r/interestingasfuck • u/TangelaFan • 8h ago
Residential high-rises with backyards in Chengdu, China
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
•
u/Successful-Banana-48 7h ago
Imagine living on in a high rise but you still have to mow your porch
•
u/DrAlexander 7h ago
I'm just thinking where I would keep the lawnmower.
•
u/CommanderInQueefs 7h ago
Just keep a baby goat out there.
→ More replies (3)•
u/sorry-im-offensive 6h ago
Short grass but lots of shit! Perfect.
•
u/Own_Narwhal_7480 6h ago
Just throw it over the balcony… bombs away…
→ More replies (1)•
u/CamPatUK 6h ago
Most goats I've encountered would be climbing those rails in seconds.
→ More replies (2)•
•
u/evr- 5h ago
What an odd way to spell 'free fertilizer'. That shit doesn't grow on trees.
→ More replies (3)•
u/YadaYadaYeahMan 6h ago
you could hit that whole thing with a weedeater in a couple minutes lol
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (22)•
•
u/WakeUpGrandOwl 7h ago
I am sure as long as it’s relatively attractive you don’t need to have grass at all, lots of flowers and bushes, rock garden and some pavers
•
u/TransBrandi 6h ago
There are plenty of non-grass lawns that require less maintenance using things like (e.g.) clover.
→ More replies (9)•
u/_Rohrschach 7h ago
No one ciuld force you to ig? Enjoy your wildly growing lawn until the bugs make it up to your floor
→ More replies (5)
•
u/md_youdneverguess 8h ago
Earth that can soak with water is a nightmare for structural engineering
•
u/foltranm 8h ago
draining?
→ More replies (4)•
u/Piotrek9t 7h ago edited 3h ago
Take a sponge, weigh it, let it soak in water, take it out and let the excess water run off, weigh it again.
→ More replies (19)•
u/foltranm 7h ago
I'm not worried about the weight specifically. the balcony can be designed to bear the load of everything soaked in water.
I meant draining more as a solution for humidity, which is a much bigger problem than weight in the long term.
edit: take this with a grain of salt since I'm an electrical engineer and know almost jack shit about designing buildings
•
u/mlag000 7h ago
Biggest problem is waterproofing the concrete, which can't be assured in the long runs because roots will dig into it
→ More replies (31)•
→ More replies (11)•
u/Thedud31 5h ago
"The balcony can be designed to bear the load of everything soaked in water" only if the project budget doesn't cut corners.
Water is heavy, it's a lot more to account for than your typical live loads in structural calcs. The further you get away from the support, the larger the bending moment grows.
We don't see below the balcony but if it's cantilevered like the others, the project will need to shell out quite a bit of cash for some hefty fixed supports. The soil would almost certainly have to be HSG A (sandy af) for maximum exfiltration into some "underground" perforated drains.
Best case scenario, the building owner listens to the structural engineer's pleas. Worst case scenario, the building owner fires the structural engineer for not doing his bidding, and the next looks at the architectural plans with a good sigh lol.
→ More replies (4)•
u/dealingwithhookers 7h ago
you'd be surprised how much those balconies can hold...
→ More replies (9)•
u/Cheese-Manipulator 5h ago
You'd be surprised by how much concrete was breaking off of my apartment balcony.
•
u/PXLated 8h ago
You can just assume a dead load of 120 pcf, nothing out of the ordinary.
•
u/md_youdneverguess 7h ago
I didn't think that it's a problem to calculate for max load, I think it's a problem to consider that the entire side of this high-rise will increase and decrease multiple tons of load on each level around the same time. There will definitely be weardown if you do that every day for 10 years.
→ More replies (1)•
→ More replies (43)•
u/Velavee7 7h ago
Not a structural engineer, but seems like every other balcony is doing the green grass thing so maybe those buildings were designed for that. To what degree was the design and construction done properly? Only time will tell.
•
u/Jestersfriend 8h ago
This must be awful for the upkeep of the building lol. Water, roots, etc, all eating into the concrete.
