市场的通货膨胀也很明显，王佩将哈佛大学对面99平米的房子和浙江大学对面89平米的房子进行了对比。前者挂牌价是275万元（约41.1万美元），与后者350万元的价格相比就显得很便宜了，后者配有纯平电视（至少在图片中有），没有烤箱、壁炉、木地板和门厅。
清华大学经济学教授霍瓦纳克（Patrick Chovanec）说，多年来，房地产天价一直让大多数人望而却步，但通货膨胀开始蔓延至汽油和食品等日常生活用品，这时人们才开始真正注意。
中国政府一直致力于对抗通胀问题，已经对食用油生产商实施限价措施，未来几个月似乎可能会收紧信贷。
类似王佩这样的对比调查可能还会更多，面对这种情况，政府也许没多少时间可以浪费了。他说，这个调查结果只是一个demo版，它提醒大家，中国的物价真实水平可能比大家想象中的还要高。
Laurie Burkitt
（本文版权归道琼斯公司所有，未经许可不得翻译或转载。）
Rising consumer prices in China have caused some big brawls of late: between students and catering companies, between the government and newspapersand now between Hangzhou and Boston.
The stakes in this latest battle? Cost of living bragging rights.
According to Beijing-based business news magazine Caixin, the contest is closer than you might think. In a post published on the Caixin website Monday [ in Chinese] one of the publication's bloggers, Wang Pei, teamed up with a friend in Boston and set out on the streets with identical grocery lists, including 19 food items and two types of gasoline. The mission, to answer the question: 'How expensive is China?'
While not exactly a scientific study, Wang admits, the exercise reveals that a surprising 10 of the food items, including green beans and bananas, were more expensive in China. In Hangzhou, a scenic coastal city near Shanghai, the price of beef brisket per 1.1 pound, or 500 grams, and the cost of a dozen eggs were both double the prices found in Boston. A liter of milk, meanwhile, was nearly triple.
Hangzhou's premium gasoline was also 23% more expensive, and the overall price of the entire basket of goods purchased there was 8% higher.
The average per capita income in Hangzhou in 2009 was 26,864 yuan, or $4,024, according to the Hangzhou local government. Boston's was $32,255.
China's inflation has been skyrocketing these days. In November, the consumer price index rose 5.1%, the steepest climb since July 2008.
That's a stark contrast to the U.S. market, where the index rose 0.1% in November, up 1.1% from 2009.
The big culprit in China's CPI rise was the cost of food, which jumped 11.7% last month and 10.1% in October. Food prices in the U.S. barely moved, crawling 0.2% in November.
Inflation is also apparent in the housing market, where Wang also drew a comparison, looking at a 99 square meter apartment near Harvard University with an 89 square meter flat at Zhejiang University. The Harvard apartment, listed at 2.75 million yuan, or roughly $411,000, was a bargain when measured against the 3.5 million yuan Zhejiang flat, that, while equipped with a flatscreen TV (in the pictures at least), lacked the oven, fireplace, wood floors, and porch included with its Ivy League counterpart.
Real estate has for years given most people sticker shock, but the inflation is beginning to trickle down to daily goods, like gas and grub, and that's when people really start to notice it, says Patrick Chovanec, an economics professorat Tsinghua University.
China's government is intent on battling its inflation problem. It has already ordered producers of cooking oil to cap pricesand appears likely tighten credit in the upcoming months.
With more comparisons like Wang's possibly on the way, the government may not have much time to lose. 'This is just a demo study,' he says, 'but it's a reminder to all that the prices of things in China are higher than everyone thinks they are.'
Laurie Burkitt
The stakes in this latest battle? Cost of living bragging rights.
According to Beijing-based business news magazine Caixin, the contest is closer than you might think. In a post published on the Caixin website Monday [ in Chinese] one of the publication's bloggers, Wang Pei, teamed up with a friend in Boston and set out on the streets with identical grocery lists, including 19 food items and two types of gasoline. The mission, to answer the question: 'How expensive is China?'
While not exactly a scientific study, Wang admits, the exercise reveals that a surprising 10 of the food items, including green beans and bananas, were more expensive in China. In Hangzhou, a scenic coastal city near Shanghai, the price of beef brisket per 1.1 pound, or 500 grams, and the cost of a dozen eggs were both double the prices found in Boston. A liter of milk, meanwhile, was nearly triple.
Hangzhou's premium gasoline was also 23% more expensive, and the overall price of the entire basket of goods purchased there was 8% higher.
The average per capita income in Hangzhou in 2009 was 26,864 yuan, or $4,024, according to the Hangzhou local government. Boston's was $32,255.
China's inflation has been skyrocketing these days. In November, the consumer price index rose 5.1%, the steepest climb since July 2008.
That's a stark contrast to the U.S. market, where the index rose 0.1% in November, up 1.1% from 2009.
The big culprit in China's CPI rise was the cost of food, which jumped 11.7% last month and 10.1% in October. Food prices in the U.S. barely moved, crawling 0.2% in November.
Inflation is also apparent in the housing market, where Wang also drew a comparison, looking at a 99 square meter apartment near Harvard University with an 89 square meter flat at Zhejiang University. The Harvard apartment, listed at 2.75 million yuan, or roughly $411,000, was a bargain when measured against the 3.5 million yuan Zhejiang flat, that, while equipped with a flatscreen TV (in the pictures at least), lacked the oven, fireplace, wood floors, and porch included with its Ivy League counterpart.
Real estate has for years given most people sticker shock, but the inflation is beginning to trickle down to daily goods, like gas and grub, and that's when people really start to notice it, says Patrick Chovanec, an economics professorat Tsinghua University.
China's government is intent on battling its inflation problem. It has already ordered producers of cooking oil to cap pricesand appears likely tighten credit in the upcoming months.
With more comparisons like Wang's possibly on the way, the government may not have much time to lose. 'This is just a demo study,' he says, 'but it's a reminder to all that the prices of things in China are higher than everyone thinks they are.'
Laurie Burkitt
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