It's business as usual at Central Perk. On the plush, brightlycolored couches, fashionable 20-somethings lounge around on their lunchbreaks, sipping lattes and chatting with friends. Behind the counter,Gunther cleans the gaudy, oversize mugs and puts them away。
It's a scene comfortably familiar to any fan of the '90s TV showFriends. But this is not '90s Manhattan; this is Beijing, 2010. And thecouches are peopled not by hip New Yorkers but by upwardly mobileChinese young professionals who come in search of the easygoing Friendslifestyle that is increasingly hard to find in Beijing's stressedhousing market。
China's Central Perk, a painstakingly detailed reconstruction of theTV original, is tucked away in a corner of a downtown Beijing officetower. It is the brainchild of Chinese businessman Du Xin, who gavehimself the English name Gunther in honor of the show's long-sufferingbarista. "Friends is very popular among Chinese young people because itfulfills a need they have for friendship," says Du. "Beijing is such abig city, it's very easy for you to feel lonely. I think there shouldbe a place where you feel safe and comfortable and can hang out."
For many of the young professionals, China's property boom istranslating into a decidedly untelegenic lifestyle. As governmentstimulus funds and eager investors flock to the real estate sector,rents across the nation are soaring. In Beijing, where the averagemonthly salary is roughly 3,700 yuan ($545)， the monthly rent for atypical one-bedroom apartment was about 2,900 yuan ($427) as of June.That leaves many with no choice but to find people to share their homewith. More and more, flatmates are sharing small, cramped apartmentswith several other people - a lifestyle less reminiscent of Friendsthan of another TV favorite of Chinese youth, Prison Break。
The shortage of affordable housing is not exclusively a Beijingproblem. An official crackdown on real estate speculation that wasstarted early this year, coupled with new regulations to promote theconstruction of more affordable housing, should lower prices and bringsome relief to Beijing's beleaguered house hunters. There are signsthat the measures are already having some effect, but what changes docome will inevitably come slowly. House prices in Beijing fell just0.4% in June, month on month。
For now, many of Beijing's young professionals will have to put upwith cramped accommodations and a shortage of personal space. WangXiyuan, a 27-year-old Beijing office worker sitting on Du's CentralPerk's orange couch, was unable to afford her own place until recently.Before, she and a friend were sharing a two-room flat in which the onlycommunal space was a tiny kitchen. "What attracted me most aboutFriends was the friendship between the roommates," Wang says. "But it'snot easy to live with a friend. Chinese people are sometimes too shy totell you what they really think. They just get madder and madder atyou, but don't tell you."
中國白領合租生活難像《老友記》
《時代週刊》8月5日文章：在北京，3個乃至8個室友都可能不是一夥
又是Central Perk的例行公事。幾個時尚的二十來歲年輕人坐在舒適鮮豔的沙發上享受午餐休閒時光，喝喝咖啡，聊聊天。吧檯後面，岡瑟擦著華麗的大馬克杯並把它們擺放好。
這是一個讓上世紀90年代電視劇《老友記》的粉絲感到頗為熟悉的場景。但事實上，這一切並沒有發生在90年代的曼哈頓，而是2010年的北京。坐在沙發上的這群人也不是時髦的紐約人，而是向上奮鬥的中國職場年輕人在尋找如《老友記》般輕鬆的生活方式。面對北京壓力重重的房產市場，要過上這樣的生活越來越不容易。
中國CentralPerk這個讓人煞費苦心的電視劇複製品坐落於北京市中心一座寫字樓的角落，店主人是位叫杜鑫(音)的中國商人。他給自己起了個英文名叫“岡瑟”，以表示對《老友記》中任勞任怨的吧檯招待的敬意。“《老友記》在中國年輕人中很受歡迎，因為它滿足了大家對友誼的需要，”杜說。“ 北京是個大城市，人們很容易感到孤獨。我想應該有這樣一個地方讓他們感到安全和舒適，還可以聚會。”
對於許多年輕白領，中國的高房價讓他們的生活方式絕不可能像電視上一樣。由於政府的刺激性資金和飢渴的投資者大量湧向房地產市場，全國的房租都在飆升。在北京，白領的收入平均約為3700元，而截至六月份，一間典型的一居室的月租就為2900元。這讓很多人毫無選擇只能找人合租。久而久之，便是好幾個人合租一間狹小擁擠的公寓——這種生活已經不太像《老友記》了，倒是更像中國人喜歡的另外一部電視劇：《越獄》。
經濟使用房短缺的問題並不只在北京有。日前一位官員否認今年年初流傳的房價傳言，加大適用性住房建設的新規定出臺，這一切讓房價有所降低，也讓買房者們鬆了口氣。這些標誌著政府政策產生了一些效果，但不可避免的，變化很慢。北京房價月環比只下降了0.4%。
如今，許多北京年輕白領還得忍受狹小的居所和有限的個人空間。王熙媛(音)今年27歲，也是個白領，她正坐在杜的CentralPerk的橘色沙發上。她不久前還付不起房租。那段時間，她和朋友合租一間兩居室，而唯一共享的空間就是廚房。“《老友記》吸引我的是室友間的友誼，”王說。”但是和一個室友合租並不容易。中國人有時候過於害羞，不告訴你他們內心的想法。結果他們對你越來越不滿意，但就是不跟你說。”