A Tour Of China's Most Famous 'Ghost City'

08-02-2012 • http://www.businessinsider.com, Julie Zeveloff

Construction on Kangbashi, a grand city on the outskirts of Ordos in Inner Mongolia, started in 2004.

Intended to hold a million residents, less than 30,000 live there today, according to the Daily Mail. High home prices are often blamed for keeping prospective buyers away from the city. But when home prices crashed there late last year—from $1,100 a square foot in 2006 to $470 a square foot in December 2011—people started to think Kangbashi was a lost cause.

When Al Jazeera English visited Kangbashi last September, it saw that construction was ongoing despite the fact that few people were moving in. The station noted that while many of the city's luxury properties have been sold, they sit empty—perhaps because they're a relatively safe place for people to keep their money.

1 Comments in Response to A Tour Of China's Most Famous 'Ghost City'

Comment by PureTrust

Entered on: 8/2/2012 8:50:39 AM

Well, things haven't changed much over the centuries. They used slave labor to create the Great Wall. Same thing now for the empty cities.

You will say, "But the workers who built the city were paid!" What were they paid with? Tax money from people who can't afford to move in to the city that their own taxes paid for.

The situation is just as messed up in China as in the USA where people live in tent cities because they can't afford to pay for the houses that they used live in.

America is great! China is great! So say all the respective governments' pamphlets that attempt to advertise their respective countries.

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