By continuing you agree to eChinacities's Privacy Policy .
Sign up with Google
Sign up with Facebook
Q: is it an enforced law? living in gated communities
do expats/ foreigners have to live in gated communities? I think this was the norm, in the past, but I would, today, have no issue with living amongst the less privileged locals. is the law real?, like I think I remember it or just another piece of history?
I have heard of that before, but I've never seen or heard of it being enforced in any way so if it is real maybe it's from way back when China was opening up or something and there were only a handful of foreigners here.
In all my time here I've always lived in normal apartments with Chinese neighbors, some communities were gated, some not.
I don't, and I am properly registered with a Residence Permit. Most of my friends don't live in designated foreign communities, they live wherever they want to live.
It's in not requirement, foreigners must live in gated communities in China.
I live in one at the moment (Campus) and it's my first time in 7y I live behind fence and guards.
If you'll complain, answer will be 'it's because of your safety'
.
I have heard of that before, but I've never seen or heard of it being enforced in any way so if it is real maybe it's from way back when China was opening up or something and there were only a handful of foreigners here.
In all my time here I've always lived in normal apartments with Chinese neighbors, some communities were gated, some not.
Don't think it is anything that is enforced. That being said. In Zhuhai, almost everything is behind fences.
I was actually recently walking in my hood in Scandinavia thinking about it. No fences anywhere, zero residential buildings would be fenced, the hood has a school, no fence, a kindergarten, no fence (playground excepted to keep little ones from escaping) supermarkets, no fence, other shops, no fence, library, no fence. You can pretty much walk anywhere without encountering fences. Only a few exceptions are places like construction sites and places where there would be danger, e.g. fences preventing people falling off cliffs.
In a country with so little crime as China has (oh wait, did I only look in official statistics) it is strange fences are needed. Walking around thinking my thoughts, I have theorized that fences are faces. The few that live behind a fence are certainly better people than those sad unfenced buggers. Just look at the homeless, they are also completely fenceless.
Fences come in different categories, we lived for a while in a building with a pretty sweet fence, motion sensors and cameras on top, guards in well iron shirts certainly indicated to the people on both sides of the fence that this was indeed a marvelous fence.
Then of course the fence fell like it was poorly constructed. It didn't fall for reals, but metaphorically. The well ironed, high class-fence guards let their not so well clad thieving friends through the fence. This only made the fence responsible person have shards of glass molded into the top of the concrete fence.
By far my favorite fence wuote is "Honesty is never seen sitting astride the fence."
ScotsAlan:
They do seem to like their walls here. Your post reminds of of a memory from Scotland. I was a cycle tourist back in the day, and Scotland is open spaces everywhere. They don't actually have a trespass law. Anyway, one time I was hostelling and I cycled the road through Royal Deeside. Where the Queen has Balmoral castle. Walls, fences and keep out signs everywhere. It was as if the entire glen was privatised. I hated that. Those "keep out" signs felt very un Scottish. I feel the same about private beaches. The sea and the foreshore should belong to everyone.
Scandinavian:
Scots, this might come as a shock for you, and I would certainly recommend sitting down before reading on.
There are un-Scottish things that are awesome. To list a few. Yamazaki Whisky, Nikka Whisky. I agree no-entry signs are not cool if use inappropriately where whisky farmers should be allowed to roam free