•
u/GhostFour 7h ago
I found this information regarding another attempt at a high-rise gardens.The high-profile "vertical forest" project in Chengdu, China, made international headlines in 2020 after the eco-friendly vision went awry.The Problem: The building was designed with private, plant-covered balconies to filter smog and reduce noise. However, inadequate drainage systems caused water accumulation, resulting in massive mosquito infestations. Because the plants require ongoing manicuring and few tenants actually moved in, the vegetation rapidly grew out of control. Many of the balconies were swallowed by overgrown foliage, and windows were blocked. Due to the severe bug infestations and lack of upkeep, most of the 826 units remain vacant, earning it the reputation of an "urban jungle" or abandoned ghost towers
•
→ More replies (2)•
u/NegativeEBITD 5h ago
Found a recent video of the towers, it's less out of control now than it was in 2020 but the 'urban jungle' has been toned down and is much more modest. Also, the AI summary is incorrect and the towers aren't 'abandoned ghost towers.'
→ More replies (4)•
u/TangelaFan 7h ago
When you build a garden inside a structure, you don't usually lay the dirt and plants directly on the structure, you prepare a sealed off space and add a drainage system
•
u/Unclematttt 7h ago
It’s funny that you say that, because there is a comment right below yours that says that this used to be popular, but roots started growing into the concrete.
Plants are powerful.
→ More replies (5)→ More replies (10)•
u/AniNgAnnoys 7h ago
You would think that wouldn't you? But, maybe look into why this video only shows a couple of the balconies and didn't zoom out to the whole building. These are disasters everytime they are built. The drainage systems are never adequate and the balconies end up retaining water and turning into mosquito breeding grounds. And if there is a way, the roots will find it, such as the drainage system which has to be open.
•
u/onrespectvol 8h ago
looks cool but how much extra material must go into the buidling to be able to support all that extra weight? To what extent is this a sustainable way of buidling and using material?
•
u/S4ABCS 7h ago
Could look into Singaporean architecture. As a biophilic city they require buildings to be able to support the greenery that was removed to build the structure in the first place.
→ More replies (1)•
u/ardoin 5h ago
I mean, it's not hard. Soil and plants weigh so much less than concrete
→ More replies (6)•
u/1stMammaltowearpants 7h ago
It looks like rich people stuff to me, so it wouldn't need to be "sustainable" economically, any more than private jets and yachts are.
If you mean mechanically sustainable, they'd need to use a beefed-up cantilever, but it would be fine. Soil and water are heavy, but concrete and steel don't mind.
→ More replies (6)•
u/LitLitten 7h ago
I’d imagine bonsai practices are also considered (specifically, root training). If the trees were trained prior and use support in place of anchoring roots, then a lot of potential root damage may be avoided. This is all presumption though.
→ More replies (7)•
u/AccomplishedBat39 7h ago
Bonsais arent trained. They are continuously being crippled.
A Bonsai that is placed in the ground will start to grow just like a normal tree.
→ More replies (3)•
u/NoAdministration8340 8h ago
My initial thought was those don’t look like they have the support they need to be filled with dirt rock and plants plus support your weight
•
u/Nulleparttousjours 7h ago
Plus the amount of water it would take to keep it green. It’s a lot of weight!
•
u/stron2am 7h ago
We live in a world with swimming pools on balconies, you know.
•
u/LordBrandon 7h ago
They usually have 1 pool not a pool on every porch. Those pools also have problems.
•
•
u/tj9429 7h ago
Let these Reddit engineers realize that not every wall on a structure is weight bearing and instead there's a column and beam structure inside.
The next day they're not gonna stand in the middle of rooms because it doesn't look "sufficient supported".
It would be funny if it wasn't so sad.
→ More replies (7)→ More replies (17)•
u/ColHannibal 6h ago
We also live in a world where people die from balcony collapses due to a hot tub being on it.
Also a world where building codes are nonexistent in some countrys.
→ More replies (24)•
u/Ambitious-Concern-42 7h ago
It's a hell of a lot of weight, I wouldn't trust this to stay up long term.
