And that's why it would be RIDICULOUS to buy an apartment in China. What for? You can RENT one extremely cheaply. Why be tied down to one place, one city in China? Why not just rent a place and have the freedom to move around to other cities, and even other countries?

Just seems silly to me to buy property in China. I certainly haven't been anywhere in China where I was sure enough I'd want to live there for a decade or more to justify buying an apt.

Rent, ironically enough, is often as little as one's electricity bill. A good apartment in the city I work in is about a 7th of my income, which is nothing special.