A Chinese Man With His Home Buying Experience At Xianghe County

This is a real story about a Chinese man with his home buying experience. The story is told in the first person.

I am a victim of the real estate market in Huizhou, even more so than in Yanjiao. Let me demonstrate to you how a model citizen can adopt a “lying flat” lifestyle. Pay close attention, as I will only demonstrate it once. It’s not that I’m stingy, but rather I’ve invested my entire life into this. This is my one and only demonstration.

When it comes to satellite cities, we must first introduce a geographical concept known as the “Northern Three Counties of Langfang.” Few people have heard of it, but one of these counties is the famous Yanjiao within Langfang. The renowned Yanjiao is just a town within the Northern Three Counties. Due to historical reasons, Langfang is divided by Beijing and Tianjin, creating a unique enclave. This enclave consists of three counties: Sanhe City, Dachang Hui nationality Autonomous County, and Xianghe County, collectively known as the Northern Three Counties of Langfang. It’s difficult to explain clearly, but you will understand better with the help of maps.

I am a low-income migrant worker in Beijing, and my annual income is around 120,000 to 130,000 RMB. Let me tell you, you might think it’s tough to buy property in Yanjiao, but no, it’s not. It’s not the low-income individuals who can afford to buy in Yanjiao. The current prices in Yanjiao are around 10,000 to 12,000 RMB per square meter, which is not affordable for someone like me. So, I have to shift my focus to other places. Where should I buy then? I can’t afford to buy in Sanhe City or Dachang County either. The only option left is Xianghe County. Remember this name because this is the place that will trap me for half of my life.

Xianghe is the cheapest among the Northern Three Counties in terms of housing prices. You can tell from the map why it’s the cheapest, it’s the farthest from Beijing. As many people who have listened to Guo Degang’s crosstalk would know, Xianghe is famous for its meat pies and furniture. Before environmental protection regulations came into effect, Xianghe had better development and higher housing prices than Dachang. It had a thriving furniture industry, with many people engaged in furniture manufacturing and sales. However, after the implementation of environmental regulations, furniture processing was restricted, leading to the fleeing of many people. Combined with its distance from Beijing, Xianghe naturally became the most backward and lowest-priced county among the Northern Three Counties. Okay, now that we have introduced the concept, let me explain how shameless things can get when properties cannot be sold in this area.

I graduated from university in 2015, and at that time, I had a girlfriend whom I had been in a relationship with for six years. We both moved to Beijing to pursue our careers, but shortly after, in 2016, property prices skyrocketed. In Yanjiao, prices surged from over 10,000 RMB per square meter to 38,000 RMB, while Dachang increased from 10,000 RMB to just under 30,000 RMB, and Xianghe rose from 8,000 RMB to 24,000 RMB. My girlfriend suggested, “We should have our own house before getting married. I’m not asking you to buy in Beijing or Yanjiao. At least we should buy a property in Xianghe.” It made sense, right? It was reasonable. However, I couldn’t afford 24,000 RMB. We broke up in 2017.

The breakup had a significant impact on me, and I was in a state of despair, like a walking corpse, for nearly three years before gradually recovering. In 2021, I met a girl whom I loved dearly. It’s so difficult to find the right person. She was also a migrant worker in Beijing, and before she could say anything, I thought to myself that I couldn’t repeat the same mistake. I needed to buy a house quickly. In mid-2021, I immediately purchased a property in Xianghe. Why Xianghe? The reason was simple, it was still affordable. At that time, Xianghe only cost around 10,000 RMB per square meter, whereas I still couldn’t afford Dachang or Yanjiao. Which community did I buy in? It was the Xianghe Fuli New City. This community was quite famous, and even made headlines in the news media at one point.

I couldn’t buy the property at 8,000 RMB per square meter. About a month later, in May, I bought it for a little over 10,000 RMB. Shortly afterward, everyone knew that the real estate market was in turmoil. Real estate developer Fuli was hit hard. However, before buying, I was quite shrewd. I knew that buying properties under construction was a bad idea. But not enough shrewd. I ended up buying this lousy property.