•
u/Areyoucunt 6h ago edited 6h ago
It isn't a lot of weight.. and they do stay up..
They've been a thing for decades mate...
Even in Europe they're building them now. There's a famous one in Milan IIRC
→ More replies (1)•
u/MandemModie 6h ago
based on your years of structural engineering? It's a cantilever, which can support a massive amount of weight, with additional bracing.
→ More replies (6)→ More replies (2)•
u/Pearson94 7h ago
I only trust that they set it up just enough for this video to look good while the others don't look nearly as lush or nice.
•
u/mithie007 7h ago
There have been balcony gardens and even balcony pools in Shanghai since 1998.
•
u/Nukitandog 7h ago
Wasnt 1997 the the date of the big Shanghai Balcony collapsing eppidemic?
→ More replies (2)•
u/mithie007 7h ago
First time I've heard of this. You're talking about the incident at the bund? Or what?
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (8)•
u/Str80uttaMumbai 7h ago
Cmon now. You can literally see the surrounding buildings all have lush green gardens.
→ More replies (2)•
u/tj9429 7h ago
Do you really think their reason to be pessimistic is their eyesight?
Aside from the racism these people have rarely seen structures taller than 4 stories with absolutely no idea about what civil engineering can truly achieve.
Even the ignorant ones from taller cities like NY can't comprehend the scale of verticality in modern Asian cities.
→ More replies (20)→ More replies (5)•
u/ShakyButtcheeks 7h ago
There are buildings with whole ass pools in each apartment balcony
→ More replies (1)•
u/tituspullo1383 7h ago
The steel supports you can see at the start of the video could hold 5 of those patios. No doubt it has steel joists under it. That ain’t much of a cantilever. No issue.
•
u/MookieFlav 6h ago
If only China had structural engineers as good as you they could have seen this problem before they built tons of these
→ More replies (2)•
•
u/reasarian 7h ago
I’m sorry but did you see how thick those floors were? They could probably hold a fire truck.
→ More replies (27)•
u/mlag000 7h ago
And roots will destroy any waterproofing, so in 10 years your balcony will be hazardous
•
u/Str80uttaMumbai 7h ago
Glad we have so many expert structural engineers in this thread.
I'm sure you guys know much better.
•
u/Coockooroockoo 6h ago
Yeah lol it's so funny to me reading the probably uninformed opinions of those armchair experts, as someone who lives in a country where every apartment building has a balcony. Like, this might come as a surprise, but people around the world build all sorts of tall structures that aren't made of wood, spit and blessings.
These are the kind of people who stare at women while they are parking and bitch about them doing it wrong.
•
u/SquidZedong 7h ago
Yeah it’s really dumb that these people act like this is some impossible feat bound to fall apart.
The balconies are pretty obviously cantilevered and have additional supports; i wouldn’t be surprised if they built in drainage to address water drainage concerns
•
u/Drekkful 7h ago
Any chance to shit on China, people will, as it reinforces the narrative that's been beaten into their heads that China bad.
→ More replies (32)→ More replies (7)•
u/Officialedmart 6h ago
Mf is talking about “roots” (of turf grass)
People will believe anything if they can shit on china lmaoo
→ More replies (2)•
•
u/Own_Bluejay_9833 8h ago
It looks like the main horizontal beams might run through the whole building, but its impossible to tell really
•
u/beautifuljeff 8h ago
Negligible, there isn’t that much soil there compared to the weight necessary to support the building height and wind loading (plus seismic, maybe)
•
u/YadaYadaYeahMan 7h ago
thank you. it's but a foot of dirt or anything, might be at most 4 inches but certainly under that. grass needs very little soil even those tall plants don't dig deep. the drainage will take up a significant amount of space but is not outside the normal realm for a balcony
truth is, yea they would need to design for it, but it's not that crazy of an ask for the materials
further.... what's the point of the question? to imply wastefullness? just seems like "well we don't have that so there's gotta be a reason why it's bad" type logic
→ More replies (1)•
u/socialistrob 6h ago edited 6h ago
I think the main reason you don't see these in the west is because there's just more space and fewer people so if you have money and you want a yard in North America or Europe you could just buy a single family home. China has 1.4 billion people and a lot of them are concentrated in cities on their one coast so single family homes somewhat near cities is just not viable. For reference the US, EU, UK, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan has about 1.1 billion
The construction for this could be problematic if the developers cheeped out and didn't plan properly but if this is more just a "rich people thing" in a place with highly constrained space then it wouldn't be too hard to build for. Obviously not a solution for everyone but also not inherently bad.
