"Chapter Two - Huaxi (华西村)" (by Dejan Šundić)

A massive 328-meter skyscraper in Huaxi village, Jiangyin in East China's Jiangsu Province, is marking the 50th birthday of the richest village in the country and making Huaxi the only rural village in the world with its own skyscraper.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:50:57 +0000

A massive 328-meter skyscraper in Huaxi village, Jiangyin in East China's Jiangsu Province, is marking the 50th birthday of the richest village in the country and making Huaxi the only rural village in the world with its own skyscraper.
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The super-tower is the brainchild of 84-year-old Wu Renbao, former chief of the village.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:41:06 +0000

The super-tower is the brainchild of 84-year-old Wu Renbao, former chief of the village.
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The five-star hotel cost 3 billion yuan (~$0.47 billion) to construct. Two- thirds of the funds were raised from 200 families in the village, each giving 10 million yuan (~$1.5 million).

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:57:15 +0000

The five-star hotel cost 3 billion yuan (~$0.47 billion) to construct. Two- thirds of the funds were raised from 200 families in the village, each giving 10 million yuan (~$1.5 million).
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This is the China's richest village with a building that juts out of the eastern landscape like a giant tripod topped by a golden ball.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:26:47 +0000

This is the China's richest village with a building that juts out of the eastern landscape like a giant tripod topped by a golden ball.
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This precious bull made of a ton of solid gold is located on the 60th floor, cost 300 million yuan ($50 million), but now it's worth 500 million yuan ($80 million).

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:58:19 +0000

This precious bull made of a ton of solid gold is located on the 60th floor, cost 300 million yuan ($50 million), but now it's worth 500 million yuan ($80 million).
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Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:15:09 +0000

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Founded in 1961 with only 667 residents, Huaxi was a typical farming community in China. Total assets of the village, excluding a debt of 15,000 yuan, amounted to only 25,000 yuan.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:59:04 +0000

Founded in 1961 with only 667 residents, Huaxi was a typical farming community in China. Total assets of the village, excluding a debt of 15,000 yuan, amounted to only 25,000 yuan.
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Now, every family from the original Huaxi core village has at least one house, a car, 6 million yuan in the bank (~$1 million), while enjoying universal health care and free education.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:59:19 +0000

Now, every family from the original Huaxi core village has at least one house, a car, 6 million yuan in the bank (~$1 million), while enjoying universal health care and free education.
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The day after Deng Xiaoping proclaimed "getting rich is glorious" in March of 1992, Wu summoned the villagers at 3 am and proposed a 20 million-yuan investment in raw materials like copper and aluminum. In the weeks that followed, the price of aluminum ingots tripled from 6,000 yuan to over 18,000 yuan. Huaxi had moved on it first.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:04:03 +0000

The day after Deng Xiaoping proclaimed "getting rich is glorious" in March of 1992, Wu summoned the villagers at 3 am and proposed a 20 million-yuan investment in raw materials like copper and aluminum. In the weeks that followed, the price of aluminum ingots tripled from 6,000 yuan to over 18,000 yuan. Huaxi had moved on it first.
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The commune listed on the stock exchange in 1998 and is now a major corporation in its own right. Its subsidiary companies, built into something that resembles a modern-day conglomerate, exports to more than 40 countries around the world.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:59:31 +0000

The commune listed on the stock exchange in 1998 and is now a major corporation in its own right. Its subsidiary companies, built into something that resembles a modern-day conglomerate, exports to more than 40 countries around the world.
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Huaxi is where Chinese people come to learn how to get rich. At a time when the rest of the world, and indeed much of China, is trying to absorb an economic slowdown, Huaxi is like a parallel universe.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:59:53 +0000

Huaxi is where Chinese people come to learn how to get rich. At a time when the rest of the world, and indeed much of China, is trying to absorb an economic slowdown, Huaxi is like a parallel universe.
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Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:36:45 +0000

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However, Huaxi now faces a stern reality. The proportion of income from its pillar iron and steel industry has fallen from two thirds to less than a third, due to rising material costs and falling demand, the Nanjing-based newspaper Modern Express revealed.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:00:16 +0000

