Sick of Beijing Rents? Live in a Capsule!

Japan has long been known for it’s “capsule hotels,” providing a beehive-like experience for the budget traveler in crowded cities like Tokyo. With space pressures increasing in Beijing, the first “capsule apartment” complex has now opened in China’s capital – and according to China Hush it’s found at least one tenant.

China Hush reported the opening of the capsule complex in Liulangzhuang, Haidian, earlier this month. According to the post, each unit is “less than 2 square meters, but in the unit tenants can lie down, sit, watch TV and go on the internet.”

The “apartments” don’t seem to have been a raging success however, with only one tenant moving in so far – a 25 year old girl named Zhang Qi (张琪) from Shanxi. The Legal Evening News interviewed the young woman, and she told the newspaper: “My father died in 2008, my mother does not work and my sister just graduated. The money I save can help my family.”

Rent on each unit is RMB 250-200, though the article doesn’t specify what you get for laying out an extra RMB 50.

Meanwhile, at the other end of town, The Global Times ran a piece over the weekend on a “super-luxurious hotel and apartment complex catering to the ultra-rich,” located opposite Beijing’s Olympic Park. The complex is topped by courtyard houses on the roof, which according to the article will set you back RMB 1 million per night.

The mind boggles. With many Chinese people still living in terrible conditions and the kids of migrant workers unable to even go to school, can the super-wealthy really think of no better way to spend RMB 1 million?