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

　　中国房地产开发商发现了一个可以替代人民币的货币单位，他们开始在楼盘广告中用“潘币”标价。

　　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.

　　这个新计价单位实际上暗指中国最知名的地产大亨之一——SOHO中国(Soho China)董事长潘石屹。这种营销手法利用了民众对高房价的不满。

　　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.

　　本月早些时候，在苹果(Apple)董事长史蒂夫?乔布斯(Steve Jobs)去世后，潘石屹在一条微博中调侃说，苹果应该开始大量生产售价在1000元人民币（合157美元）的iPhone，让更多人用上苹果，这是对乔布斯最好的纪念。

　　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.

　　潘石屹此言激起了摄影师唐若丁出人意料的反应。唐若丁在自己的微博中说：“潘总哪天要也去世了，也请贵公司推出一千一平米的房子吧，十几亿人民都会纪念您。”

　　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.

　　两条微博都广为流传，于是网民们想出了以“一潘”代指“1平方米售价1000元人民币”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：“大家对我的调侃背后是对商品住宅房价太高不满的表现。”

　　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，这股狂热开始蔓延到实体世界，北京房地产开发商天津津浦伟业地产有限公司在推广一个楼盘时就以“潘币”标价。

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

　　房价飞涨和食品通胀已经激起了中国年轻人、以及过去对政治没什么兴趣的城市中产阶层的强烈不满。

　　“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.

　　“政府的经济政策不再足以帮助我们改善生活，看来我是永远也买不起房子了。”北京一位年轻的女子雷瑾（音译）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.”

　　瑞士信贷(Credit Suisse)香港分析师杜劲松表示：“目前就全国而言，一套房子的平均价格是家庭平均年收入的7倍，但在北京和上海，这个比率超过了17倍。相比之下，美国的这个比率是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.”

　　潘石屹删除了原微博帖子，但毫无作用。“没想到删了之后，传得更快，现在新的货币单位都出来了，我觉得做任何解释都没用了，只好保持沉默。”