However, Huaxi now faces a stern reality. The proportion of income from its pillar iron and steel industry has fallen from two thirds to less than a third, due to rising material costs and falling demand, the Nanjing-based newspaper Modern Express revealed.
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After decades of development, Huaxi has since swallowed 13 adjacent villages, increasing its area from 0.92 to 3.5 square kilometers. The village has become a multibillion-dollar conglomerate, operating as the Jiangsu Huaxi Group, with interests in steel, tobacco, textiles, property and logistics.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:00:31 +0000

After decades of development, Huaxi has since swallowed 13 adjacent villages, increasing its area from 0.92 to 3.5 square kilometers. The village has become a multibillion-dollar conglomerate, operating as the Jiangsu Huaxi Group, with interests in steel, tobacco, textiles, property and logistics.
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The floor of wood.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:01:23 +0000

The floor of wood.
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The sales revenue of 60 companies under the Huaxi Group topped 51.2 billion yuan (~$8 billion) in 2010, one tenth of the provincial capital Nanjing's GDP.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:01:34 +0000

The sales revenue of 60 companies under the Huaxi Group topped 51.2 billion yuan (~$8 billion) in 2010, one tenth of the provincial capital Nanjing's GDP.
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In October 2010, Huaxi leaders decided to shift its priority from an extensive industrial center to developing its tourist industry. The 3-billion-yuan investment in the skyscraper is part of the plan to boost tourism in the village.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:00:56 +0000

In October 2010, Huaxi leaders decided to shift its priority from an extensive industrial center to developing its tourist industry. The 3-billion-yuan investment in the skyscraper is part of the plan to boost tourism in the village.
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Wu secretly set up a 20-worker factory in the village in 1969, mainly manufacturing screws. Such enterprises were banned during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76). Wu would disband the factory when inspectors arrived, sending everyone back to work in the fields but the Red Guards paraded him in the village as a "capitalist roader" and locked him up.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:07:19 +0000

Wu secretly set up a 20-worker factory in the village in 1969, mainly manufacturing screws. Such enterprises were banned during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76). Wu would disband the factory when inspectors arrived, sending everyone back to work in the fields but the Red Guards paraded him in the village as a "capitalist roader" and locked him up.
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Work and wealth are the crowning ideologies. No one takes weekend breaks, and the streets tend to be deserted of residents because they are all off working. The hard work has clearly paid off and the money raised has helped the villagers diversify into other industry.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:01:13 +0000

Work and wealth are the crowning ideologies. No one takes weekend breaks, and the streets tend to be deserted of residents because they are all off working. The hard work has clearly paid off and the money raised has helped the villagers diversify into other industry.
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Yuan Yang, a reporter who wrote about the village in 1978, feels confident about its future. "I have been watching Huaxi for 40 years. There was a certain inevitability to Huaxi's success. With a lot of young talented people, the village will develop better," he said to the Jiangyin Daily.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:57:43 +0000

Yuan Yang, a reporter who wrote about the village in 1978, feels confident about its future. "I have been watching Huaxi for 40 years. There was a certain inevitability to Huaxi's success. With a lot of young talented people, the village will develop better," he said to the Jiangyin Daily.
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Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:12:55 +0000

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Another 10 projects aiming to transform the village's industries, including a new airline and a shipping company.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:05:17 +0000

Another 10 projects aiming to transform the village's industries, including a new airline and a shipping company.
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Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:15:10 +0000

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The gap - a clear one, between the original residents, residents in adjacent villages, and migrant workers. If one wants to get a residence permit (hukou) in the central village of Huaxi, they must be recommended by the enterprise he or she works for and is then reviewed by the Party committee of the village. The quota is only two or three a year.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:01:53 +0000

The gap - a clear one, between the original residents, residents in adjacent villages, and migrant workers. If one wants to get a residence permit (hukou) in the central village of Huaxi, they must be recommended by the enterprise he or she works for and is then reviewed by the Party committee of the village. The quota is only two or three a year.
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But in hotel, you approach all these glittering sites walking on pure gold-leaf marble.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:35:01 +0000

But in hotel, you approach all these glittering sites walking on pure gold-leaf marble.
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Sightseeing scenic spot on 72nd plus four elements floors, are tower's attraction. This one is fire.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:36:18 +0000

Sightseeing scenic spot on 72nd plus four elements floors, are tower's attraction. This one is fire.
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Fire floor is equipped with high-end gym and TV sport saloons.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:40:05 +0000

