Chinese real estate developers have discovered an alternative to the renminbi, China’s currency, as they begin to advertise properties priced in “Pan”.

　　中國房地產開發商發現了一個可以替代人民幣的貨幣單位，他們開始在樓盤廣告中用“潘幣”標價。

　　The new denomination is in fact a reference to Pan Shiyi, chairman of Soho China and one of the country’s most prominent property tycoons, used in a marketing trick that plays on public frustration with high housing prices.

　　這個新計價單位實際上暗指中國最知名的地產大亨之一——SOHO中國(Soho China)董事長潘石屹。這種營銷手法利用了民眾對高房價的不滿。

　　In a microblog post this month, Mr Pan jokingly proposed that Apple should start offering its mobile phones for Rmb1,000 (US$157) each. Such an offer, he said, would endear millions of Chinese to Apple and its recently deceased chairman, Steve Jobs.

　　本月早些時候，在蘋果(Apple)董事長史蒂夫?喬布斯(Steve Jobs)去世后，潘石屹在一條微博中調侃說，蘋果應該開始大量生產售價在1000元人民幣（合157美元）的iPhone，讓更多人用上蘋果，這是對喬布斯最好的紀念。

　　Mr Pan’s call drew an unexpected response from Tang Ruo-ding, a photojournalist. “When chairman Pan dies one day, could [Soho China] please also offer houses for Rmb1,000 per square metre, then more than a billion people will remember you,” he said on his own microblog.

　　潘石屹此言激起了攝影師唐若丁出人意料的反應。唐若丁在自己的微博中說：“潘總哪天要也去世了，也請貴公司推出一千一平米的房子吧，十幾億人民都會紀念您。”

　　After both posts went viral, Chinese netizens came up with the idea of the new currency, with one Pan shorthand for Rmb1,000 per square metre.

　　兩條微博都廣為流傳，于是網民們想出了以“一潘”代指“1平方米售價1000元人民幣”的主意。

　　“This ridiculing of me is clearly a reflection of people’s dissatisfaction about the high property prices,” said Mr Pan.

　　潘石屹表示：“大家對我的調侃背后是對商品住宅房價太高不滿的表現。”

　　This week, the craze spread to the real world. One Beijing developer, Tianjin Jinpu Weiye Realty, began marketing flats in one of its developments priced in Pan.

　　本周，這股狂熱開始蔓延到實體世界，北京房地產開發商天津津浦偉業地產有限公司在推廣一個樓盤時就以“潘幣”標價。

　　Soaring property prices, along with food inflation, have soured the mood of China’s young, and previously politically disinterested urban middle class.

　　房價飛漲和食品通脹已經激起了中國年輕人、以及過去對政治沒什么興趣的城市中產階層的強烈不滿。

　　“Our government’s economic policies are no longer good enough to help us improve our lives. It looks like I will never be able to buy a flat of my own,” said Lei Jin, a young Beijing woman.

　　“政府的經濟政策不再足以幫助我們改善生活，看來我是永遠也買不起房子了。”北京一位年輕的女子雷瑾（音譯）表示。

　　Du Jinsong, an analyst at Credit Suisse in Hong Kong, said: “Nationwide, the average price for a flat is now seven times the average annual household income, but in Beijing and Shanghai it is more than 17 times. That compares with about three times in the US.”

　　瑞士信貸(Credit Suisse)香港分析師杜勁松表示：“目前就全國而言，一套房子的平均價格是家庭平均年收入的7倍，但在北京和上海，這個比率超過了17倍。相比之下，美國的這個比率是3倍左右。”

　　Mr Pan deleted his original blog post, but to no avail. “Little did I know that after that, people would re-tweet it even more crazily,” he said. “Now that it has come to this new ‘currency’, no explanation will make any difference, so I can only keep silent.”

　　潘石屹刪除了原微博帖子，但毫無作用。“沒想到刪了之后，傳得更快，現在新的貨幣單位都出來了，我覺得做任何解釋都沒用了，只好保持沉默。”