At that time, I was a bit carried away. On one hand, I really didn’t want to repeat the same mistake, as I loved my girlfriend. At that time, she hadn’t graduated yet, and I thought that in the future, she would work in Beijing. I couldn’t go empty-handed to meet her parents like I did with my ex. On the other hand, it was that feeling of finally being able to climb the ladder that was once out of reach in Xianghe. Do you understand what I mean? I bought a “ready-to-move-in” property. Why the quotation marks? I’ll explain later.

As you can imagine, Real estate developer Fuli didn’t deliver on its promises of supporting amenities like the Fuli Shopping Mall and customized buses to Beijing. I accepted it. What choice did I have? The local Luhe Hospital branch, which was touted as a reputable hospital, became the Luhe Hospital Rehabilitation Center. Although Luhe Hospital wasn’t a top-tier hospital in Beijing, if I remember correctly, it was at least a public Grade III hospital. It went from being a legitimate hospital to a place where you couldn’t receive proper medical treatment. And then, it even lost its status as a rehabilitation center and became a privately acquired hospital. According to rumors circulating in the homeowners’ group, the person who acquired it was someone similar to Yanshan’s Li Fucheng. People from other places may not know who Li Fucheng is. He’s a character similar to the underworld gangsters portrayed in the recent hit TV series. Remember this person, as I’ll mention him later.

Next, it was time for the property handover. Before the handover, various taxes, public maintenance funds, and property fees had to be paid. If you didn’t pay, you couldn’t take possession of the property. After making the payments, I finally saw my apartment. It was the first time I saw what my apartment looked like. This was in September 2021. I remember it very clearly because that’s when I found out that the residential complex was an unfinished one. Why do I say it was unfinished? There were supposed to be ten buildings in the complex, but only seven of them were completed. The other three were still under construction. When I visited the site, they told me that the area was designated as a green space. It was only when I took possession of the property that I realized one of the buildings was still under construction, and the other two hadn’t even started. So, the defining characteristic of this residential complex was that it was dirty, messy, and in poor condition. It was worse than a village. It felt like a massive construction site, and even the underground parking lot couldn’t be opened. Every day in the residents’ group chat, homeowners would argue with each other, blaming one another for blocking the driveway or parking spots. I tolerated all of this because there was no other choice.

I remember very clearly, on the day we paid the down payment, my parents and I went to the county town of Xianghe. There was a famous shop called Wang Xuesheng Xianghe Meat Pie. We didn’t have much money left, so the three of us ordered just one portion of the Xianghe Meat Pie. Since we were in Xianghe, we couldn’t miss the opportunity to try it. But we only ordered one portion for the three of us. After leaving the meat pie shop, I don’t know what happened, but suddenly, right there on the street, I burst into tears, hugging my father’s shoulder, and crying out, “Dad, I really don’t want to miss out anymore. I really don’t want to miss out anymore.” People passing by must have thought I was a lunatic.

I remember it very clearly, on the day of the property handover, we took a bus together from Beijing Dajiaoting. We went to the Wang Xuesheng Meat Pie shop first, ate meat pies, and ordered black bean curd with shredded tofu. Then we took a taxi to the residential complex. There was no elaborate ceremony or welcoming decorations at the entrance, no flowers, no arches to welcome homeowners back home. Although the entire complex was dirty, messy, and in poor condition. It was raining that day, and we stepped in mud, but when we opened that door, I lifted her high up in the air and exclaimed, “We have a home!” She excitedly started chattering, saying, “We’ll put the refrigerator here, I want a big one to store lots and lots of delicious food. This is where we’ll have our sofa. Our baby will live in this room. I want a small table here, so I can have my coffee, and you can have your tea, while we watch the sunset together. This will be the study, where I’ll pass the intermediate level tax accountant, CPA exams. And you’ll pass the level 2 and level 1 construction engineering exams and the judicial examination here. I want an open kitchen, so I can cook while watching you and our baby. We’ll place the washing machine here, a drum washing machine because when we first met, we had nicknames for each other – one was ‘drum’ and the other was ‘washing machine’.”

The memories are vivid, and in the blink of an eye, two years have passed. She’s gone, and soon the house will be gone too.

Shortly after that, due to the mask situation in Beijing, I didn’t dare to leave the city. Since I bought this property, I have only visited it three times. The first time was when we received the keys together. The second time, I mistakenly went to the wrong door, struggling with the key for a while, only to realize that I had entered the opposite apartment. When I finally opened the door and saw the cigarette butt from the Yuxi cigarettes she had bought for me on the day of the handover lying on the floor, it hit me that this was my home. The third time I went was after the pandemic, all by myself. I silently stood on the balcony for a long, long time. I smoked half a pack of cigarettes.

