The good life: Chinese parents build ‘Zootopia-style’ rural dream home for son, 6, in middle of suburbs

‘Not particularly wealthy’ middle-class couple set up farm with animals and home-grown vegetables without leaving busy northeastern city

China society

Catherine Wong

Published: 3:30pm, 21 Mar 2016

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A young boy in northeast China is living the dream of the recent hit Disney movie Zootiopia in a countryside farmhouse built by his parents, a regional news website reports.

Xiao Jun, the mother of six-year-old Chen Xi, told Dbw.cn in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province, that she and her husband had dreamt of living an idyllic rural life.

Whether raising chickens or eating from the garden, Chen Xi lives the good with his parents in Harbin. Photo: Dbw.cn

But rather than pack up and move to countryside, the couple bought a parcel of farmland the size of three football fields in a suburb of Harbin in 2011, soon after Chen Xi was born, where they built a weekend getaway for their son.

Urban farming a growing trend in China

Besides raising three horses, three dogs and sundry chickens, ducks and sheep, the family also grows vegetables in their backyard, where Chen Xi occasionally helps out.

While the family’s weekend lifestyle is the envy of friends, Xiao Jun insisted they were only a middle-class family and not particularly wealthy.

“Buying a small farm is actually cheaper than buying a Ferrari,” she said. “But you can’t put a price on home like this for a young boy.”

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