Children and their parents play in a luxury villa in Qingyuan, South China's Guangdong province on May 31, 2015. (Photo/CFP)
While many Chinese parents chose to take their children to parks or museums to celebrate Children's Day, one group of youngsters in south China was treated to a tour of multi-million-yuan mansions in hopes they would aspire to live in one.
On Sunday, a day before this year's Children's Day, more than 50 parents brought their children to visit large estates worth 4 million yuan (653,600 U.S.) at a spa resort in Qingyuan City, Guangdong Province.
The weekend tour aimed to help the children "build dreams" by allowing them to witness luxurious settings at the vacation getaway, according to a report in the China Youth Daily newspaper.
The article said staff overheard parents telling their 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."
Many of the visitors were rich locals. Some parents were wearing large rings and gold necklaces, symbols usually associated with the nouveau riche in China, a staff member told the paper.
"It's a frequent occurrence," the resort worker, who requested anonymity, said.
"Each weekend, we receive more than 50 such families, and this weekend more than 300 families have visited with their children because of Children's Day."
Xinhua reporters found the tour was independently organized by parents.
The phenomenon sparked questions about the education methods of rich parents on the Internet, although many web users remain divided on the issue.
On microblog Sina Weibo, a post about the tour has been forwarded more than 2,100 times and commented on 2,300 times as of Monday noon.
"How shallow is their concept of education!" read one comment by a Weibo user with the screen-name "Yongyongxiaoyu".
Others argued that there is nothing wrong with teaching children to pursue a fortune in a realistic world where money does make a difference.
China's super-rich population is rising, with the number of individuals with a net worth of at least 1 billion U.S. dollars currently at 430.
In an increasingly wealthy society, some of China's nouveau riche, who equate money with success, are imparting their values to their offspring.
Experts say the phenomenon, though not mainstream, is a result of distorted values among some of China's rich people, who regard money as the only standard of success. Some say such values are detrimental to the healthy growth of youngsters in China.