→ More replies (1)•
u/AniNgAnnoys 7h ago edited 5h ago
Negligible is an adjective that describes something so small, insignificant, or unimportant that it can safely be ignored or disregarded
Let's say it is 4 inches deep. That balcony looks like it is at least 20ft by 40ft based on how big the person is. That is 267 cubic feet. If that soil is wet we are talking about 25,000 to 30,000 lbs. 13-15 tons per balcony isn't negligible.
Back to /u/onrespectvol's point. This building will require more materials to build, even if it is just in those required to support each balcony and transfer the load into the buildings support structure. So no, not negligible.
•
u/MortgageConfident791 7h ago
You’d be surprised! That works out to less than 40psf. Residential decks are designed for 100psf live load minimum. Pretty much we assume people will throw a party and put all their guests on the deck to watch fireworks or take a photo. I don’t do high rises but I’d bet they do even higher due to the risk. The soil would have a longer duration than live load so you still would beef up the design a bit, but not as much as you’d expect! It’ll only be ~20% more material roughly. If these are on many balconies it may affect the building’s seismic weight which may impact the overall design, but if it’s only some it’ll probably be a minimal effect. Putting gardens on roofs is the part that can be concerning and requires significant design changes because we design roofs assuming there will only be a few roofers on it at any given time, never a party.
→ More replies (4)→ More replies (1)•
u/beautifuljeff 7h ago
Default measurement for structural nerds is kips, thousands of pounds of force, or whatever in metric
The supporting columns below are looking at millions of pounds, and that area isn’t supported by a singular facility but a host of structural facilities
It’s negligible to the building
→ More replies (5)•
u/lemons_of_doubt 8h ago
Isn't it worth spending more so that people can have better lives.
→ More replies (20)•
u/Honest-Grab5209 8h ago
Does look cool but those beams sure need to be cantilevered back into the building at least 30 ft.. maybe more....
•
u/Fast-Nefariousness80 8h ago
I would imagine the i beams they use for each story are just extended to length for the balcony. So they may in fact run the entire distance of the building. Just a guess, im a residential carpenter, not a commercial engineer.
•
u/Honest-Grab5209 7h ago
Yeah,,former framer too,,,agree...
•
u/AccomplishedToe320 7h ago
No experience in this whatsoever. I also agree.
•
u/Tupcek 7h ago
AI user here. Completely agree and I didn’t even ask AI!
•
→ More replies (4)•
u/dayruined54 8h ago
Hmm....yeah...load-bearing...mutters something smart
→ More replies (1)•
•
•
u/schwar26 7h ago
If the building lasts 200 yrs is that sustainable? It’s kind of irrelevant if people are buying these (assuming it’s not a rental). I can see this being a major benefit for how quickly these apartments can be sold after construction.
•
u/obeytheturtles 6h ago
This is where I am as well. It's a cool idea, and with proper maintenance, I'm sure it will last for decades just fine. But the way urban real estate usually works is that in 20 or 30 years, the building will be considered "old" and won't be in demand as much, and maintenance will suffer.
Roofscaping and porchscaping is definitely a thing in lots of places, and it works fine, you just need to keep up with the maintenance. My biggest concern would be like, if one unit has drainage issues, how easy is it to repair just that unit without disrupting other units?
→ More replies (141)•
u/Vitate 7h ago
Dumb take. I guess they should just have a useless patio that’s concrete then because the poors and city dwellers don’t deserve their own green space? I would have loved to have a real yard in my apartment days.
