"Capsule apartment" has torn the veil of prosperity under the background of soaring housing prices in Beijing, and people have seen the huge and dense "ant family" life behind the metropolis. With the reform entering the second 30 years, the polarization between the rich and the poor in China has also entered the second generation. They rely on the material foundation and ideological trajectory of their predecessors to move on, but in Beijing, the dream-chasing capital, some people may get the whole world, while others may just get a "capsule".
The term "poor second generation" summarizes those who are weak but full of hope and struggle hard, and "capsule apartment" becomes the epitome before they want to change their identity. No matter how good it is, this 2-square-meter hut can only accommodate one bed. Compared with more than half of the houses being vacant, it is undoubtedly the most vivid gift left to the "poor second generation" after the wealth is seized.
There are 8 yellow capsules.
"I don't think it is for people to live in. When I came to Beijing, I would rather live in a student apartment with many rooms than a house like that. No windows, suffocating. In such a small place, taking off your shoes and sleeping directly ... living for a long time is not good for your body and mind. " Zhuang Ning, a girl from Shenyang, said: "The mentality of drifting north was very important. I have been living in that place, and my heart must be wronged to death. "
Capsule Apartment is located at No.47, Wu Jian Building, Liulangzhuang, Haidian District, Beijing. It was invented by 78-year-old Huang Rixin.
Zhang Qi, the first Shanxi girl to sign a rental agreement with Huang Rixin, was particularly tired when she saw the reporter. "After living here for a few days, I found myself anxious, manic and tired. I went to the International Trade Office at noon and took the 10 line for a long time to get here. " After she moved into the "capsule apartment", her greatest wish was to have a good sleep, but she just couldn't sleep. "My body simply can't accept it. I feel particularly lonely. I really want to talk to someone today. "
Liulangzhuang is located in the urban-rural fringe of Haidian District, Beijing, and it is a 0/0 minute bike ride from Zhongguancun/KLOC. A young man living in Liulangzhuang told reporters: "In our building, many people sell computers in Zhongguancun."
Xie, a software engineer in Zhongguancun, has a room of about 10 square meter, and rents 500 yuan every month. "I think this is very creative. It has certain value for college students who have just graduated and are in the transition period. It can play a role in relieving. After all, for college graduates with a monthly salary of 2,000 to 3,000 yuan in the city, renting a house for eight or nine hundred yuan in the city is unbearable. " He is no longer a fresh graduate, but to save money, he lives in Liulangzhuang.
In April of 20 10, the reporter came here many times and stayed in the "capsule apartment" for one night. Room 324 has two "capsule apartments", the specifications are 120cm wide, 220cm long and 200cm high; There are three "capsule apartments" in Room 328 and Room 332, respectively, with the width reduced to 90 cm and the length and height unchanged. The capsule apartment in the room is like a matchbox, neatly placed in a square box.
The "capsule apartment" is very small and can only accommodate one bed. However, there is a small table by the bed. There is a bright energy-saving lamp above the table, and there are four sockets and a cable jack under the lamp, which conforms to the living habits of the new generation. Monthly rent small capsules 250 yuan, large capsules 350 yuan. "The wall of my capsule apartment is made of steel plate concrete, which has the functions of fire prevention, theft prevention and heat protection, and has also applied for a national patent." Huang Rixin said.
"I mainly hope to build a safe place for young people who have just left the university, or vulnerable groups who are wandering the streets." Huang Rixin introduced that his design was inspired by capsule hotels in Japan, but the capsule hotels in Japan are too luxurious and expensive, each reaching 10000 yuan, and the monthly rent is as high as 640 dollars. "The cost of my capsule apartment in the development period is 2500 yuan, and the cost of mass production is about 1500 yuan. It is affordable for college graduates to rent 200 yuan to 250 yuan every month.
Capsules are everywhere in Beijing.
Huang Rixin is a thermal engineer. In his 78-year-old career, he is most proud of three things. First, he designed the thermal power plant of Beijing Huaneng Thermal Power Station, which is the largest thermal power plant in the eastern suburb of Beijing. Secondly, he helped to translate On Running, an Olympic champion in the former Soviet Union, and published it in China in his youth. Third, he won the third place in the 800-meter race of Beijing Olympic Games with 1956. Since the second half of 2009, the elderly have entered the passion of solving China's dilemma through invention.
