The friend who invited me to Huaxi's 50th anniversary first advertised the weekend as some kind of helicopter festival: "Hey free helicopter rides, wanna go?" First instinct: No thanks, don't want to die in China. But then he told me it was Huaxi, now internationally renowned as "China's Richest Village" and home to one of the tallest buildings in the country, a state-of-the-art medical hospital, a fake Great Wall, and 2,000 super wealthy villagers all living in huge houses with luxury cars. more ›

Life in Huaxi, supposedly China's richest village, just keeps getting better. The tiny village, which is a little over twice the size of the Vatican City and home to 380 households, recently launched its own skyscraper, the Zengdi Kongzhong New Village Tower. And now, officials have given journalists a glimpse into the presidential suite of the much-vaunted Longxi International Hotel which is housed inside the building. Said to be one of the largest single hotel rooms in all of China, the "super five star" suite costs an eye-popping RMB100,000 a night (and yes, that's the right number of zero's). more ›

It's a tiny village that's home to just 380 households with 1,520 people, but Huaxi Village, supposedly the richest village in the People's Republic, now has a skyscraper to call its own. more ›

As most of you will know, this week a devastating fire broke out in Jing’An district. We’ve had some pretty in-depth and detailed coverage of the story, and our latest post is a video that you will not find in any form of Chinese media. For more Shanghaiist coverage of the fire click here. more ›

Enough about Hangzhou or Suzhou, we've found a new holiday destination for anyone searching for a break from monotonous city life. Depicted as a “dystopian” Chinese village, the richest village in China has its villagers working 7 days a week at factories for open access to housing, luxury cars, clothing and even free cooking oil. With its heart set on turning itself into a tourist hotspot, Huaxi has released plans to purchase its own fleet over the next 5 years. With two helicopters in possession, costing them a hefty 90 million yuan, two pilots are set to start trial tourist flights later this year. more ›

Chinese state-owned media have been going on ad nauseum lately marking the 30th anniversary of China's market reforms. When Deng Xiaoping launched his open door policy, he undoubted had this village in mind, Huaxi, 100 miles north of Shanghai in Jiangsu Province, which is commonly known today as China's richest village. Melissa Chan of Al Jazeera visited the village, and found people there living in huge houses complete with all the latest home appliances and cars and what have you. Life appears to be so good there we ourselves were momentarily tempted to move there. more ›