CARTOON BY LI SHEN

Beijing is a vibrant city teeming with ambitious young people but the high housing price is driving away this group who cannot afford a place to stay. The Beijing Statistics Bureau said the housing prices in Beijing increased by 12.3 percent in March compared to the same period last year, with the average price in the city center now exceeding 30,000 yuan ($4,428)  per square meter. This means it will cost  2.1 million yuan($30,996) to buy a 70-square-meter one-bed roomed apartment. With graduates feeling the pinch the advent of capsule apartments (small body-size rooms) has become a major social talking point, especially among low-income graduates.  

Inspired by the capsule apartments in Japan, a 78-year-old senior citizen in Beijing, Huang Rixin, built eight capsule apartments in west Beijing. According to Huang, the purpose of building them was not to make money, but to provide a solution to accommodating new graduates. The Beijing version of a capsule apartment is actually a partitioned room, which measures 0.72 meters wide and 2.4 meters long and can hold a single bed and a collapsible desk. There are basic living necessities like light, power, electric plugs and a communal cooker. The rent varies from 200 yuan ($29.5) to 250 yuan ($36.9) per month.

Is this a solution for accommodating low-income graduates?

Those in favor of promoting capsule apartments hold the view that the low rent and relatively convenient living conditions make it possible for graduates to stay in major cities so that they can make a better life for themselves. 

However, those against it argue that the inhumane and harsh conditions of the capsule apartment will literally drive people mad and deprive them of basic social skills.