"The role of novelists is to ask questions and attract the attention of the government and society, but as scientists, they have the responsibility to find solutions to problems for the society through their own efforts and inventions and help the government solve the current outstanding problems." Huang Rixin told reporters, "Before my capsule apartment was born, there were capsule apartments everywhere in Beijing. In Tiantongyuan, Tangjialing and Xiaoyuehe, as long as there are places where newly graduated college students live together, there are capsule apartments, just separated by wooden boards. There are three bunk beds in a room of 10 square meter, where six people live. "
Tang Jialing's fame was rapidly formed after Lian Si, an associate professor in university of international business and economics, published an investigation report "Ant Family". Tangjialing is located in the west of Xi 'erqi Station of Metro 13 Line in Haidian District, Beijing. It is the border of Beijing's suburbs. There are only 5,000 aborigines, but there are 50,000 migrants, most of whom are college students who have just left school. The movie actor Wang who walked out from here is a legend in the hearts of the tenants.
According to the survey in Lian Si, the "ant tribe" is a group of people with high IQ from western rural areas or county towns, of which the proportion from rural areas and county towns is 54.7% and 20.7% respectively, which is a veritable "poor second generation". They are highly educated and eager to integrate into big cities, but they have no "rich second generation" or "powerful second generation" family background, so they can only improve their situation through their own struggle and efforts.
"Living in groups" is illegal, but in every corner of Beijing, there may be the fact of living in groups. Tianma Apartment in the east of China Academy of Agricultural Sciences is one of the settlements. Gao Yuan and Kelvin Cui, interns of Shanxi University, will graduate in July this year. They started with eight people, and then lived with 20 people, and they rented 290 yuan every month. "People in the same dormitory don't know each other at all. I don't know who came today and will leave tomorrow. The most uncomfortable thing is that I can't sleep at all, and I dare not put precious things on my body. " They found Huang Rixin and were disappointed to hear that the "capsule apartment" was full.
"After watching" Ant Tribe ",I was greatly shocked. These children have all gone to college, but the government can't solve the outstanding problems they face and make them become ants. They are smart, cowardly, gregarious and strong. As people who have been there, it is necessary to help them. " Huang Rixin told reporters that since 2009, he spent a year preparing. At first, it was called "Ant Apartment". Later, it was renamed "Capsule Apartment" at the suggestion of others, and he also applied for a national patent.
Although the capsule is small, it is home.
According to relevant data, since the second half of 2009, Beijing house prices have been rising at a rocket-like speed. 20 10 in March, the houses in Beijing's Third Ring Road generally entered the era of 30,000 yuan, and in Tongzhou, where house prices rose wildly, the auction price also rose from 5,000 yuan per square meter to 20,000 yuan. The main reason for the rapid rise in house prices lies in real estate speculation.
Being unable to afford a house has gradually become a major social problem, and "fleeing from the north to the south" is becoming a fashionable term. According to an online statistical data, 54.7% of the post-80s generation chose to "escape from the North to Guangzhou", the most direct reason being the soaring housing prices in first-tier cities. 3 1% of "fugitives" think that the social security system is unfair in first-tier cities because of the shackles of the household registration system; Another 9.8% people think that the "happy cost performance" of living in first-tier cities is too low.
Chen Yunfeng, Secretary-General of China Economic and Trade Federation, said that the capsule apartment is the product of the times when the real estate price in China reached 50,000, "which is a wonderful satire on the current real estate policy and high housing prices. Young people have encountered unprecedented challenges and have to live in such a' capsule' apartment, even holding the wall when turning over. "
Huang Rixin introduced that after his "Capsule Apartment" was reported by Beijing Youth Daily, it was discovered by the editor of Sina Leju Edition that "Capsule Apartment" was widely known and made into a model and put on Sina's booth, which became the focus of the 20 10 Beijing Spring Real Estate Fair.
Media from all over the country and some foreign media have sent reporters to wait in the capsule apartment, waiting for every possible event. After the capsule apartment was put in Liulangzhuang for 3 months, Sina. Com uses its huge network platform to organize netizens to experience trials, and then there are several people who are willing to eat crabs first.
