New | Xishuangbanna in a property boom as Beijing chokes on smog
Yunnan is the new alternative to Hainan, attracting property buyers desperate to find a refuge from the toxic smog that smothers northern China every winter
Sun Wei, a sale manager with Ping An Real Estate Co., travels frequently between Beijing and Xishuangbanna(西雙版納) in southwestern China’s Yunnan province.
Her company sells luxury villas, mostly to buyers who hail from China’s northern provinces.
Home to southern China’s dai (傣) tribe, Xishuangbanna’s lush tropical forests, palm-lined streets and clean air have long made it the exotic domestic sanctuary from frigid northern winters.
In the last year, a new army has stampeded its way toward this prefecture of less than 1 million people, on China’s southern border with Myanmar and Laos.
They are property buyers -- households with elderly or young family members -- desperate to find a refuge from the toxic smog that smothers northern China every winter.
“There’s an upsurge of inquiries and purchase this winter, following two heavy smog strikes in December and January,” Sun said in Beijing. “About 70 per cent of inquiries are from Beijing, most with urgency never seen before.”