Minimum frills and maximum amenities: what an ordinary Chinese apartment looks like

Welcome to visit Mr. Hao from Shanghai! The arrangement of his apartment is very similar to that of his relatives from Beijing, Henan or Jiangxi provinces. The only difference between the southern regions of the Celestial Empire and the northern ones is the absence of heating radiators. Mr. Hao's aunt from the capital lives in an apartment with double-glazed windows in the window openings and radiators under them. In the areas south of the Yangtze River, there is no heating system in the houses. But on the roof and balconies of high-rise buildings, solar panels are installed, and on the facades of new buildings, buildings not older than 15 years, there are niches for air conditioners.

Feng Shui is not an empty phrase for a Chinese, but comfort is still more important. Most of the windows of small apartments in houses in the northern regions of the country face the south as compensation for several cold and windy months of the year. Laminate floors in dwellings without heating are most often heated. Every room in a Chinese house has a trash can or plastic bucket. Its residents do not go to the kitchen every time to get rid of garbage. It is, by the way, very small and has no windows. The room is used exclusively for cooking. A Chinese family eats at a table in the living room or hallway. They are located opposite the door to the house and are separated from the entrance area not by a wall, but by a shoe cabinet or other interior detail.

Central ventilation is only available in apartments located in skyscrapers. The ceiling of the kitchen in a typical high-rise building is located below the level of the upper floors of the living rooms. A pipe from the hood passes under it, and in the bathroom there is a drain pipe coming from the toilet bowl of those living on the floor above the neighbors.

The Chinese are not particularly pretentious in everyday life, so in their homes there are no excesses and even elementary things in the opinion of a European. So, a bathroom combined with a toilet, equipped with a boiler, does not have a bath. The inhabitants of the Middle Kingdom take water procedures under the shower behind a curtain, standing on the tiled floor, into the hole of which dirty water flows. Greenhouse lamps are often installed in the bathroom to heat the room while swimming. The window in the bathroom is not a design technique, but a necessity due to the prevention of dampness and mold.

The Holy of Holies of the Chinese - the living area. This dwelling center is usually equipped with a sofa, armchairs, coffee table and TV. Textile flooring on the floor is rare; instead of a full-fledged carpet, a small electrically heated rug can be placed near the sofa. The bedroom of the Chinese couple is furnished very austerely - it has a bed and wardrobes. The rooms of schoolchildren also have only the necessary things - beds and desks for homework.

If you decide to buy housing in China, keep in mind that the gradation of apartments is similar to the European designation. A one-room apartment in the Chinese version has 1 bedroom and a living room, a "two-room" - 2 bedrooms and a hall, etc. And finally - keep in mind that there is no property right to real estate in the Middle Kingdom. Its facilities and the territory on which they are built are provided according to a certificate for rent for up to 70 years, non-residential premises - for 50 years. Only peasants with special status in the PRC can own land plots.