The housing prices have been continuously declining. It started at 24,000 yuan per square meter, then dropped to 10,000 yuan when I bought the house, and now it can’t be sold for more than 8,000 yuan. This is my first property, and I’m from a rural area. Specifically, this is the first commercial property owned by my family, and we paid a total of 400,000 yuan for the down payment and taxes. I contributed 200,000 yuan, and my parents contributed 200,000 yuan. The mortgage interest rate was initially 5.39% and was reduced to 5.19% in 2022. In 2021, I had to make monthly repayments of 4,000 yuan. Now it’s reduced to 3,900 yuan per month. I have a total mortgage of 100,000 yuan over two years. My father also fell seriously ill two years before I bought the house, and a lot of money was spent on his treatment. His health is not good, and he has basically lost his ability to work.

After pooling resources within the family, they were only able to contribute 200,000 yuan for me. I spent quite a bit of money while dating, so I didn’t have much left in my hands. In fact, I’m quite frugal in my daily life. I’ve been using the same phone for five years, and the shoes I wear are a few pairs of nice shoes I bought as revenge spending after breaking up with my first love in 2017, but they’re now worn out and my toes are sticking out. When I feel depressed, I might have a bottle of beer, which helps me fall asleep. I can’t drink more than ten bottles in a year. As for hard liquor, I don’t touch it. I usually eat at the cafeteria. I smoke Bai Ta cigarettes that cost 10 yuan. I wear the clothes provided by my workplace. Toiletries and toilet paper are also provided by my workplace. Even if I wear shoes with holes in the toes, I’m not afraid of being looked down upon by my colleagues. Because this is who I am, if you look down on me, you won’t give me an extra penny. If you think highly of me, you still won’t give me an extra penny. However, I have a good relationship with my colleagues at work. I’m stingy with myself but not with others. I don’t slack off or force others to do things at work.

I have invested nearly 500,000 yuan in this property, but now it’s claimed to be worth 800,000 yuan on paper, yet I can’t sell it for even 700,000 yuan. I still owe the bank a loan of 680,000 yuan, which means I have not only lost the down payment but also the interest. My 500,000 yuan has gone down the drain. What did I get in return? A semi-abandoned building. Why do I call it semi-abandoned? Because if you say it’s abandoned, you can still live in it, and if you say it’s not abandoned, the whole residential complex is like a construction site. Oh, by the way, although I have paid all kinds of taxes, it has been a year and a half, and I still haven’t received the property ownership certificate.

By the way, let me show you the elementary school provided by the local government. Even though I’m a rural-born person from the post-1990s generation, I have never attended such a run-down school. The toilets are all dry toilets, and there’s a fear of children falling into them.

The entire northern new town has 80,000 households. Excluding land transfer fees and not considering the peak housing prices, let’s assume an average price of 1 million yuan per unit. Each household would have to pay 15,000 yuan in deed tax alone. So, deed tax alone would provide the local government with 1.2 billion yuan. With 1.2 billion yuan, the local government could provide better facilities, such as schools. Even if they allocate only one percent of that amount, it would still be 12 million yuan. Wouldn’t that be enough to ensure that children don’t have to attend such schools? If we also consider the land transfer fees, it would be a substantial amount of wealth. Is this the level of support they provide?

Later on, I thought to myself that I could tolerate it. Even though the developers didn’t provide adequate facilities, the down payment was lost, and the local government didn’t offer support. At least there are few local residents, and the area boasts a picturesque natural scenery with cornfields nearby. After all, I can’t afford to get married or have children, so I’ll keep it for my retirement. Did you think that was the end? Prepare for something that will shatter your expectations.

If I remember correctly, in October 2022, they suddenly decided to build a waste treatment plant on a piece of unsold land near the residential area. How close is this waste treatment plant to the neighborhood? See the image below.

Within a five-kilometer radius, there are 80,000 households and a population of over 200,000. The nearest residential area, Xiulan Community, is only 200 meters away. Can you imagine a normal person doing such a thing?

