I live close to Bei Shi Qu across from Soho Jun Yuan and nearby Bei Zhan Sui Dao. Anyway, about 6 months ago a large scale construction project began right outside our window. (It's going on in massive proportions all around this area) As it has progressed, there are now crane arms swinging 4 meters from our upstairs 6th floor bathroom window, generators running non-stop, hammers beating into steel beams, trucks hauling rocks throughout the night, etc, etc . I'm no newbie to China and have dealt with this on and off here and there for almost 8 years, whether it be jackhammers re-flooring a neighbor's apartment at 6 a.m. on a Saturday, outside construction, or just good old Chinese yelling and screaming.

We are lucky to have a bathroom to act as a semi-sound barrier in the room we sleep, so the noise is a bit more faint, but there is no where else in the two story apt. that is remotely tolerable to relax the vast majority of the time. I paid a visit to the 居民委员会 (residential commitee) to handle some office address transfer papers and enquired offhand about noise laws....supposedly, construction is supposed to stop at 1 a.m., but the the head banging and ruckus really starts pumpin' just about then over here.....and of course the real answer was actually 没办法. These are the folks that handle noise violations, residential disruptions, etc.

Much to my dismay, our kind landlady was even willing to install double paned sound proofing windows but of course her request was rejected by management on the grounds that it would make our place incongruent with the rest of the apts' facades facing the outside. My favorite part about this is that some of you may remember Kunming's project of installing harmonius and conformant aluminum and flimsy bars on the outside of all the old buildings around the city in a haphazard beautification scheme (that replaced the sturdy, ugly, but safe garden spaces). Of course, within days after this was implemented at our previous apt. on Yuan Xi Lu, I had to scare off a guy with a beer bottle who had broken into my kitchen. He had simply ripped off a couple of the bars, hopped in, and was sure we'd be out watching the world cup after he had clocked the foreigners' joint. I had fun with a local government official one afternoon after I complained and to hammer down and polish my point, I proceeded to tear down 15 or so bars with my bear hands in a matter of 3 or 4 minutes. Of course, nothing was done and we moved. 为人民服务 my ass Mr. Mao.

Anyhow, I know I'm not the only one of the millions here affected by this shit, and the simple answer is to move, but this is probably one of the nicest places I've lived in, and the same thing will happen in one form or another somewhere else. Has anyone happened to bang the mayor's daughter? Maybe we could all chip in, buy him a case of maotai, and a slip him a few wan to get his lazy tan guan ass up and actually implement some reasonable living conditions for the people here.

Yours Sincerely,

Dash Pierce

with your bear hands, i think you'd probably just about qualify for joining the x-men. a fictional crusader group is probably your best bet for resolving this.

Some idiots are building down from my flat as well. The developer doesn't give a rat's ass that he is surrounded on all 4 sides by residential high rises and used to work all through the night -correction, whipping his 1500 a month migrant workers around. After having received a couple of hundred complaints over half a year he finally caved, although he apparently thinks that giant earth movers and a steady stream of huge yellow trucks aren't included in the No-working-after-midnight clause. Having slept 3 hours last night I am sorely tempted to go and introduce Mr. Developer to my friend Mr. Baseball Bat.

I wish I had bear hands. Seriously though, they don't even give a shit about each other, so I imagine that any "Please would you mind turning the volume down a little" requests will be met with blank stares at best.

I just spent the whole morning listening to the next door neighbour's kids shouting silly insults at me (they heard me answering a phone call and so spent the next 30 minutes shouting stupid laowai and other rubbish).

Of course there was no attempt by the parents to shut them up.

Lovely people eh?!!

WTF? How stupid are these kids? You should tell them to go fuck themselves (ok so they're just kids, but this kind of racism is unacceptable). I think you should stand your ground and tell their parents that racist insults are unacceptable.

Incidentally, I only have good things to say about my neighborhood. Sure, you get the occassional shouting match down in the street below, but since that street is more of a back alley with only a small amount of truck traffic and since the yelling isn't heard so well once you're 9 stories up, it is rarely a burden. Also, it is dead silent at night...and I have never heard anything from the neighbors (mind you, my place is nice and modern, only 3-4 years old). I used to have an expat neighbor but unfortunately he moved to another part of town and now I have these weird Chinese neighbors instead, although I can't hear them when I'm sleeping either; but they do like to yell sometimes (during the day).

The one annoying thing that has happened (only once) was a resident's car alarm that was on ALL NIGHT. It was infuriating, that sound, that horrible sound. I can't remember if anyone complained, but i don't think residents were happy, particularly the ones closest to the alarm (I wasn't as badly affected, but even with my window and bedroom door closed i could still hear it).