Fire floor is equipped with high-end gym and TV sport saloons.
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Most of the village's wealth is owned by the 2,000 original families. Over 25,000 migrant workers, half of the village's population, earn monthly salaries but they do not share in the village's wealth. Even the villas and cars of the residents from the original Huaxi village are in fact collective, and villagers do not have property rights. Once a villager leaves, he or she loses everything.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:14:39 +0000

Most of the village's wealth is owned by the 2,000 original families. Over 25,000 migrant workers, half of the village's population, earn monthly salaries but they do not share in the village's wealth. Even the villas and cars of the residents from the original Huaxi village are in fact collective, and villagers do not have property rights. Once a villager leaves, he or she loses everything.
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Other floors have giant animals of solid silver.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:32:10 +0000

Other floors have giant animals of solid silver.
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Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:18:35 +0000

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Gold, sky and climbing high history is written on the wall.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:38:34 +0000

Gold, sky and climbing high history is written on the wall.
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Fearsomely bejewelled chandeliers hang over your head in banquet halls that hold thousands of people.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:31:39 +0000

Fearsomely bejewelled chandeliers hang over your head in banquet halls that hold thousands of people.
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The village's total square area is a little less than one square kilometre, and there are barrack-style dormitories, factories, and pagoda style-buildings for local residents. The skyscraper houses the Longxi International Hotel, which has 2,000 beds and will employ 3,000 people eager to learn how to become wealthy, Huaxi-style.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:17:18 +0000

The village's total square area is a little less than one square kilometre, and there are barrack-style dormitories, factories, and pagoda style-buildings for local residents. The skyscraper houses the Longxi International Hotel, which has 2,000 beds and will employ 3,000 people eager to learn how to become wealthy, Huaxi-style.
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Intriguingly, in the central village park, there are the statutes of five of the true icons of Communism in China, some more controversial than others. The panoply includes the former mayor of Beijing, Liu Shaoqi, who was purged in the period of ideological frenzy that was the Cultural Revolution and whom many believed Mao had murdered. He has never really been rehabilitated and remains outside the pantheon of true revolutionary heroes.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:09:37 +0000

Intriguingly, in the central village park, there are the statutes of five of the true icons of Communism in China, some more controversial than others. The panoply includes the former mayor of Beijing, Liu Shaoqi, who was purged in the period of ideological frenzy that was the Cultural Revolution and whom many believed Mao had murdered. He has never really been rehabilitated and remains outside the pantheon of true revolutionary heroes.
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Huaxi village sets a model of the "socialist new village" across the county. Every day about 2,000 tourists, mostly cadres and retired people, arrive to see the miracle for themselves, according to Xinhua. However, intellectuals argue that Huaxi's example cannot be copied. "Huaxi is no longer a village. It is an enterprise and eager to show its wealth," columnist Han Haoyue was quoted by Xinhua as saying.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:46:33 +0000

Huaxi village sets a model of the "socialist new village" across the county. Every day about 2,000 tourists, mostly cadres and retired people, arrive to see the miracle for themselves, according to Xinhua. However, intellectuals argue that Huaxi's example cannot be copied. "Huaxi is no longer a village. It is an enterprise and eager to show its wealth," columnist Han Haoyue was quoted by Xinhua as saying.
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Zheng Fengtian, a professor with the School of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development the Renmin University, partially agrees with Han. He said that Huaxi's experience is inimitable. "Huaxi accumulated original capital by opening industry at the beginning of China's Opening and Reform. It is impossible for other villages to do so nowadays when facing fierce competition from big cities."

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:46:19 +0000

Zheng Fengtian, a professor with the School of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development the Renmin University, partially agrees with Han. He said that Huaxi's experience is inimitable. "Huaxi accumulated original capital by opening industry at the beginning of China's Opening and Reform. It is impossible for other villages to do so nowadays when facing fierce competition from big cities."
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The village feels a little like Dubai. It is not big on charm but where it is widely different is in how well it is able to meet its people's needs. Wu is keen that Huaxi should showcase China's achievements and now some two million visitors come to Huaxi every year to gaze upon its splendour.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:21:32 +0000

The village feels a little like Dubai. It is not big on charm but where it is widely different is in how well it is able to meet its people's needs. Wu is keen that Huaxi should showcase China's achievements and now some two million visitors come to Huaxi every year to gaze upon its splendour.
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