Huaxi: A village in China from which departure is forbidden

Situated in the center of Jiangsu province in China, this mysterious wonder is a village that challenges accepted ideas of rural life and is evidence of the nation’s fast economic change. Appropriately called “The first village under the sky,” Huaxi is a hypnotic tapestry of opulence and mystery where the lines separating utopia from dystopia blur into a remarkable paradox.

One’s eye is first drawn to a towering colossus piercing the sky as one approaches this remarkable settlement: the 72-storey Hangig skyscraper. Rising 328 meters into the heavens, this behemoth of glass and steel is a shining lighthouse of Huaxi’s economic might. Constructed at a shockingly expensive 430 million dollars in 2011, it is a bold declaration of the village’s explosive ascent from poverty to wealth.

Huaxi’s transformation is nothing less than miraculous. Just thirty years ago, it was a poor hamlet with 600 souls, indistinguishable from many other underdeveloped rural towns all around China. It languished in anonymity. But the ambitious enrichment scheme started by former Communist Party secretary Wu Renabo would permanently change the course of the village. By means of twelve businesses, Wu oversaw a renaissance that turned Huaxi from a backwater into a shining example of wealth in barely half a century.

Huaxi today boasts almost 2,000 registered residents, each with a quality of living that seems taken from the pages of a fairy tale. With rows of identical villas visible from all directions, the village’s design is a symphony of homogeneity and luxury. Every family lucky enough to call Huaxi home receives a car and a villa upon arrival, a gift of largesse almost surreal in its generosity.

Huaxi’s financial success is simply amazing. When the village revealed an annual economic income of 14.4 billion dollars in 2003, it attracted world interest. Huaxi declared an average annual income per resident of $17,717 the following year, a figure forty times more than the average income in other Chinese provinces. The fact that every resident allegedly has more than $143,000 stashed in the bank supports this astronomical riches even more.

Huaxi’s dedication to luxury and convenience permeates even its transportation system. The village boasts its own transportation company, with a helicopter taxi service among other things. This aerial wonder seems to defy geography and time since it lets people reach neighboring cities in less than ten minutes.

Huaxi, as if to highlight its special position, has even developed its own theme park featuring copies of world-class landmarks including the Great Wall of China. All contained within the limits of this remarkable village, this whimsical touch functions as a microcosm of China’s rich cultural legacy.

Benevolent underglow of wealth and satisfaction belies a more complicated reality, though. Huaxi’s rigorous set of rules controls life in sharp contrast to the apparent freedom given by its riches. Residents must work seven days a week, mostly in the industrial sector which forms the foundation of the village’s economy. Strictly forbidden is communication with the outside world, especially the media.

The golden cage Huaxi’s residents live in is maybe most striking of all. Departure from the village is not only discouraged but also quite illegal. Those who decide to leave lose all their accumulated riches, a Damoclean sword hanging over every citizen binding them to their luxurious prison with gold chains.

Huaxi is a remarkable case study in the complexity of fast economic development and the cost of success. Here the boundaries between wealth and servitude, between freedom and captivity, blur beyond identification. One wonders about the actual nature of happiness and the cost of a golden cage as the sun sets behind the soaring Hangig skyscraper, creating long shadows across the rows of identical villas.