Zhang Qi, a girl from Shanxi, is the first person to change from trying to renting a house. He graduated from Shanxi Radio and TV University and won the first prize in Shanxi Division of the first China College Student Advertising Creative Competition. After seeing the report of the capsule apartment on the Internet, she came to try to live in the capsule apartment and later decided to rent it. "Capsule apartment is a concept, its practical significance lies in guiding the society to do so, but its effect has yet to be tested. I think its great function is to challenge the survival limit of human habitation. After I have lived here, I can consider whether I can live in a big wardrobe next. "
Wen Jiao of Tianjin is a freelancer. She graduated from a university in Tianjin and majored in environmental management. She's 23 years old and she's a freelancer. After graduating from college, she came to Beijing to work hard. In the past two years, she earned 5,000 yuan, mainly from her mother's support.
Her dream is to sing, and she also released an album "One-sided Love" with a circulation of 2,000 copies. I wrote the theme song myself. She told reporters that she had been to some karaoke bars and cafes to be a singer. "But people think that I am inexperienced, and I am very hit." "Now I still hope to find a job that can sing."
"I used to share a house with my friends. 500 yuan a month is too high. I read the report on the capsule apartment and found it. " Wen Jiao said: "I called that day, and Huang Lao said that there was another girl waiting to rent a house and asked me to come over at 3: 30." "I was worried that the last house was rented out, so I came an hour earlier, waited for an hour, and finally rented it out."
The reporter saw that the capsule apartment where Wen Jiao lives is a small apartment with a width of about 90 cm, and there is Wen Jiao's laptop on the bedside table. "When I'm free, I'll go out and buy something to eat." She told reporters that her daily living expenses are 25 yuan. She eats cake in the morning and rice at noon and evening.
When the reporter interviewed Wen Jiao on April 22, there was still a strange smell in the "capsule apartment", which was comparable to the smell smelled in the first interview two weeks ago. "I usually leave the door open to let out the pungent smell, otherwise it will be very uncomfortable to sleep at night."
Residents' union
20 10 On April 22nd, at about 4: 30 pm, 78-year-old Huang Rixin wrote his name on the No.1 document of the Capsule Apartment Alliance. This "China Capsule Apartment Cultural Industry Alliance" was jointly established by designers, tenants, netizens and the media.
This is the inauguration ceremony of the Capsule Apartment Alliance. There are no beautiful hostesses, no officials to cut the ribbon, and no professors to join in. But there are about ten live media outlets, including Reuters and Al Jazeera. After Huang Rixin signed it, he did not make any declaration, and no one responded with warm applause. Only Huang Lao kept telling reporters: "I hope more people can join me and let me realize the dream that Beijing's 5 million floating population can have a place to live."
The sponsors of the Capsule Apartment Alliance include Huang Rixin, Meng, Wen Jiao and Zhou Yujing. It is "the first residential alliance established by designers, tenants and social people in China". Huang Rixin was elected President of Capsule Apartment Alliance, and Meng was appointed Secretary-General. After Huang Rixin signed it, Meng Xiaolai said to Huang Rixin, "We are organized people." After that, they had a good time.
"Capsule apartments still have many shortcomings. I hope more people will participate. We can make it more cultural, not just solve the housing problem. " It is said that "Alliance" will raise 200,000 yuan in advance to design a new generation of capsule apartments and improve their shortcomings. "Now we plan to make another 50 sets." For Meng Xiao, Huang Rixin has already paid 40,000 yuan, and he will invest 1 10,000 yuan. "The purpose of this alliance is to promote and improve the accommodation and living conditions of vulnerable groups in China."
However, in the Decision (Draft) on Amending Several Provisions on Housing Lease Management in Beijing recently published by Beijing Legislative Affairs Office, the minimum lease area in Beijing shall not be less than 10 square meter, and "capsule apartments" may become illegal buildings. Old Huang Man Rixin said: "The government stipulates that the per capita living area is 10 square meter, 7 square meters, or smaller houses. You can't just make a rule, there must be an executable method. "
In the interview, the reporter learned that the relevant leaders in Beijing have opinions about Tangjialing, where the "ant tribe" lives, and are starting to transform Tangjialing, but there is no saying about how to solve the housing problem of these newly graduated low-income college students. This may lead many young people who have just graduated to choose to live further away. Liulangzhuang also belongs to 20 10 Beijing's planned village to be demolished within three years. The relevant person in charge of the village Committee said, "The superior requires that all villages be demolished this year."