The young couple had just finished another disappointing round of house hunting when Sun Chun turned to his wife with more bad news. Their real-estate agent had called to say that an apartment they liked had been sold, but not before the price jumped dramatically at the last instant.
“Are they crazy? How come the price rose so suddenly?” Mr. Sun asked as his wife’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Right now, it is still us who are selecting the house. But it won’t be long before it is the house selecting us.”
The trials of a young couple trying to find affordable housing may not sound like gripping television fare, but with real-estate prices spiralling out of control in China, Snail House was a hit when it went on the air in July. The gritty plot – revolving around two sisters trying to establish themselves in a fictional city that looks a lot like Shanghai – hit so close to the bone that Chinese authorities cancelled the show after only 10 episodes. It quickly found a new life online, where some 30 million people have viewed it.
The runaway popularity of the show highlights a dark undercurrent to what has otherwise been a successful year for the Chinese economy.
[More]