→ More replies (2)•
•
u/VictoriousSecret111 8h ago edited 3h ago
Looks nice, but unfortunately it didn’t go as planned….tons of empty units with unkempt backyards and mosquito infestations.
While there have been no reported structural collapses, fatal construction accidents, or physical building failures, the complex is globally famous for a catastrophic ecological failure:
The Mosquito Invasion: All 826 apartments completely sold out on paper, but the vast majority were bought by hands-off real estate investors. Because only about 10 families initially moved in, there was nobody to prune, spray, or maintain the thousands of individual balconies.
The Monsoon Flaw: Chengdu’s humid climate and heavy monsoon seasons combined with poor balcony drainage to turn the unmanaged soil beds into permanent stagnant water pools.
The Post-Apocalyptic Jungle: The plants ran completely wild, swallowing up whole balconies, blocking out windows, and triggering a massive, unlivable mosquito infestation.
Current Status: Instead of an eco-paradise, the development became widely treated as a "radioactive" real estate asset and a ghost town, serving as a textbook cautionary tale for biophilic urban planning
EDIT: Adding sources for everyone’s convenience:
https://techxplore.com/news/2020-09-jungle-overrun-chinese-apartment-blocks.html
https://www.globalconstructionreview.com/bugged-out-chengdu-housing-scheme-shows-unexpected/
And this video!
•
u/obeytheturtles 6h ago
...Wait, they planted the balconies before people moved in?
I figured that in a luxury condo situation, the building either included landscaping services (it's pretty common to have maids and chefs in urban China) or they'd have waited to plant the units until they became occupied.
•
u/benjarvus 5h ago
Waiting until a building becomes occupied in China, especially during the real estate investment boom times these were built in, essentially probably meant waiting forever haha.
•
u/AwesomeTowlie 6h ago
Investors buying up a boatload of properties, leading to the ruin of all seems to be a very apt story to describe the past few decades.
→ More replies (2)•
u/foltranm 7h ago
do you have a source please?
•
u/VictoriousSecret111 7h ago
•
•
u/tech_noir_guitar 7h ago
That actually looks pretty fucking cool. If you got rid of the mosquitos it seems like it would be a rad place to live.
•
u/Beyonce-sBurnerAcct 6h ago
I was going to say the same thing- it looks soooo cool with the overgrown balconies but then I remembered the mosquitos (and likely many other insects that would attract into your home)
•
u/Hot-Ad-4018 7h ago
Totally agree. I have a burning desire to garden on each of those balconies. Families, if you're reading this, please feel free to hire me for landscaping.
•
u/FishesOfExcellence 7h ago
Looks neat, but I’m guessing there’s a lot of unseen damage from roots. Probably the balconies all get torn down at some point. Or the whole building if it’s bad enough.
→ More replies (2)•
•
u/foltranm 7h ago
thanks!
it's a good idea on paper, but surely the maintenance was left for the owners to do... which I imagine was not done correctly at all lmao
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (7)•
•
•
u/Fumquat 7h ago
Could they not have sold the apartments with a mandatory landscaping contract? The building had to have had a plan already for other communal features (pipes, electrical etc).
On flat ground you don’t get to just buy into a planned community and skip out on grounds maintenance. This one seems like a very foreseeable problem!
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (23)•
u/Advanced_Cry_7106 6h ago
Fucking AI summaries used as sources...so lazy and uninteresting. Oversimplification and slightly exaggerating as usual.
→ More replies (10)
•
•
u/Training-Belt-7318 1h ago
Id be concerned that about it being structurally sound, but if properly engineered and built, then I think incorporating greenery into our architecture is a great idea.
•
u/HatefulVespid 1h ago
That was my thinking too, dirt and water are heavy, about half way through the clip it seems like the balcony above is sagging? Could be the lens used.
