Wait, rooftop?

A farmer in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province has discovered that — for him, anyway — planting crops on the roof of a four-story building increases yield. Are we set for another agrarian revolution?

Probably not. This is still interesting though, another in our ongoing “weird stuff on the top of Chinese buildings” beat. Hug China has this via Xinhua:

Peng Qiugen, a Shaoxing native, transformed the 120-square-meter rooftop of his house into a farmland several years ago. Since then, Peng has tried to grow rice, watermelon, vegetables and other crops on it and the experiment proved to be fruitful.

Last year, Peng harvested a total of 400 kilograms of watermelon on this small patch of “sky farmland”, boasting of a 30 percent higher yield than a ground-level land.

Peng says the higher output is due to the compact nature of the plot, “which makes the problem of water loss and soil erosion less severe than a normal farm.” Not knowing much about farming, I suppose that makes sense. Although maybe it’s just easier taking care of a such a small space.

Interestingly, authorities have not told Peng to quit his shenanigans. Somewhere, a wealthy quack scratches his head. Just wait until the water begins leaking.

Zhejiang farmer grows crops on rooftop farm, saying yield is 30 percent higher than on ground-level land (Hug China)

UPDATE, 11:59 pm: Xinhua with this report on Peng’s “sky farm”:

“My greatest wish is to save more land for China by promoting rooftop farming to more households,” Peng told Xinhua.

He calculated that a roof as large as his, if used for growing vegetables, can meet the daily demands of 20 people.

…Better sunlight and fewer pests are the “recipe” for the high yield and good quality of Peng’s crops.

Every year, he uses the rice for wine-making, and shares the rest with relatives and friends, including those who used to call him a “fool” when he decided to develop the rooftop farm.

In 2010, his “sky rice farm” was awarded a gold medal during the World Green Roof Conference in Shanghai.

This is definitely now a thing. First the high-rise villa in Beijing, then the temple in Shenzhen, and now this: a courtyard atop an office building in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province. An entire siheyuan! Whatever happened to rich Chinese simply investing in art?

“Chinese regulations state that the structure and layout of buildings cannot be changed without government approval,” reports Sina. “It’s unclear whether the city’s urban construction authorities have launched an investigation of the structure yet.”

A couple of screenshots:

(H/T Alicia)

A microblogger recently noticed a temple built upon the roof of a housing complex in Shenzhen, AFP reports, because why wouldn’t there be a temple there? It seems like Zhang Biqin of Beijing isn’t the only person into that sort of thing.

The temple sits on top of a 21-storey apartment. The suspected owners haven’t been identified, and media have not been able to get them on the record to ask ,WTF?

SCMP, calling it “China’s newest bizarre rooftop structure,” reports the structure has been around since at least 2010, and like Beijing’s rooftop villa, the residents underneath it don’t seem to like it.

One of Nanshan district’s property owners, referred to only as Chen, toldShenzhen News reporters that the temple had possibly been constructed by the director of Nanshan district’s Residential Property Management Office – a man surnamed Xiong.

“We once had a meeting [regarding the temple] and required it to be demolished,” Chen reportedly said. “We put up notifications. But [Xiong] installed a security door and refused to let demolition people near [the structure]. The [problem] has still yet to be resolved.”

The Nanfang heard similar complaints:

Carl Ji, a Shenzhen resident, told The Nanfang today: “This kind of construction work is illegal. Shenzhen’s government should demolish it as soon as possible to set an example. Who is this guy that he thinks he can build his own temple on a public area? He’s just interested in his own private interests. It is arrogant.”

The 21st storey apartment on which the Shenzhen temple has been built is said to be worth 15 million yuan (US$2.5 million). The building’s tenants are all “either high-ranking officials or very rich people,” according to the report by Yangcheng Evening News today.

Of course there’s video offering a stunning bird’s-eye view of the structure. Why wouldn’t there be? (Apologies for the static — you’ll want to watch this on mute.)

