October 30, 2011 at 5:00 pm

Picture of the Day: Incredible Huaxi Village Skyscraper in China

by twistedsifter

 

INCREDIBLE HUAXI VILLAGE SKYSCRAPER IN CHINA

 

huaxi village skyscraper Picture of the Day: Incredible Huaxi Village Skyscraper in China

Photograph via Reuters/Carlos Barria

 

The newly inaugurated skyscraper tower of Huaxi village is seen in Huaxi village, Jiangsu province, on October 7, 2011. Huaxi, also known as China’s richest village, celebrated its 50th anniversary with the inauguration of a massive 328-meter (1,076 feet) high skyscraper that screams for attention from its lowly skyline. A solid gold bull weighing a ton also greets visitors at a viewing area on the 60th-floor of the tower, a testament to the wealth of the village.

In Huaxi, those from the original 2,000 residents have at least a house, a car, and $250,000 in the bank and enjoy universal health care and free education. Officials from elsewhere in China tour Huaxi to find out how this once sleepy village, with just 576 residents in the 1950s, is now so rich and why non-local businessmen would donate million-dollar factories to buy the privilege of a local residence permit. [Source]

 

via The Atlantic – In Focus with Alan Taylor: 21st Century China