Matt Hickman at Mother Nature Network reports on a young Beijing architect that built a solar-powered, egg-shaped hut and planted it on the streets of Beijing near where he worked.
I’ve been to Beijing several times and getting around is a challenge since there seems to be gridlock on the roads almost 24/7, so this was a smart move.
Hickman writes that the Egg House measured six feet at its highest point. The architect, Dai Haifei, built the wheeled home for $964 (US) using a bamboo frame clad with sack bags filled with sawdust and grass seeds.
Inside the egg house is a bed, water tank, washbasin and night table. Plug-in possessions, including a bedside lamp, were powered by a solar panel on top of the pod.
If you want to learn more of how Dai Haifei lived in his egg, click on the Mother Nature Network link above.
However, earlier this month Hickman reports that Haifei was forced to remove his egg from the sidewalk and is currently living with friends.
Tanto News powered by Xinhua, China’s state-run media, explains why Dai Haifei resorted to such an extreme. The cost of living in Beijing or Shanghai is high.
A recent survey showed that 80% of college graduates start their careers in second tier cities instead of first tier cities such as Shanghai or Beijing.
It seems people may live comfortable in a second tier city with a monthly salary of 4,000 yuan (about $600 US dollars).
However, in Shanghai, people barely survive with monthly earnings of $750 US. To live in Shanghai or Beijing would require at least $30,000 US annually.
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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.
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