POSTSCRIPT: I heard from a friend in state media that a directive has come down from up top that Zhang Biqin’s illegal rooftop villa in Haidian district is officially off-limits for publication. No reason given. More details if they become available.

The dude who built this may be a charlatan and asshole who’s ignored sensible maintenance requests for four years and is about to get chai’ed, but Zhang Biqin deserves at least a little credit: his “high-rise villa” in Beijing’s Haidian district makes for some pretty stunning visuals.

Check out this video, made by FlyCam, which gives us a bird’s-eye view of Beijing’s most illegal sunroof. Some screenshots follow.

UPDATE, 8/18, 8:36 pm: One more view:

This is cool and all at first glance, but let’s call a spade a spade: it’s illegal, and not so cool if you’re living underneath this rooftop villa, i.e. inside the 26-floor apartment building.

Somehow, the rich bastard who built this — a medical practitioner (quack?) with a private business (definitely quack) known as “Professor Zhang” — has accomplished the nearly impossible: made us root for chengguan.

Check out the above video about this construction in Beijing’s Haidian district. When Zhang moved into his penthouse duplex in 2007, Room 2605, there was a deck upstairs, and after getting the proper permits, he began renovating it into something… bigger. In December 2008, local authorities notified him that he had to stop, because his project was causing water and gas leaks. Did Zhang listen? Did he stop to think about others? Did he use a bit of rational thinking?

Nope, he expanded it to 800 square meters, and added rocks, a swimming pool, and private lifts.

“I think he just has money and do whatever he wants to do,” apartment owner Lee Xiaoming told Al-Jazeera. “One day, more people feel uncomfortable about it, we will stay together and get him to clean it up. And that’s all we can do.”

All the relevant chai (demolish) notices have been posted. If Zhang doesn’t turn up soon, authorities will go in and tear it down themselves.

“A culture of impunity for the wealthy and well-connected,” Al-Jazeera’s Harry Fawcett says. That’s Zhang. That’s the worst of your entitled expat friends. That’s fu’erdai like the yayaya girl. Don’t root for this.

UPDATE, 1:10 pm: Via SCMP:

Local newspapers have identified the owner as Zhang Biqing, a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine and former member of a district People’s Political Consultative Conference who owns a national chain of acupunture clinics.

…When confronted earlier by reporters from local newspaper Beijing Morning News, Zhang, who sometimes identified himself as a professor, had said, “Since I dare to live here, I am not worried about complaints.

“Famous people come to my place and sing. How can you stop them?” the newspaper quoted him as saying about the noise at night.

Around 2 pm yesterday in Wenzhou Commercial City in Lanzhou, Gansu province Zhejiang province, a brother and sister duo rode a motorcycle off the roof of a building, both of them dying in the fall.

Preliminary reports have ruled it an accident. The siblings were practicing how to ride when the driver is said to have lost control.

A reporter was taken to the top of the building via an incline on the other side. The terrace was about 200 square meters, which is not very big at all — about 14 by 14 meters. It was about 15 meters off the ground.

The brother, surnamed Hu, was 27 years old, and his sister was 20. Neither was wearing a helmet.

(H/T James Tiscione)

Young thrill-seekers in Shenzhen’s Bao’an District were caught doing the above on May 15. You’ll note that there’s no guardrail on the edge of the rooftop, slanted at a scary 45-degree angle. Was this a dare? A challenge that could only have been accepted by eager preadolescents with something to prove, to themselves if not their friends? One thing is for sure: this video not for those afraid of heights.

(H/T Reddit)

At least I think so. I was chuckling with joy to see him so proud of his rooftop garden.

The Atlantic’s Kasia Cieplak-Mayr von Baldegg explains:

The Perennial Plate‘s video seems to suggest that above all, gardening is just a pleasure; [Guichun] Zhang takes visible delight in his vegetable patch and [Osbert] Lam (of City Farm in Hong Kong) says, “it’s relaxing hobby, growing something. It’s like a tranquilizer for city people.”

Watch for a little “surprise” at the end!

Rooftop Farms: A ‘Burgeoning’ Trend in Chinese Cities (The Atlantic)