Instead of apologizing for the rough ride from the airport to the hotel, the taxi driver said his town may not have the best roads, bridges and tunnels in the country, but "we built them all with our own money".

In fact, Wenzhou has built quite a bit more than that. As the hotbed of entrepreneurship on the mainland, Wenzhou's private sector has created an almost self-contained economic ecosystem that has brought great wealth to the city.

An astute visitor can get a glimpse of the town's prosperity through the many dealerships for luxury cars, such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Mercedes and, of course, Ferrari and Porsche, and the boutiques of high-fashion brands from France, Italy and Spain.