Ghost towns in China: why are they built? Why is China building empty cities? Construction of new cities in China.

Endless blocks of high-rise buildings in which no one ever lived, abandoned amusement parks in which no one had fun, empty giant shopping malls where nothing was ever bought, deserted avant-garde theaters and museums in which there were no spectators, wide avenues along which cars are driving.

In the Google Earth photo - huge EMPTY CITIES are connected by a network of EMPTY roads. Some cities are built in the harshest weather areas of China (Sishuan was built IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT in Inner Mongolia)!

What is this? A strategic mistake by the country’s authorities, who inflated a huge “bubble” in the real estate market, or secret plans calculated several years in advance, known only to China.

It all looks like a giant film set for a science fiction movie in which a neutron bomb explosion or a virus COMPLETELY DESTROYED PEOPLE! But skyscrapers, stadiums, parks and roads remained completely untouched.

Since 2000, China has been building more than 20 new modern cities EVERY YEAR, but they remain UNPOPULATED!

Today that is more than 64 million EMPTY HOUSES (not apartments)!

These apartments are enough to accommodate more than 200 million people.

Every year, China is increasing its military budget; now it is equal to 78 billion dollars, and “the hidden part of it may be another 30-40 percent of this amount.” The army and navy of the People's Republic of China are equipped with the most modern weapons.

For several years now, China has been building broadband roads on a concrete basis towards the borders of Russia; they can withstand the load of heavy military equipment,

According to military experts, when hostilities begin, the Chinese army will be in Khabarovsk in two to three hours.

“The start of large-scale offensive operations along the entire land border and the landing of troops in the north of Russia will end with a complete, quick victory for China and the seizure of Russian territory up to the Urals. After the entire territory up to the Urals is captured, the Russians will be deported beyond the Urals or exterminated. The winners are not judged,” prophesies Alexander Aladdin.

The People's Liberation Army of China (PLA) has 2.25 million soldiers, and in the event of hostilities, it can put up to 208.1 million soldiers, well armed and trained, under arms.

So what are empty cities for? Beijing is openly demonstrating that it is not afraid of nuclear war. Nuclear warheads are the only weapons modern Russia has left over from the USSR, which can somehow deter China’s aggression.

Under all these cities, underground shelters have been built, designed to accommodate hundreds of millions of people. Beijing is making it clear to both Moscow and Washington that it is fully prepared for a nuclear war. Underground shelters are known to be the most effective protection against nuclear explosions and their damaging factors (shock wave, penetrating radiation, light radiation, radioactive contamination).

Today China is the only country that is seriously ready to wage any war, both conventional and nuclear, and we pretend that this does not concern us.

China's population is the largest in the entire world. It would seem that in such a situation, every free plot should be used for the construction of housing complexes, so that all these guys can live comfortably in their own country. But what do local builders do? They are building ghost towns where no one lives. Many people have heard about this phenomenon, and not everyone understands why this is done. Let's try to figure it out.

First, it’s worth clarifying: this is not a myth. These cities actually exist and can be seen in photos from Google Earth and in videos taken by people visiting these areas. Full-fledged cities, located in different parts of the country, consist of a huge number of skyscrapers, offices and other buildings necessary for a comfortable life. All of them are connected by roads, which are empty just like apartments in high-rise buildings. All these cities are similar to each other.Firstly, they resemble the scenery of a disaster movie.Secondly, all such projects are located in remote areas that are poorly suited for living. One of these cities, for example, is located in the desert. According to statistics, there are now more than 60 million such houses in China. And every year the number of ghost towns increases by an average of twenty.

There are several theories that explain such an active pace of building up the Celestial Empire with empty skyscrapers.

First explanation , probably inspired by the gloomy atmosphere in the photographs. It is believed that these cities in China are being built in case of a nuclear war throughout the world. This confirms the presence of bomb shelters under every house. There you can hide from both simple bombing and atomic bombs. In addition, due to the fact that the cities are not populated and are located in hard-to-reach places, there would be no point in bombing them. The most populated cities and megalopolises will be attacked first. Therefore, in the event of a disaster, the Chinese will be able to move to this territory. Since no one will be involved in restoring the building during the war, having a couple of cities “in reserve” is very profitable. In just a couple of days, survivors will be able to move to a new place and try to start life anew. After all, all the conditions for this have been created in advance. In addition, such cities will be able to accept refugees from other allied countries.

