#64 The mystery of ‘urban village’ in China 中国城中村之谜

大家好，欢迎回来MaoMi Chinese。我想大家都听说过“城市”，也听说过“农村”。那么你们知道“城中村”是什么吗？“城中村”是在大城市中的“农村”。听起来很奇怪对不对？那么，我们今天一起走进中国的“城中村”，聊一聊为什么在中国的大城市会有一些“城中村”。

说到这个话题，我们要知道一个词，“城市化”。“城市化”，意思是农村变成城市。在很多国家，很多的大城市以前都是农村。比如，英国的伦敦是一个特别大的城市，但是以前伦敦的很多地方都是农村。在中国也是这样的。中国的一些超级大城市，比如北京、上海、广州和深圳，它们以前不是那么大的城市，后来城市扩张，变得越来越大，需要越来越多的土地。一些农村的土地慢慢变成了城市的土地。但是，在中国，很多农村是村民集体管理的，土地也是村民的土地。有一些村民不想要搬走，但是周围的土地都变成了城市的土地了，都有了高楼大厦。所以，如果你在中国的大城市散步，有时候你会看到很多高楼大厦的旁边是一个又旧又破的村子。村子里也有很多楼房，但是特别挤，一些地方也很脏，跟城市里的高楼大厦很不一样。

那么，大家是怎么看城中村的呢？有些人说，城中村脏、乱、差，应该快点儿消失。但是也有些人说，在城中村租房子很便宜，买东西和吃东西也比城市便宜，很多在城市里工作的移民可以在城中村住，所以城中村不可以消失，它们也是很多人的家。在城中村住有多便宜呢？比如，在中国南方的超级大城市深圳，如果你想在市中心租房，只有一个房间的公寓，每个月大概需要3400元，位置很好的房子需要5000元以上。但是，如果你在城中村租房，每个月大概800元，一些地方只需要500元。

为什么城中村的房子这么便宜呢？首先，城中村的楼房都特别多，特别挤。有一些楼叫“握手楼”，意思是两栋楼房靠得特别近，人们开窗户就可以和对面的邻居握手。然后呢，虽然大多数城中村的房间都有厕所和厨房，但是特别小，一般不到二十平方米。楼房里的房间很多，一栋楼房里有很多人住。最后，很多城中村的环境不是特别好。或许会有很多垃圾，或许会有小偷，不是特别安全。但是，很多在大城市工作的移民，没有特别高的工资，所以他们选择住在城中村。我们也可以说，因为城中村友好的生活成本，他们也可以在冷冰冰的城市里有一个温暖的家。

在你的国家里，也有“城中村”吗？它们是怎样的呢？你对城中村有什么看法？欢迎在评论里给我们留言哦！

Hello everyone. Welcome back to MaoMi Chinese. I guess that everyone has heard of "city" and "rural" in Chinese. Do you know what "urban village" is? An "urban village" is a "countryside" in a big city. Sounds weird right? So, let's walk into China's "urban villages" together today and talk about why there are some "urban villages" in China's big cities.

Talking about this topic, we need to know one word, "urbanization". "Urbanization" means that the countryside becomes the city. In many countries, many large cities were formerly rural areas. For example, London in the United Kingdom is a very large city, but many places in London used to be rural. It is the same in China. Some of the megacities in China, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, were not that big before, but later the cities expanded and became bigger and bigger and needed more and more land. Some rural land was slowly turned into urban land. However, in China, many villages are collectively managed by villagers, and the land also belonged to the villagers. Some villagers did not want to move, but the surrounding land has become the land of the city, and there were many high-rise buildings. So, if you walk in a big city in China, sometimes you will see a lot of tall buildings next to an old and rundown village. There are also many buildings in the village, but they are very crowded, and some places are also very dirty, which is very different from the high-rise buildings in the city.

So, what do people think of urban villages? Some people say that urban villages are dirty, messy, and poor, and they should disappear soon. But there are also some people who say that renting a house in urban villages is very cheap, and buying and eating things is cheaper than in cities. Many immigrants who work in cities can live in urban villages, so urban villages cannot disappear. They are also the homes of many people. How cheap is it to live in an urban village? For example, in Shenzhen, a super city in southern China, if you want to rent a place in the city center, a one-bedroom apartment will cost about 3,400 yuan per month, and a well-located place will cost more than 5,000 yuan. However, if you rent a place in an urban village, it is about 800 yuan per month, and in some places, it only costs 500 yuan.

Why are places in urban villages so cheap? First of all, there are many buildings in urban villages, and they are very crowded. Some buildings are called "handshake buildings", which means that the two buildings are so close together that people can shake hands with their neighbors when they open their windows. Then, although most of the rooms in urban villages are equipped with toilets and kitchens, they are very small, generally less than 20 square meters. There are many rooms in the building, and many people live in one building. Finally, the environment of many urban villages is not particularly good. Maybe there will be a lot of rubbish, and maybe there will be thieves, which is not particularly safe. However, there are many immigrants who work in big cities who do not have very high wages, so they choose to live in urban villages. We can also say that because of the friendly living cost of the urban village, they can also have a warm home in the cold city.

Is there "village within a city" in your country? Feel free to leave us comments!