Shanghai China Snippets Observations about living in Shanghai and China in general

We’re dipping our toes in the real estate market in Shanghai and as a first step called an agent who was referred to us by a friend.

After telling him the price range, the first question was: “How many bathrooms do you want?”

Are bathrooms the new status symbol?

Data about construction in Shanghai
from the latest 8days magazine

• Total are of Shanghai that has been reconstructed – 22.650.000 m2
• Number of architecture firms – 44
• Number of high-rise commercial buildings built every year – 400
• Total area of all the public parks in Shanghai by 2010 – 20.000.000 m2 *
• Total expansion of Shanghai’s downtown area since the 1980s – 480 km2
• Total land area that has been used to build new residential areas over the last 5 years – 80.000.000 m2

* I doubt this will materialize with the said square meters. Real estate/city development plans always include parks and green areas. They somehow are just forgotten at the end stage of the building.

Source: 8days
Picture: My old bathroom in Kunming. Fill it up, heat it and don’t forget to pull out the plug before taking the shower machine