According to the same theory, such cities can appear on the territory of the Celestial Empire not for someone to live in them, but to show the government of countries that own nuclear weapons that China is ready for war. Therefore, local residents cannot be intimidated by simple threats from different parts of the world. Indeed, the picture already looks impressive today. But, again, there is not so much space in the Celestial Empire to waste it simply on creating the illusion of security for the people.

However, there is another, less gloomy explanation for the emergence ghost towns in China. For example, in Guadong Province there is the city of Huizhou. We are not interested in the city itself, but in its separate district – Daya. It can well be called a “ghost”, because, despite the fact that there are houses and all the buildings necessary to provide the population with work and a comfortable life for the Chinese, no one lives in this area. The fact is that due to the fact that the area is located on the outskirts, it is inconvenient to get anywhere from there. Thanks to this, housing prices here are very low. Therefore, enterprising Chinese invest money in housing, but do not live in purchased apartments. 70% of homeowners prefer to stay in the bustling and vibrant city of Shenzhen, which is only 70 kilometers away. By the way, it is worth noting that all these investments in real estate have already paid off. Housing in this area currently costs twice as much as when purchased. So, right now, investing money in local real estate is much more profitable than transferring it to Western bank accounts. There are many cities with areas like Daya. This is why such frightening stories about empty areas arise.

There is another city, the example of which can be considered the third version of the emergence of “ghost towns” .

This is Ordos, which began to be built more than twenty years ago. This may explain the fact that empty cities are located near Mongolia, often in deserted and uninhabitable areas. At that time, the country was experiencing the so-called “Mongolian coal rush.” They made money from coal mining. Therefore, they were invested in the development of cities where ordinary workers would live. At this time, many cities were built where the population of several small countries could comfortably accommodate. Ordos, for example, was set up with the expectation that about a million inhabitants would live here. Not only ordinary residential buildings were built there, but also offices, theaters and entertainment centers. But, alas, the Chinese did not move to the city of their dreams, and construction plans had to be stopped.

However, you shouldn’t think that everything is so bad. The ghost town, like many others, is not doomed. Now in China, villagers are actively moving to cities. Therefore, they will not be empty for a long time. And if the Chinese population continues to grow, we will even have to build new ones. By the way, all such cities are located in “safe” places from the point of view of seismological activity. Therefore, entire families can safely move there. This is both convenient and profitable from a financial point of view.

The latest version is also related to money. It is believed that such cities are built in order to artificially stimulate GDP growth. This is also quite logical and sounds true.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that many consider stories about Chinese ghost towns to be mere rumors. Even the busiest cities can seem deserted if you take photos early in the morning, when all the residents are asleep. Therefore, many Internet users assume that all these photos are just fakes, taken at the right time or photoshopped. However, this assumption can be easily verified by going to one of the cities, which is what many Chinese and tourists do.

All these versions are equally interesting. It is difficult to understand what is really happening in the Middle Kingdom. Most likely, the idea of the Chinese government will be revealed to us only when the ghost towns are populated by people. In the meantime, one can only be surprised at the attitude of the locals towards the desert area. All these uninhabited corners of the Celestial Empire surprise with their cleanliness. Despite the fact that there is no one to clean up there, utility workers are steadily cleaning the sidewalks, sweeping the streets, and simply doing their best to maintain order in the city. Against the backdrop of abandoned Russian cities, they look very unusual.

In Soviet times, starting from the fifties, a lot of housing was built in the USSR, and at the same time there was a chronic shortage of it. A country with a population of a quarter of a billion people needed new houses, districts and even cities. At the same time and a little later, the famous “Khrushchev buildings” appeared, built using block or panel technology, modest, but giving millions of citizens the opportunity to move to a separate area and forget the hateful communal apartments, not to mention the basements. In the last decade, mass construction has been launched in the PRC, but its results are strikingly different from those in the Soviet Union. Chinese citizens do not joyfully celebrate receiving warrants, do not dance at housewarming parties, but continue to live in the same conditions as before. New houses, neighborhoods and cities are empty. Why?

