Inside a Chongqing Urban Village: Daily Life and 300 Yuan Rent

What this video shows

The video visits an urban village in Banan District, Chongqing, a dense neighbourhood of low-cost rental housing wedged into the city. The narrator is a ride-hailing driver who once came to this area years ago and returns to walk its streets during his lunch break. He normally sleeps in his car after eating, since the job requires more than ten hours of driving a day, but this time he spends the break looking around instead. The footage moves past rental notices plastered on walls, shared laundry areas, small vegetable plots, and a graveyard he did not expect to find. He notes that little appears to have changed since his earlier visit.

At a glance

What stands out

Rooms come with piped natural gas, a water heater and a private bathroom, but no air conditioning — tenants must buy and install a unit themselves, and only long-term residents bother, because both the appliance and the electricity are costly. A washing machine sits on a balcony for shared use, and the kitchen has no smoke exhaust system. Tenants plant vegetables on whatever vacant ground they can find, a skill many bring from the countryside. The narrator contrasts younger renters, who may choose a proper apartment block because they have no family to support, with middle-aged men who cut costs, sometimes bringing wives to the city because living here is cheaper.