A young Guangzhou couple trying to buy a flat in Foshan's Wanke Wonderland housing complex soon found out that integration between the two cities goes only so far.
'If you don't have tax proof or social insurance registered in Foshan, forget about buying houses here,' a real estate agent told the couple as he turned them away.
The ban on non-locals buying property in Foshan was introduced last March, a year after the Co-operation Agreement on GuangzhouFoshan Integration was signed by the two city governments.
Most of the non-locals who want to buy houses in Foshan are from neighbouring Guangzhou.
More than 100,000 people live on or near Jinshazhou Island, on the border between the two cities. People endure traffic jams on the Jinsha Bridge every rush hour while looking forward to a new metro connection promised by the end of the year.
People who travel regularly between the two cities or live near the border between them are benefiting a lot from the closer relationship, with more job options and more convenience. But the inconveniences that remain are more tangible than official talk of 'urban integration'.