It's not just Wenzhou people...
There's been a few stories about 'Wenzhou capitalism' in the news recently. Although it's good to see coverage like this, I'd like to remind people it's not just Wenzhou!
The so-called 'Wenzhou Model' has been featured in the press fairly often recently. Basically, Wenzhou is famous within China for the wealth (and methods of acquiring wealth) of its citizens. Stories abound of the underground lending, extravagant investment in houses, lavish weddings and cars, and the way in which their business community has responded to the credit crunch.
Two stories from the Economist (here and here), a recent feature on reason.com, as well as big articles in Time magazine and the Wall Street Journal all comment on the uniqueness of Wenzhou's business community.
It's true, even in China, Wenzhou is famous for underground lending schemes, the way in which businesses support each other, and the kind of rampant capitalist investment and extravagance we usually associate with Wall Street in the 80's.
But many Chinese cities on the south-east coast are similar. Fuzhou, where I live, is built around trading companies and investment, manufacturing and shipping cheap consumer goods around China and abroad. Underground lending is common here, as it is in the countryside areas all across Fujian. Guangzhou and Shen Zhen are also built around their trading and shipping industries.
So while I encourage people to read the articles about Wenzhou (they're mostly well written and insightful), what makes Wenzhou special is not that it is unique, but that it is just so representative of the underlying trend, especially in the south. Any warnings about Wenzhou can equally be applied to other cities here, which is why it has become the 'canary in the mine' for so many China economists.