When the going gets tough, the rich go for the top end

SHANGHAI: With a green jade Buddha dangling nonchalantly from his neck and a gold bracelet glittering on his wrist, Huang Xin was right at home for the global debut of the Porsche Panamera at the 13th Shanghai auto show yesterday - as he hunted for his sixth luxury car.

"Times are good," Huang, a traditional Chinese medicine doctor from Yunnan province, said as he stepped out of a shiny metallic Boxster.

"People saved hard before the downturn, and they now have less work to do and more time to come to my clinic and take care of their health."