In Hainan, the local government even has a monopoly on the supply of sand-and golf courses, Mr. Generally developers are forced to use local contractors, who pay kickbacks to the authorities. Washburn shows local police extracting an unofficial toll on trucks running to one the sites of the American developer, Martin. Once a golf course enters the construction phase, there are more opportunities for profiteering. Washburn: "Mei banfa." In rough English translation: "There's nothing we can do." As one dispossessed farmer says, quoted by Mr. Farmers who publicly protest against inadequate compensation face riot police and even imprisonment if their recalcitrance persists. Foreign golf developers employ "Chief Entertainment Officers" to cultivate local connections. Since all land in China is officially owned by the state, local governments sell (officially, lease) farm land to golf-course developers at inflated prices and retain most of the proceeds for themselves. Public officials lend their support to illicit golf courses because it enriches them. in the past decade, the property bubble and frenetic golf-course development have gone hand in hand. For more than a decade, China has been in the throes of an epic real-estate boom. In truth, many golf courses are designed with a view to selling the pricey new villas that surround them.
For many newly rich Chinese, golf forms part of their vision of a modern luxury lifestyle, along with high-rise apartments, expensive Swiss watches and fast European cars.
Why have so many golf courses been built of late in China? For a start, there is a huge demand to fill. The most ambitious golf development in history, consisting of 22 courses in Hainan and covering an area the size of Hong Kong island, was officially known as the "Yangshan District Land Consolidation and Ecological Project." Only in China could an undertaking that involved destroying a forest and shifting vast amounts of topsoil flaunt its environmental credentials. Following the global financial crisis in 2008-09, China became the global hotspot for golf development. To cite the old Chinese saying: "The mountain is high and the Emperor is far away." In the five years following the announcement of a golf-construction ban in 2004, the number of golf courses in China tripled to 600. As any China-watcher knows, public decrees in China shouldn't always be taken at face value.
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