Personally I've found noise in residential areas far more of a problem in South-East Asia than China. Whether it's those 5am "Good Morning Vietnam" wake-up calls, where a car or motorcycle with an amplified stereo churns out some kind of communist rhetoric at the highest possible volume, the weddings in rural Thailand that play country music (mor-lam) until 1am, the roar of motorcycles, people talking with their neighbors etc. plus the calls to prayer in Malaysia you just don't get that in China (at least I haven't experienced it yet).

@dashpierce,

No need to use one's connection with the Mayor's daughter. I believe the official complaint line to the Mayor's Office in Kunming is 12345.

yeah, it was an attempt at humor. nothing to be done really....just wanted to mouth off a bit. In Beijing, I had a war with my upstairs neighbors who were re-doing re-flooring or something having to do with heavy duty drilling for months and months. My saturday and sunday mornings consisted of going upstairs again and again and turning off their power supply located in the stairwell. Anyhow, I love the Chinese hmmmm on a personal level, but there's just absolutely no consideration for other human beings in the public domain. Just thought there would be some funny stories.

YO

@dashpierce,

I feel & sympathize with you 100%. I live in a "modern" building with concrete columns, concrete floor slabs and masonry partitions that usually do not transfer impact noise easily. The people who live directly above me are just as inconsiderate as those you've noted elsewhere in China. A woman in that apartment has a penchant to wear high heels from 07:00 one day to 01:00 of the next. She's either a narcissistic mental case or a hooker who needs to look "sexy" in heels all day for her visiting johns. Besides, she also needs to rearrange her furniture by dragging on a daily basis.

I suffered with the constant hammering noise generated on contact by each spike heel to the concrete at roughly 400 P.S.I. every day for nearly a year. Last week, I decided I had enough of the BS and took my heavy duty hammer and responded by furiously pounding non-stop on my ceiling (adequately cushioned of course as not to damage my Landlord's ceiling) for about 5 minutes. The furniture & high heel noise immediately stopped. It's been days that I have enjoyed some peace & quiet. I hope it was not just a coincidence that the animal upstairs has left for a short trip elsewhere.

On top of the bitch upstairs (no pun intended), I have to put up with all of the surrounding decorating & construction noise, from 07:00 til sometimes 21:00, six days a week because this is a new building. In addition, the hundreds of electric bikes parked downstairs at this 17-building complex all have alarms that seem to mal-function 24/7. And if that's not enough, the dogs are barking non-stop 24/7 as well.

I threatened the Management Office if they don't stop the dogs from barking immediately, I shall call the police to register a complaint and call the developer's office to complaint that their management is ineffective. Unlike the developer danmairen mentioned (or perhaps elsewhere in China), I believe the developer of this apartment complex actually fines the Management Office heavily if it is found not performing up to snuff.

It seems the age-old Chinese desire for "安居乐业" (Loosely translated as "Quiet enjoyment of home & happy decent employment) is nowhere to be found and the basic 5 traditional Chinese virtues of "孝、德、仁、善、勤" (Loosely translated as "Filial Piety, Morality, Benevolence, Kindness, Diligence") are nearly extinct in the modern Chinese psyche!

I truly doubt the direct line to the Mayor's Office would yield any positive results. But what the hell, if enough of people call him on the line, maybe he will also miss "安居乐业" as well.

Ear plugs? There's a pharmacy on the North side of 人民中路, about 300-500 meters from Parksons going towards 小西门 which sells great ones.

I live near Kundu, so as well as drunks going home singing very badly and loudly, lots of fights and screaming, cars and bikes racing, i've also had to put up with what i assume became a divorce next door (massive amounts of screaming and beating on locked doors going silent), most of my neighbours renovating their single floor apartments to two floors, and very bad violin and piano practices early in the morning (although the drum kit player stopped about 6 months ago).

The earplugs have really been a life saver. Or sleep saver i should say.

As for dogs, i used to have a neighbour who let hers out into the corridor in the middle of the night, where they'd shit and piss everywhere, as well as make a huge racket. Dogs barking at 4am when you have to get up for work at 7 is not pleasant. After a few nights of me going out with a broom and giving the dogs a sharp tap with the handle, they actually learnt that barking at night outside my door was a bad thing. Smart dogs. Soon after the neighbour in question mysteriously stopped letting them out too.... The dogs still crap everywhere in the corridor though, and walking towards my front door playing "avoid the puddles of piss" is still one of my favourite games.

National moto..

Me first, I dont give a f**k about you!

That simple..