Housing in China is expensive. It would be more accurate to note that it is not commensurate with the income of the average Chinese. However, this concept as such is meaningless, since the stratification of society is very great. In large cities, a highly qualified worker can receive a salary of four hundred or even five hundred dollars, but in order to get a job like this, you need to try hard. The level of education, knowledge (there is an incentive not to limit yourself to an educational institute or university program, but to comprehend science and languages on your own) and experience is important. In Shanghai (this city leads in terms of average salary in China) or Guangzhou (they also value specialists well), getting a good position, for example an export sales manager, requires knowledge of technology, two or three languages, communication skills and many other professional skills. This is what they will pay.

Income of the general public

There is no famine in China. There are enough products, and this is a huge achievement of the reform policy of the leadership of the Communist Party, which moved away from Maoism and proclaimed a course towards market development. However, peasants in China live poorly. From time to time they are invited to work in the city, where they are offered to perform simple operations at industrial enterprises for a very modest fee of literally a couple of dollars a day. This tedious and monotonous work is episodic in nature and provides an opportunity to earn “real money” and not just food. Arriving in his native village after two or three weeks, such a “shabashnik” is considered a wealthy person for some time (until the money runs out) and can even get married successfully. A Chinese coolie cannot count on buying a city apartment. This dream is unattainable.

Solvency of managers in China

Now about the mentioned middle managers. It is also unlikely that he will be able to save ten to fifteen thousand dollars for a separate, most modest apartment. In Shanghai or Guangzhou, food costs money, although it can be called moderate. In addition, housing has to be rented, and this also cuts the budget. Mortgage programs and, in general, lending programs exist, but they are no more favorable than Russian ones; the interest rates “bite”. And yet, with a lot of effort, you can realize this dream and achieve your goal, especially if you make a successful career and become a top manager. This is difficult, especially since trade and exports have fallen significantly in recent years, and earnings, like ours, are highly dependent on the volume of personal sales. Such young men and women work very diligently, they fight for every client, but it is not yet possible to see them as mass buyers of real estate.

Ghost towns

Foreigners who accidentally visit “ghost towns” are struck by many oddities here. China is a crowded country, all the cities are packed with people, but here there is silence, peace and the almost complete absence of not only residents, but also traces of their presence. Beautiful new residential high-rise buildings stand empty, with heating running in winter (obviously to avoid disastrous temperature changes) and elevators turned on. The infrastructure has also been created, the roads are smoothly paved, or the process of fine-tuning this work is underway. Another question is that all these wonders of urban civilization are located in remote northern regions, where population density has always been low, and sometimes even surrounded by desert. For example, in Inner Mongolia. There are even parks and sports facilities designed for mass visitors. Who will live here?

Defense version

The huge number of empty residential apartment buildings (in total, according to various estimates, up to 64 million) and their maintenance do not raise doubts that the government, which is investing a lot of money in all this, has some plans for numerous objects, but is in no hurry share them with the public, both Chinese and foreign. Based on this mystery, there was even an assumption that the PRC was preparing for a nuclear war, as a result of which it was ready to sacrifice large cities, but the population could be resettled here in the North. This assumption, of course, has a right to exist, but it does not seem very logical. Firstly, many millions of people need to be evacuated here, and there may not be time left for this. Secondly: what, exactly, will they do here? Sew down jackets or assemble computers? And for whom? And thirdly, it turns out that war is already very close. Why is the Chinese army so poorly prepared for it? Otherwise, houses deteriorate from standing idle for a long time...

Solution

Most likely, in this case there is a feature of Chinese national psychology, expressed, in particular, in the manner of doing business. This is how the state approach of the PRC leaders differs from the American and, alas, the Russian one. This is called the ability to see perspective. Real estate prices in China are growing quite quickly, the economic development strategy is changing in favor of increasing domestic solvency, and sooner or later all these apartments will become someone else's property. Today, one meter already costs up to five thousand yuan (more than $700), having increased by 50% in recent years. Mass construction is a forward-thinking way to invest money, rather than storing it in green American paper, with which it remains to be seen what will happen. And in the very near future.

Every year two new cities appear in China. Already now, these megacities can accommodate the entire population of Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus combined. The Chinese probably know what they are doing...

