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Home is where we park it

Author:未知 Source:0  Updated:2014-09-24 11:09:50 
Feng Zeng (left) and his wife wait to examine their son's homework on Wednesday night in their home, which was remodeled from a disused bus. Wang Chunsheng / for China Daily ZHENGZHOU - While most residents are worried about sky-h

Feng Zeng (left) and his wife wait to examine their son's homework on Wednesday night in their home, which was remodeled from a disused bus. Wang Chunsheng / for China Daily

ZHENGZHOU - While most residents are worried about sky-high property prices in Zhengzhou, capital of Central China's Henan province, Feng Zeng has found a way to drive around such concerns.

The 38-year-old and his family have lived in a shabby, disused bus for the past four years that sits near the city's East Third Ring Road.

While the blaring horns of heavily loaded trucks passing on the road each night is not everyone's idea of an ideal environment, Feng is too realistic to dream of escaping to a nice apartment. His plans are more modest - thick sponges or earplugs to deaden the din.

Feng owns a small motor repair shop and earns between 40,000 yuan ($6,000) and 50,000 yuan a year.

That means his family would have to save all of its income for eight years to get enough to step onto the property ladder with a 70-square-meter apartment in the city's suburbs, something that sells for around 5,000 yuan per square meter.

Feng bought the disused bus in 2006 for 8,000 yuan and remodeled it into a two-room apartment, with a total floor space of less than 10 square meters.

At the rear of the bus, two beds are used by Feng's wife and their three kids - one son and two daughters, aged between 6 and 13.

In the middle of the bus, a wooden desk, secondhand 14-inch color television, old air conditioner and mirror comprise the living area.

Feng sleeps in the tiny driver's compartment at the front. Even the steering wheel has been put to good use - as a clothes hanger.

Aside from the fact that the roof leaks when it rains, Feng's wife says their four-year stay has "not been bad". She says it has advantages because it is close to her husband's workplace and the children's school.

Their oldest daughter, a junior middle school student, wrote in her diary on their first day in the bus: "We finally have a 'home' in this city".

Feng said his family has to stay in the bus simply because they have "no other choice".

His home has been dubbed "the most famous sedan in history" by Chinese Internet users, but Feng said the accommodation is better than some of the apartments he has rented in the past.

"It is my home," Feng said.

After local media wrote about the way they were living, Feng's family became wary of the media and said they fear such interest will prompt the city administrators to tow away their home.

The family's situation illustrates the fast development of the city, which has ballooned and spawned a batch of real estate companies. The city now has a population of more than 7 million.

In June, Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties Co Ltd spent 290 million yuan on purchasing a 9.33-hectare lot that it hopes to develop. Shortly before that, China Resources Land Co Ltd spent 5 billion yuan on another parcel in the downtown area.

"The house prices are pretty high," Feng said. "There's no way we can buy an apartment."

Feng said he and his family hope to go back to their hometown of Huaiyang county in May or June 2011.

And he is not alone in the city in looking for unconventional places to live. Chen Xinnian, a 64-year-old former miner in Zhengzhou, excavated a 50-square-meter space six meters below his yard in September. He is hoping to turn the space into a subterranean home and is anxiously awaiting the results of a government investigation into his proposed underground house.

Shao Wei contributed to this story.

China Daily