Tell that to all my co-workers in China where I make 3x what they make. They can barely pay for rent. I'm just lucky that as a foreigner, I had leverage to max out the pay scale (and still getting paid only Chinese-level salary). The economic divide between the rich and poor is just as huge and just a big a concern, especially with the crazy real estate prices in the cities. Common to see 7 university-graduated kids sharing a 40 square metre apartment. I have friends like that.

The bottom 5% of households in the US still earn about the same amount as the top 5% of households in China. If we were talking about the top 1% it would be totally different, but still China is overall much poorer than the US - even in the cities.

EDIT: Also contrast it with Brazil, where the bottom 5% make about the same as the bottom 5% of China, while the top 5% make almost what the top 5% in the US make.

In absolute amounts sure, but that's irrelevant to spending power or quality of life.

The bottom 5% of households in the US make nominally more than the top 5% of households in China, but I'm willing to be the bottom 5% in the US lives far worse than the top 5% in China.

Scratch this image deep enough and you will realize top local officials in China are always under tremendous pressure to increase GDP growth to further their own position and careers and that the easiest way will be build 'anything'/'something' within their jurisdiction.

If anything, go ahead and Google for China's empty cities. Frankly, I would not want to be anywhere near that bubble when it bursts. The only point of consolation is that the Chinese still have a tight control over all aspects of their society, so they might be in a better shape to recover when their banks go bust.