Very little information about these cities gets into the media, because this could worsen the situation in the housing market. But, despite this, specialists from Peking University were able to draw up a map showing ghost towns. Still, we decided to look at seven huge ghost towns in more detail.

Some time ago John Maynard Keynes- the famous economist proposed digging holes and filling them up again as a cure for the economic recession.

Chinese government decided to take this advice and develop it to perfection. Thus, ghost towns began to appear throughout the Celestial Empire, which helps Chinese residents solve a series of problems: unemployment dropped to 4-5% also every year many millions of peasants move to ready-made cities, constantly the local budget is replenished due to apartment sales.

But the Chinese sages did not take into account the speed of the emergence of new cities. The created cities do not have time to populate the inhabitants and the cities are empty, which brings to mind thoughts of ghostly castles.

With the advent of the financial crisis, the situation of China's ghost towns worsened as the country began producing cement in huge quantities. This process could not be stopped and therefore the state decided to continue building cities.

Yingkou

Liaoning Province is dependent on mining. Therefore, the decision was made to rebuild the economy as this would change the situation: the Chinese government directed finance into new industries, and construction companies quickly began building housing for employees. The city was built very quickly, but there are no residents in it still.

New Hebi

Hebi is the capital of Henan Province. This city existed thanks to coal mines. But after some time, a new deposit was discovered near Hebi. This prompted the city authorities to create another industrial zone - “New Hebi”. For twenty years, no one has mastered the new territory.

Thames Town

In this town it was decided to reproduce British countryside. The city was designed by an American architect Tony Mackay. Real estate was snapped up by wealthy people as worthy investments. Due to the fact that property prices in this town have increased sharply, this has scared away ordinary people, and now Thames Town is a place visited by tourists.

Tianducheng

This city is built in Zhejiang Province. This town can also be called little Paris. But unfortunately, there are no residents in this city either, despite the fact that the copy of the Eiffel Tower looks almost real.

Chenggong

The city of Chenggong was built due to the huge number of students. It was planned to build huge high-rise buildings with hundreds of thousands of residential apartments. Local residents bought most of the housing as investments, but no one chose to live here.

Caofeidian

Caofeidian was supposed to become the first super-eco-friendly city. It was built several hundred kilometers from Beijing. This city planned to use only renewable energy. The goal of the people living in this city is to show how good an environmentally friendly life is. Despite 90 billion invested in the construction of the city, it remains empty.

Ordos

Ordos is a major center of the Autonomous Republic of Inner Mongolia. The Chinese government decided to expand the city, locating a new district nearby, Kangbashi. It was expected that about a million people would live in the new area, but at the moment the population of the area is only twenty thousand.

Endless blocks of high-rise buildings in which no one has ever lived, abandoned amusement parks, empty giant shopping malls, deserted avant-garde theaters and museums, wide avenues without cars - over the past decade, several new cities and areas have appeared in China, where, it seems, , no human foot has stepped on it. We tried to understand the phenomenon of Chinese “ghost towns” and understand why they exist.

In the Google Earth photo, huge empty cities are connected by a network of empty roads. Some cities are built in some of the harshest weather areas in China (Sishuan is built in the middle of the desert in Inner Mongolia)!

What is this? A strategic mistake by the country’s authorities, who inflated a huge “bubble” in the real estate market, or secret plans calculated several years in advance, known only to China.

It all looks like a giant film set for a science fiction movie in which a neutron bomb or virus has completely destroyed people! but skyscrapers, stadiums, parks and roads remained completely untouched.

Since 2000, China has been building more than 20 new modern cities every year, but they remain unpopulated! Today that's over 64 million empty houses (not apartments)!

In 2010, Chinese media reported that the State Electric Network of the People's Republic of China monitored electricity consumption in 660 cities over six months and found zero readings on the electricity meters of 65.4 million apartments - which means no one lives here!

These apartments are enough to accommodate more than 200 million people.

Under all these cities, underground shelters have been built, designed to accommodate hundreds of millions of people. Beijing is making it clear to the whole world that it is fully prepared for nuclear war. Underground shelters are known to be the most effective protection against nuclear explosions and their damaging factors (shock wave, penetrating radiation, light radiation, radioactive contamination).