This is one of the homes that are found within the gated community called Sunshine Gardens (yáng guāng huā yuán – 阳光花园) where we lived during our first two years in China (Zhōng guó – 中国) and where we will again live when return to Changzhou (常州) in August of this year. There is little doubt that the residents of this gated community were wealthy people (yǒu qián rén – 有钱人) in contrast with most Chinese citizens (Zhōng guó rén – 中国人). Most of this wealth is hidden behind walls. In the case of Sunshine Gardens, most of the wall was comprised of a row of apartment buildings along the north (běi – 北) side, the walls of another gated community on the west (xī – 西) side, another gated community on the south (nán – 南) side, and a high fence almost hidden by trees and bushes along the east (dōng – 东). As you might notice, I have given you the pinyin and characters for the four cardinal directions which often find their way onto street signs.
But, as you may well guess, this wealth is not the norm.
Poverty (pín kùn – 贫困) is also hidden behind walls within the cities. I found this “home” hidden behind high billboard fences in the downtown area of Changzhou. To be honest, this level of poverty was not the norm either. For most residents of the city, home was simple, comfortable and more often than not, an apartment.
Some of the more modest homes of the middle class (zhōng chǎn – 中产) are found behind walls that are made of brick and cement with openings called moongates. These gates lead to either individual homes or more typically, a row or two of row housing from an earlier period of the city’s history.