Real Estate & Other News in China from Propertyshowrooms.com

China embracing developments around “elitist” sport, study finds

Tue, 2 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

China is one of the most expensive places in the world to play golf, according to a new study of the fledgling market. The average initiation fee for a course is more $50,000 and it typically costs about $160 to play a round on weekends, firmly establishing golf as an “elitist” sport, according to the...

World's Next Great Cities

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Shenzhen's meteoric rise from obscurity to global prominence is related to China's rise. But it's also illustrative of how globalization turns secondary cities into commercial powers. Shenzhen ranks 10th on a new list of the world's most powerful emerging cities. It trails domestic neighbors Shanghai and Beijing, which rank first and second respectively...

Entrance fees at tourist attraction fueling controversy

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

A popular tourist attraction in the city of Nanjing in Jiangsu province is fueling controversy for its entrance fees. The management of the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, which contains the tomb of the father of the Republic of China revered by many Chinese at home and abroad, has reportedly been facing criticism for not opening its site...

NW China sandstorm no threat to launch of Shenzhou-7 spacecraft

Tue, 9 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The launch of the Shenzhou-7 spacecraft, set to blast off between Sept. 25 and 30, will not be affected by a strong sandstorm in the area...

Chinese extravaganza uses valley as a backdrop

Thu, 4 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

‘Zen Shaolin,’ is an outdoor spectacle and tourist attraction in Henan Province, China. The extravaganza, with a cast of 500, is staged after nightfall in a valley that sits before a huge mountain in central Henan Province, one of the cradles of Chinese civilization. For those who were dazzled by the opening of the Beijing Olympics...

Quake in Yunnan; houses collapse, evacuated

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

About 1,200 people were evacuated Wednesday after an earthquake measuring 5 on the Richter scale damaged homes in China's south-western province of Yunnan, the government and state media said...

New World China Executive Quits

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Hong Kong's former top housing official Leung Chin-man stepped down as executive director and vice chairman of New World China, as the firm acknowledged accusations of a conflict of interest had taken a political toll...

A complete run-down on zones

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

One of the best summaries of zones and how they work in China is offered by the US Embassy. It takes this history of the zones from the early 1980s and in an impartial and unbiased way gives a complete run down of what they are and how to distinguish between them. It is of the...

After the Games hotel prospects seem sound

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

According to forecasts from the World Tourism Organization, China will be the world’s largest inbound tourism market, the fourth largest for outbound tourism and the largest for domestic tourism in the world by 2015. This will probably translate into more than 100 million overseas tourists and more than 2.8 billion domestic tourists in China by 2015. Last...

China has a new energy rule which will affect property

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The Chinese government is drafting an energy regulation to stop new fixed-asset projects that do not meet national energy standards. The idea is to realize China’s energy-saving targets. The regulation means investors cannot be given a go-ahead if they don’t design detailed energy-efficient schemes. Which seems an eminently sensible idea. Currently 10 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions...

The Olympic Games: Good news for Chinese property investors?

Fri, 8 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

A new report has shown that there are many opportunities for property developers and investors in China thanks to the Olympic Games. Consultants Jones Lang LaSalle have produced a report entitled ‘The Greatest Olympic Legacy’ and they state that China’s capital, Beijing, as undergone a rebirth with major investment happening in transport and infrastructure, retail...

Shenzhen moves up in world rankings

Thu, 7 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The writer worked as a publisher and journalist in Hong Kong for many years. When he first went to Hong Kong — don’t ask — Shenzhen was a grubby little village. It is now China’s richest city ranked by per capita GDP and within another decade, it plans to become as modern and competitive as Singapore...

China to punish airlines whose passengers misbehave

Wed, 6 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Frustration at mysterious delays and abrupt diversions and cancellations have at times boiled over into violence at Chinese airports, with passengers trying to storm grounded aircraft and police having to be brought in to keep the peace. Deputy head of the civil aviation regulator, Yang Guoqing said authorities will punish airlines whose passengers refuse to disembark...

Olympics 2008 to ‘herald the birth of a new Beijing’

Tue, 5 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The 2008 Olympics will ‘herald the birth of a new Beijing’ according to Jones Lang LaSalle...

Pilots banned from job hopping

Tue, 5 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Aviation regulators in eastern China have told airlines not to let pilots quit or change jobs before the end of the Beijing Olympics. State-backed carriers such as China Eastern Airlines face a worsening shortage of pilots due to a boom in air travel and poaching by private-sector airlines that offer higher wages. The source said, ‘The CAAC...

Solar power show in Tianjin Binhai

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

As China’s northern gateway Tianjin Binhai New Area runs about third in the economy after Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and the Pudong New Area of Shanghai. Now Tianjin Binhai New Area is becoming an advanced modern manufacturing and R&D area as well as being an international shipping center and logistics center. In the period of the 11th...

Zhangmu Port is an unofficial zone

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Zhangmu (elevation 2,300 meters), also known as Kasa, lies on a mountainside 10km (6 miles) inland from the Friendship Bridge that spans the Bhotekoshi (the Sun Koshi) River. It is, as it were, on the extreme left of China. Yet it is, in a sense, a zone. According to an agreement between the Chinese and Nepalese...

Ecological coastal city for China

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

A new coastal city will be built in Caofeidian, an industrial zone in North China on the Bohai Sea. DHV, an engineering conultancy, has been commissioned, together with the Chinese planning institute Qinghua and the Arup consultancy from the UK, to carry out a coastal and urban development project in China. The coastal city is to be...

Credit crunch unlikely to affect strong Asian economies with China performing well

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

China's breathtaking economic growth is unlikely to be de-railed by the global credit crunch making it one of the best places for property investment funds to consider, it is claimed...

Regal Hotels International opens in Chengdu

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Regal Hotels International, which is one of the largest hotel groups in Hong Kong, has now acquired a prime development site in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. As the provincial capital of Sichuan Province, Chengdu has been an important tourist and commercial hub in the south western China. The site is prominently located along two major roadways in...

Sheraton Haikou Resort official hotel of the Grand China Air LPGA

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Sheraton Haikou Resort will be the official hotel for the Grand China Air LPGA. The 54-hole stroke play event — for women only although this is not mentioned in any of the publicity — will be held from October 24–26, 2008 at the Hainan West Coast Golf Club in Hainan Island’s capital, Haikou. This is...

Development zones explained

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Development zones are named according to their different focuses, like ‘economic and technological development zone’, ‘economic development zone’, ‘high-tech industries development zone’ and ’science and technology park’. There are also development zones at different levels depending on their supervising institutions, ranging from ‘national’ development zones to ‘provincial’ and ‘municipal’ ones. Development zones are often divided into...

World's first carbon-neutral city delayed again

Tue, 8 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Dongtan, China's flagship eco-city is facing delays before the main construction even gets underway with completion of the first phase now unlikely before 2012...

Swissôtel supports the green revolution

Mon, 7 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Global warming and the overuse of the earth’s resources are a concern. One hotel that is actively doing something about it is the Swissôtel Kunshan. It has held a ‘Going Green — Reduce waste now’ at Zhengyang Bridge, the shopping centre of Kunshan city. The idea was to encourage people to decrease the usage of plastic...

TEDA named a model green industrial park

Mon, 7 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

A working meeting for state-level eco-industrial parks (sound like a contradiction in terms but is not) was held in TEDA (Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area) and granted certificates to China’s first batch of accredited state-level eco-industrial parks such as TEDA, Suzhou Industrial Park and Suzhou National New and Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone. An eco-industrial park is a...