Focus
Newer not necessarily better
By Zhao Yanrong (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-12 08:21
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The pictures above show the deteriorated conditions of the 10-year-old to 30-year-old buildings across Beijing. [Wang Jing and Yuan Zhou / China Daily] |
Ten months ago, Jimmy Hughes quit his job and said goodbye to his sea view apartment near the Central Business District of Sydney, and moved to Beijing to be with his fiance, Yang Shan.
Unlike most of the Beijing-based foreigners who choose to live in either the newly built modern apartments or traditional courtyard houses, Hughes is staying with his fiance in a 60 sq m unit at the more than 20-year-old Tuanjiehu community in Chaoyang district.
"It's home for us now, but I was a bit shocked the first time I walked in the community. I thought the building might fall apart in 10 or 20 years," the 36-year-old Australian said.
The four sides of the building surround an empty center space that is quite dark and dirty and there are as many as eight apartments on each floor. Most are already showing signs of wear.
"I found there was a big crack in the window frame last winter, and we could feel the wind blowing into our room," Yang Shan said.
Besides the quality of the buildings, there are many other things that local residents complain about. The lifts are really slow and they are locked after midnight to reduce costs.
However, there is one advantage to the slow lifts, Hughes said, they provide the best occasions for a neighborly chat and even his limited Chinese doesn't stop him communicating with his Chinese neighbors.
"Many of my Chinese neighbors are very friendly. A couple always tries to practice their simple English with me when we take the lift together, and some old ladies once looked into my shopping bag and shared their bargaining skills with me," he said.
"It's not a foreign community, so the products at the community market are sold at very reasonable prices," he added.
At first Yang was worried that Hughes would not adapt to this kind of environment, since many Beijing residents think the community is too old and too poor to stay in. "But he enjoys the life here now," Yang said.
"It is a lovely Beijing local community, with a mix of old and young people. I often see kids riding their bikes and old people walking their dogs around the community. I've been looking forward to this kind of heart-warming community feeling," Hughes said.
The couple also benefit from the good location. It is only five minutes' walk to the nearest subway station, a bus interchange is located just in front of the community and it is 10 minutes by bicycle to Chaoyang Park. And the bars and restaurants of Sanlitun Village are only one block south of their community.
"He always says that I found the best location in Beijing," Yang said with a smile.
Since they have decided to settle in Beijing for good, they are currently considering buying an apartment.
"It would make us feel more secure if we owned real estate, but I think house prices in Beijing are in a big bubble at the moment, so it's not a good time to invest in a property," Hughes said.
"However, when we do buy, it won't be a new building," he added.
"New apartments in Beijing are built quickly and I think the developers take shortcuts during construction. So I doubt the quality of the building," he said.
They would also prefer to live in a traditional Chinese community, rather than moving into a brand-new, but soulless, modern complex.
"Who we live with is always more important than where we stay," Yang said.
