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Posted on 03/03/2026 5:03:21 PM PST by anthropocene_x
The “Life in Venice” housing development, a multibillion-dollar replica of the Italian city on the Chinese coast, stands silent.
But in recent years the remote, partially abandoned complex has drawn unlikely new residents like Sasa Chen, a burned-out young Chinese woman who until recently worked a high-earning finance job in Shanghai, China’s bustling commerce hub.
The appeal? Chen pays just 1200 RMB, or $168, a month for her apartment in faux Venice in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu. It’s so cheap that it's allowed Chen to retire at the tender age of 28.
Experts say Chen is part of a broader trend that has seen a growing number of young people across China migrating to small towns and cities, taking advantage of cheap real estate prices that have been plummeting since the COVID pandemic.
It's a stark reversal from previous generations that prized upward mobility. But as the once red-hot economy cooled, expectations have soared, opportunities have dwindled and competition has grown fierce.
Most large Chinese companies, especially high-paying tech firms, requires a work schedule of 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. from Monday to Saturday, a grueling lifestyle popularly known as the 996 culture. Under the intense pressure, some young professionals have called it quits altogether and joined a resistance movement called “ lying flat ” — shunning careers and capitalism for a “low-desire life.”
Chen used to dread the grind of her nine-to-six job, which she said “felt like marching to my own death.” Now, she wakes at 10 a.m. every day, filling her days with cooking, chilling, and long walks on the beach.
“I never believed that work is the meaning of life," Chen said. “My ideal state of life is not to work and stay at places that I like.”
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
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And with at most one kid to watch after...plenty of free time. A socialist utopia.
They’s not having kids anymore. That’s the only way they can afford the F.I.R.E. life.
Princelings. Enjoy the deflation while it lasts. Food riots come next.
Photo:
https://www.reddit.com/r/anno/comments/pu22u3/apartment_buildings_at_evergrandes_life_in_venice/
China’s real estate bubble has burst. Here’s what the abandoned properties tell us
The Associated Press
Tue, March 3, 2026 at 12:15 p.m. EST
2 min read
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/inside-china-huge-semi-abandoned-091818727.html
RE:
“a resistance movement called “ lying flat ” — shunning careers and capitalism for a “low-desire life.”
There were stories a few months ago about this trend.
In the US through the years they were called hoboes, bums, the Beat Generation and hippies. No desire for work or a career or gaining things money can buy.
I worked 60 hours a week 26 weeks of the year. The other 20 or so it was 40-50 hours. I enjoyed my work so it wasn’t really work-no kids/wife. Plenty of time for that Whopper or pizza at the end of the day to wash down with a bottle of cabernet. Got paid well for the ot. Sundays were enjoyed on the couch(football) and Saturday nights were for rock n’ roll shows. A good life.
This Chinawoman needs to be a mom and I couldn’t help her.
This monstrosity is supposed to be a replica of Venice???
China has overbuilt housing on purpose because they didn’t want housing to become too expensive. It’s a way to keep the cost of living lower. At least that is what my Chinese wife says after watching Chinese news.
Is it true? Who knows?
If it is true, it is certainly a novel approach
Sure, they even have Tweety and Sylvester on a gondola going under a bridge that says “Ducka you head. Lola Brigida.”
If you continue to live. Tofu concrete and poor construction, buildings are crumbling. Lots of video from China showing concretete pillars that crumble when you poke your fingers against them. Even when they use steel pillars to hold up a ceiling, the nuts on "studs" securing the steel flanges to the ground are simply glued on and not driven into the ground, and no concrete under the steel pillars. A stack of cards ready to fall and kill the residents.
Retire at age 28?
How does she eat, pay utilities, get medical,
and all the other stuff you need and want?
I retired at age 54 in rural Hawaii, but I had
planned it all out. My income exceeds
the Median income of Americans.
My wife and I have all the necessities of life
and I save money every “Payday”.
She must have something going on the side she is
not talking about.
20 or 30 years ago you’d be right. They’ve been really enforcing building codes since the early 2000s. It has improved a lot. I remember Shenzhen from from 1990 and it isn’t the same place today. Back then Chinese cities were dirty and had really poor infrastructure. That’s no longer true.China has really developed domesticly and is a pretty good place to live.
I realize this isn’t a popular statement on FR but China does a better job, in some ways, than the US of taking care of it’s citizens than the US. In other ways it isn’t as good but overall, people who live in China are as free most places in Europe. In fact, I’d live China before living in any place in Europe.
“Life in Venice” was envisioned in the early 2010s as a weekend resort for wealthy residents from nearby Shanghai, providing a luxurious yet peaceful life by the sea.
Tang Ping! - lie flat
This monstrosity is supposed to be a replica of Venice???
= = =
It just needs about 50 feet of water.
Cooking, chilling and long walks on the beach. At 28, that’s as good as it gets. I give her a year or two, max.
Looking back, the best thing I ever did was to retire at age 55 from a really good job at Argonne National Labs. Now 30 years later my health is as good as it has ever been, had time to play 4000 rounds of golf which was mainly responsible for upward shift in my health, and 57 cruises with 400 days spend sailing the vast oceans all over the world. I would have missed all of that if stuck around for full retirement age of 66 as defined by social security or would have kicked the bucket with a heart attack long ago.
kind of like a 50 year mortgage.
Where do you park?
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