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Containers hold key to cheaper property costs
By Xu Wenwen |
July 6, 2011, Wednesday
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Print Edition
HANGZHOU'S high property prices and expensive rents have driven some to establish their offices and living quarters in containers. A small community of container dwellers can be found at Huadu Market in the north of Hangzhou, where a dozen of white containers stand on a large area of open ground, with a simple kitchen, laundry and a surrounding vegetable plot.
The space is available because the market burned down two years ago, although several decoration materials stores remain around the market.
The containers share the same specifications: a "wall" consisting of two iron sheets outside and cellular plastic partitions inside. Six "walls" comprise a 3-meter-wide, 6-meter-long and 2.7-meter-high container.
Each container has 18 square meters of space, and can hold five bunk beds.
These containers are designed exclusively for residential use, and are equipped with a door, two windows, two fluorescent lights, electric plug sockets and a tiled floor.
To rent a container only costs 6 yuan (93 US cents) per day. The company renting out the containers is responsible for transporting the huge boxes by cranes, but their customers need to provide the space to accommodate them first.
Li Wei opened his garage that mends cars at the market two weeks ago. He rented five containers, functioning as an office, warehouse, kitchen and dorm; he also leased a ground area of 300 square meters from the market to hold the containers.
The ground costs 4,500 yuan a month, while the containers cost 1,080 yuan per month. But the total sum remains much lower than that of renting a real building for use as a garage coupled with offices and dorms.
Li and his workers covered the tops of the containers with some iron sheets and black cloth to provide shade from the sunshine and encircle the area as a block. In the block, they also have an area for laundry and cooking.
During the daytime, they work, cook and rest in the block, while at night a middle-aged couple from Anhui Province guards the open garage.
The couple lives in a nicely equipped container, in which there are beds, cabinets, tables and electrical appliances such as a television and air conditioner.
"The air conditioner is necessary because living in the box is really hot," says Li, "but where else can I find another place with open ground as well as offices for as cheap?"
Living in a container is not as romantic as people think. Although residents can doodle on their "houses" and have loud parties without having to worry about disturbing their neighbors, a big disadvantage of living in container is that there are no toilets.
"We have to go to toilet in the market, and taking showers there is definitely not convenient," Li adds.
But some persist to settle there. Welder Wang Lu and his coworkers recently marked out a small vegetable plot at the side of their container, so they can grow fresh vegetables to use for cooking.
They also placed some iron sheets between the tops of two separate containers, forming a "kitchen" featuring a gas burner and electric cooker.
Their boss surnamed Xia runs a hardware store in a nearby market, and rents three containers there, two as an office and warehouse, and the other one as a changing room for workers and a place for them to rest.
"The nearby warehouse is convenient for my business as I can take my clients to the warehouse or take goods to my store easily," says Xia.
Currently, all the containers situated in the market are from a container company based in Shenzhen in Guangdong Province. The company opened a branch in Xiaoshan, Hangzhou this April, which has rented out more than 40 containers so far.
According to its business manager surnamed Zhang, the selling price of one container is 12,000 yuan, but Zhang declined to say how many containers have been sold in the city.
"Most of the renters are private businessmen, especially construction businessmen who need to accommodate building laborers," Zhang tells.
The idea of living in a container in China derived in Shenzhen, and has since spread across the country to places such as Changsha in Hunan Province and Shanghai. Containers are mostly used as dorms for builders and are placed on construction sites.
However, are these portable boxes considered as illegal buildings?
"Considering the containers are moveable, they are not illegal buildings," says Wang Fang, an official from the Jianqiao Squad of Jianggan District Bureau of City Administration and Law Enforcement.
"In addition, those containers do not occupy urban roads, so we don't have the right to deal with them," she adds.
Due to the demand for vacant areas, this new more affordable way of living has seemingly not become too popular in Hangzhou, a city with an average housing price of 25,000-plus yuan.
The space is available because the market burned down two years ago, although several decoration materials stores remain around the market.
The containers share the same specifications: a "wall" consisting of two iron sheets outside and cellular plastic partitions inside. Six "walls" comprise a 3-meter-wide, 6-meter-long and 2.7-meter-high container.
Each container has 18 square meters of space, and can hold five bunk beds.
These containers are designed exclusively for residential use, and are equipped with a door, two windows, two fluorescent lights, electric plug sockets and a tiled floor.
To rent a container only costs 6 yuan (93 US cents) per day. The company renting out the containers is responsible for transporting the huge boxes by cranes, but their customers need to provide the space to accommodate them first.
Li Wei opened his garage that mends cars at the market two weeks ago. He rented five containers, functioning as an office, warehouse, kitchen and dorm; he also leased a ground area of 300 square meters from the market to hold the containers.
The ground costs 4,500 yuan a month, while the containers cost 1,080 yuan per month. But the total sum remains much lower than that of renting a real building for use as a garage coupled with offices and dorms.
Li and his workers covered the tops of the containers with some iron sheets and black cloth to provide shade from the sunshine and encircle the area as a block. In the block, they also have an area for laundry and cooking.
During the daytime, they work, cook and rest in the block, while at night a middle-aged couple from Anhui Province guards the open garage.
The couple lives in a nicely equipped container, in which there are beds, cabinets, tables and electrical appliances such as a television and air conditioner.
"The air conditioner is necessary because living in the box is really hot," says Li, "but where else can I find another place with open ground as well as offices for as cheap?"
Living in a container is not as romantic as people think. Although residents can doodle on their "houses" and have loud parties without having to worry about disturbing their neighbors, a big disadvantage of living in container is that there are no toilets.
"We have to go to toilet in the market, and taking showers there is definitely not convenient," Li adds.
But some persist to settle there. Welder Wang Lu and his coworkers recently marked out a small vegetable plot at the side of their container, so they can grow fresh vegetables to use for cooking.
They also placed some iron sheets between the tops of two separate containers, forming a "kitchen" featuring a gas burner and electric cooker.
Their boss surnamed Xia runs a hardware store in a nearby market, and rents three containers there, two as an office and warehouse, and the other one as a changing room for workers and a place for them to rest.
"The nearby warehouse is convenient for my business as I can take my clients to the warehouse or take goods to my store easily," says Xia.
Currently, all the containers situated in the market are from a container company based in Shenzhen in Guangdong Province. The company opened a branch in Xiaoshan, Hangzhou this April, which has rented out more than 40 containers so far.
According to its business manager surnamed Zhang, the selling price of one container is 12,000 yuan, but Zhang declined to say how many containers have been sold in the city.
"Most of the renters are private businessmen, especially construction businessmen who need to accommodate building laborers," Zhang tells.
The idea of living in a container in China derived in Shenzhen, and has since spread across the country to places such as Changsha in Hunan Province and Shanghai. Containers are mostly used as dorms for builders and are placed on construction sites.
However, are these portable boxes considered as illegal buildings?
"Considering the containers are moveable, they are not illegal buildings," says Wang Fang, an official from the Jianqiao Squad of Jianggan District Bureau of City Administration and Law Enforcement.
"In addition, those containers do not occupy urban roads, so we don't have the right to deal with them," she adds.
Due to the demand for vacant areas, this new more affordable way of living has seemingly not become too popular in Hangzhou, a city with an average housing price of 25,000-plus yuan.
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