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Reanne and Ben explore Shipai Village in Guangzhou with Coco, a local guide. The narrow alleys and closely spaced handshake buildings contrast with the nearby CBD, where many residents work. They learn that migrants rent affordable rooms while landlords can own multiple buildings and collect rent. Streets are clean and watched by security cameras, and the village has clinics, kindergartens, and post offices. The visit includes pig foot and rice, a cheap haircut, and a look at an apartment where two girls share a fourth-floor room. Their walk challenges the idea that the neighborhood is simply a slum.
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A walk through Shipai Village
Reanne and Ben explore Shipai Village in Guangzhou with Coco, their local guide. The area is often labeled a slum online, but the visit shows a more complex community. Narrow alleys run between handshake buildings, so close together that neighbors can reach toward each other. Despite the dark, cramped corridors, the streets they see are clean and lined with security cameras. Residents are often migrant workers who come to Guangzhou for jobs in the nearby central business district.
Coco explains how rents and landlords shape life in the village. Landlords may own entire buildings and earn income from rent, while dressing casually and carrying large bundles of keys. A haircut can cost 9.9 yuan, and Reanne and Ben have a lunch of pig foot and rice for 49 yuan. Food inside the village is mainly takeaway; for a sit-down meal with tables, they walk to the edge of the village.
Homes and community services
The village works as a compact ecosystem with clinics, kindergartens, post offices, and a coffee shop run by a landlord who is bored. People seeking rooms can call phone numbers posted on walls and contact landlords directly rather than using an agency. The alleys are narrow, so they must watch for bikes and low-hanging umbrellas and pay attention to where they are going.
The travelers try to view an apartment but are not allowed to film openly, so they capture some secret footage. They see a small room on the fourth floor with a squat toilet, shared by two girls for 1,500 yuan a month. Coco explains that the village offers a cheap, convenient place to live for people working in the city. Clinics are available in each community; the source says people with insurance pay 30% of the cost and are seen quickly. Reanne and Ben reflect on how the village offers opportunity and choice beside the expensive commuter life they know in the UK. Their visit shifts from the tight alleys and modest homes to the relationships and systems that make the community work.
FAQs (From the traveler's perspective)
- Q: Is Shipai Village poor or rich?
- A: The source describes the village as rich because landlords own multiple buildings and collect rent. The buildings themselves are old and closely spaced, which can give a different first impression.
- Q: What are handshake buildings?
- A: The buildings are so close together that neighbors can literally reach out and shake hands. The narrow gaps create the village’s dense alley layout.
- Q: Why do residents live in cramped rooms?
- A: Many residents are migrant workers in the nearby CBD and return to the village to sleep. The location is central, and rooms are comparatively affordable and convenient.
- Q: Did the visitors feel safe in the village?
- A: They noted security cameras and clean streets, and the source says people feel comfortable walking through the dark alleys, including at night.
