China's and the World's future can be summed up in three words: thanks for shopping.

This is the sign that is the exit and entrance of every Carrefour in China  "谢谢你惠顾“ "thanks for shopping."

These are the same kind of advertisements you see at Walmart in the US - pictures of a typical light-skinned, smiling, male and female hetero-normative family with their cute children. Except for in China, no family is ever pictured with more than 1 child.

But the odd thing is that even though every family has only one child in China, each family is still expected to shop as if they has several children. The importance of spoiling and putting all your attention and love ino your one child is emphasized through various forms of cultural pressures from commercials to movies. The overarching message is that you only have this one child, so don't screw it up but not giving her/him all that you can - and you can do this through shopping!