So, the question is, why do they suddenly want to build a waste treatment plant? It’s quite simple: the land cannot be sold. Only a fool would sell it to a waste treatment plant. What’s the price for residential land? What’s the price for sanitation land?

During this period, everyone has unanimously opposed it, and there have been multiple discussions with local authorities, claiming that they will adopt Beijing standards and ensure no pollution. However, people have personally visited waste treatment plants in Beijing’s Chaoyang district.

Even Beijing’s own waste treatment plants are dirty and chaotic, let alone the so-called Beijing standards.

After everyone’s continuous efforts and the signing of tens of thousands of joint petitions, the local authorities compromised and announced that they would not proceed with the construction. Did everyone think it was over? No, no, no.

Today, on May 30th, Xianghe suddenly issued a land auction announcement. The local plot has officially been included in the auction and will be auctioned on June 15th.

The fact is that everyone has been deceived by the local authorities. Last year, during the public announcement, that piece of land was still designated for industrial use, which was one of the strongest points of opposition since a waste treatment plant cannot be built on industrial land. However, through several months of operations this year, they directly changed the land designation from industrial to sanitation. Rumors have been circulating that the person who will purchase this land is the same local resident from Xianghe mentioned earlier.

What’s the matter? It’s all because the real estate market in the Beijing area has collapsed. They can sell whatever they can. The local authorities are taking advantage of the situation, acting in bad faith. Will this affect the attractiveness of Xianghe for Beijing migrants? In the future, Beijing migrants will no longer have their eyes on Xianghe. But let’s focus on the immediate situation for now. We can deal with future matters later. After all, it won’t affect us directly.

After the land auction announcement was made, people have repeatedly joined forces to oppose it, reaching out to the State Council’s official app, Hebei Sunshine Governance, the mayor’s hotline, and even negotiating with the Tongzhou Planning Bureau in Beijing. What’s the use? It’s all useless. Last time, tens of thousands of joint petitions were not taken seriously. Finally, I understand a plotline from a TV drama, “In the Name of the People.” Until the Big Wind Factory incident happened, no leader cared, and it was pushed forcefully. The local urban construction bureau’s reply was that although they are auctioning the land, they haven’t decided what to do with it yet. Just trying to deceive us. Do they really think that by auctioning the sanitation land, they want to build hospitals for us? Parks? Schools? Shopping malls? Of course, the purpose of auctioning sanitation land is to build the waste treatment plant they have been dreaming of!

You can find that I’m a hardworking and diligent young person, unwilling to indulge in excessive eating or drinking, not smoking, not drinking alcohol, let alone doing drugs, engaging in prostitution, or gambling. (I’m not afraid of being laughed at. I’m almost 30 and still a virgin.) In any country, I should be considered a good young person, right? I graduated during an economic downturn and experienced a breakup with my first love. In order to get married, I emptied six wallets and bought a first-ever family-owned property, only to find out it’s a semi-abandoned building with falling housing prices. There are no supporting facilities, and they even plan to build a waste treatment plant right next to the house. What a joke!

It seems like you’re making use of every penny and treating it like sand and mud. You took away the lifelong savings of ordinary people, plus their purchasing power for the next thirty years. Did you spend it all in just three years? Even if you invest in infrastructure, shouldn’t there be some visible results? Is this 1960s elementary school the infrastructure you invested in?

Where’s the money? Where’s the money? Where’s the money?

Here’s some advice for young people: Avoid focusing on housing, marriage, and having children. Stay safe. If you really want to buy a house, don’t buy in small towns where you have no idea how low they can stoop or how disgusting they can be. Don’t buy off-plan properties. Don’t even buy new houses. Before making a purchase, visit the site with a map and make sure there are no vacant lands within a five-kilometer radius. Otherwise, how would you know that one day, out of the blue, they’ll build a waste treatment plant right next to you?

Finally, my girlfriend also broke up with me. In short, when we met, she was still pursuing her master’s degree. After graduating, she couldn’t find a job and asked me to help her prepare for the civil service examination. During that time, I provided both financial and physical support. As I am also partially associated with the system, having some experience with exams, I helped her with written materials for the written test and provided one-on-one guidance for the interview. I can confidently say that she did love me, her eyes couldn’t deceive me. Later, she passed the civil service exam, and our life trajectories and backgrounds were different. My life was too difficult and exhausting. I understood her decision.