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Chinese parents are making their children learn about the importance of success in a different way.

They are taking their children to luxury resorts to marvel at what money can buy and also inspire them, reported The Telegraph.

But their out-of-the-box approach triggered a heated debate online, with netizens questioning the values they are instilling in the next generation.

"Chinese people's worship of money is plain to see. The value these parents place on money will profoundly impact those children, their future values and views on life," said netizen Xiu Dao Ke.

Asked another, named Alice Jinyu Zui: "Do they think that being able to buy mansions is the measure of success?!"

Juzi Zhou responded: "Focusing on money will turn those pure and innocent students into weasels who think making money is the most important thing in life."

Others claimed the parents were simply preparing their children for the realities of the real world.

Mr Ma Renwen, one of the fathers and an operator of over 30 fabric outlets, told reporters that the visit was for practical reasons.

"Money might not be everything, but it certainly means something in this world," he was quoted as saying, adding that such visits can ignite children's passion.

ESTATE TOUR

On Sunday, to mark national Children's Day, 300 parents in Guangdong Province, a manufacturing hub in southern China, took their children on a tour of large estates worth four million yuan (S$867,000) at a spa resort in Qingyuan City.

The weekend tour sought to help the children "build dreams", reported the China Youth Daily.

The newspaper quoted staff at the resort as saying that they overheard parents telling children that "fortune represents social status" and "only when you aspire to make a fortune can you possibly buy a mansion worth millions of dollars".

China's super-rich population is rising and it has 430 people who each have a net worth of at least US$1 billion (S$1.2 billion).



This article was first published on June 5, 2015.

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