Trending in Beijing: Basketball Cpt Passes Away, Factory Explosion in Shunyi, and Luxury Property Prices

The fun, the strange, and the what-on-earth-is-this? Trending in Beijing is a wrap-up of top stories in Beijing as told by the trending hashtags, local press, and general power of the internet.

Former captain of Beijing Shougang passes away

Sad news has been making waves online this week, with the news of the death of former Beijing Shougang men's basketball team captain, Ji Zhe (吉喆), who passed away on Dec 5. The news, broken by another former Chinese Basketball Association player, Jiao Jian (焦健), was especially shocking given that Ji was only 33 years old. "Heaven is jealous of talent! I hope there is basketball in heaven!" Jiao wrote, adding that he encouraged everyone to wear their No. 51 jerseys, in honor of the player. Beijing Shougang team representatives later announced that they will officially retire the No. 51 jersey to commemorate Ji.

Hailing from Liaoning, Ji Zhe played for Shougang between 2012 and 2015. In 2018, Ji Zhe was diagnosed with lung cancer and went to the USA for treatment. At first, Ji did not disclose his illness to the public but decided to make it public a year later, when the treatment seemed to be going well.

Throughout his time in the CBA, Ji played 434 games in total, blocking 199 shots, ranking 41st in the CBA history; made 372 steals, ranking 74th; and sunk 2,050 rebounds, ranking 37th. Weibo users are remembering Ji Zhe under the tag #前北京男篮队长吉喆去世# (Former team leader of Beijing men's basketball team, Ji Zhe, passes away). 

Four dead after explosion at food processing plant in Shunyi

An early morning explosion shook Shunyi on Tuesday this week when a food processing plant, well, exploded. The factory belongs to Japanese food company Kyo Nichi, which is the largest producer of red bean paste in the world. So far, four employees are said to have been killed in the accident and a further 10 were hospitalized.

The explosion caused a fire that was put out by 3.40am, and while some have claimed a gas leak was likely the culprit, the exact cause of the explosion remains under investigation. Weibo users are following the story under #北京顺义一厂房发生爆炸# (Explosion at a plant in Shunyi, Beijing).

More luxury property deals or old luxury property deals?

Though finding any liveable property within the Second Ring Road seems like a luxury nowadays, Sina Finance reports that the real estate market in Beijing is actually cooling off, with prices for both new and secondhand apartments falling 1.69 percent year on year from November. However, the luxury property market is not following suit and appears to be getting hotter.

Luxury properties, or "mansions," are classified as having a value of RMB 50 million or more, and according to reports, 176 such apartments have already been sold in Beijing since the beginning of the year, a massive increase on the 19 properties sold in 2017 and the 63 in 2018. Ninety-nine properties were sold in one high-end residential project near the East Third Ring Road alone, making it the unequivocal hotspot of luxury real estate. 

This data is available thanks to Zhongyuan Plains Real Estate Data Research Center: a new Beijing property record keeping site, which is designed to make real estate deals in the city more transparent and hopefully curb the practice of agents fraudulently selling the same property multiple times. The improved process now requires parties to verify documents at the real estate agency before signing a contract attached to a unique online signature, which is later published online.

However, some researchers claim that the apparent spike in sales in the luxury market are not quite what they seem: Zhang Dawei (张大伟), the chief analyst at Zhongyuan Real Estate Data Research Center, says that there were strict caps on high-end property deals from 2016-2018, and that some of the apparent new sales were actually made during that period, but ony registered now. Join netizens in their rent-price rants and low-key hating of the rich under  #北京5000万以上豪宅网签量猛增# (Sales of RMB 50 million and over luxury properties has increased).

READ: Beijing Tremors a Ghostly Reminder of Catastrophic 1976 Tangshan Quake

Images: Unsplash, Weibo