GUILIN: For six months, home for Ms Xu has been a room in a high-rise apartment in the southern Chinese city of Guilin she bought three years ago, attracted by brochures touting its riverfront views and the city's clean air.
Her living conditions, however, are far from what is promised: unpainted walls, holes where electric sockets should be and no gas or running water. She climbs up and down several flights of stairs with heavy water bottles filled with a hose outside.
The family's savings were invested in this house, Xu, 55, told Reuters from the Xiulan County Mansion complex, her room was bare except for a mosquito net-covered bed, a few necessities and empty bottles on the floor. She didn't give her full name, citing the sensitivity of the matter.
The Xu and about 20 other buyers living in Xiulan County Mansion share a makeshift outdoor toilet and gather at a table and benches in the central courtyard area during the day.
They are part of a movement of homebuyers around China who have moved into rotting apartments in order to pressure developers and authorities to complete them or out of financial necessity, as many cash-strapped builders halt construction because of the country's deep real estate slump.