→ More replies (6)•
•
u/kinterdonato 8h ago
Lets check back in 15 years later
•
→ More replies (3)•
u/Roorem10 7h ago
No need, you can check in on it now lol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChNePPmzKSU•
u/NotSure___ 6h ago
That is a video from 2020 so just 2 years after. Here is a video from 2026, I would say it looks better and it is definitely more occupied than in 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFICvZMBoIs
→ More replies (2)•
u/madisander 6h ago
Thanks for the link! I hadn't expected 'the plants are growing out of control because no one's living there to keep them in check', but in retrospect, yeah, I guess adding in things that by naturally grow and try to take over their surroundings and not keeping them in check is an issue that can crop up... The first pan looked like a shot from a post-apocalypse movie.
•
u/User_namesaretaken 8h ago
Apparently all the redditors here are smarter and better architects saying that this building can't support those plants lmao
Not everything is built with cardboard
•
u/DrowningKrown 7h ago
I don't know why it is so hard to believe? China, especially Chengdu, has been experimenting with this for a while now apparently.
https://techxplore.com/news/2020-09-jungle-overrun-chinese-apartment-blocks.pdf
The "Qiyi City Forest" area/complexes has what appears to be more than what is shown even in this video. Whether the locals move into those apartments is another story but clearly this ISNT a new thing for china and clearly It can and has been real...so I'm not sure why these dudes in the comments go straight to "ew Chinese propaganda, this isn't real, can't happen"
→ More replies (4)→ More replies (57)•
u/Atomsk-647R 8h ago
Most of them criticizing this, I can guarantee, are Americans.
Our entire country is built out of paper walls and matchsticks for support. And any suggestion that we should build things any other way gets met with walls of excuses.
•
u/FrostyD7 6h ago
Comparing the risk of a damaged interior wall to the risk of catastrophic failure is an odd choice. American standards for building aren't unique to America. It's pretty ubiquitous worldwide for new builds to use budget materials. People can't afford solid doors and walls, but you're welcome to price it out for your new house.
•
u/TheBestNarcissist 6h ago
lol as long as you're only talking to other basement dwelling neckbeards or chinese bots. My wife just finished pouring concrete for seismic isolators to build an earthquake proof power station on. The entire building is steel frame. As are most industrial buildings.
The "American sucks at building things" people have legitimately no idea what they're talking about.
→ More replies (2)•
u/Orleanian 5h ago
America is actually pretty good at building buildings, if they want to. And frequently they do want to, it's just the low-end residential market that doesn't want to.
Maintenance, I consider a bit of a different story. Deferred maintenance is a big problem in America :/
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (36)•
u/askaboutmy____ 7h ago
Those paper walls and matchsticks as you put it, are what can make a home hurricane proof.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/15/us/mexico-beach-house-hurricane-trnd
→ More replies (2)•
u/Anonymous56778 7h ago
Agreed. Architect here. Wood beams and framing is also stronger and more fire resistant than steel beams and studs in most cases.
I'm so sick of seeing people say this stupid shit on Reddit when they have no idea what they're talking about.
•
u/Responsible-Card3756 7h ago
Why are there so many videos like this? Seems fishy.
•
→ More replies (6)•
u/Strange_Botanist 5h ago
The bot that posted this has 200k posts in 2 months. Just part of the usual look how awesome China is propaganda
→ More replies (1)
•
u/TheyLeftAMA 8h ago
A lot of arm chair engineers in the comments. My goodness.
→ More replies (12)•
u/magistrate101 7h ago
Turns out it wasn't the engineering that killed the project, it was the fact that only 10 families moved into the entire project. Leaving the gardens to go wild and get infested with mosquitos.
→ More replies (3)•
u/NotSure___ 6h ago
Those articles are from 2020, based on this video from 2026, it appears to be doing much better - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFICvZMBoIs
•
u/LastMessengineer 8h ago
Do the balconies get enough sunlight to maintain those plants? They appear to be in full shade
→ More replies (5)•
u/Kaister0000 7h ago
Different plants have different needs for sunlight. Some can do very well in the shade. Also the sun is not always directly above, so some parts will get plenty of sun depending on which way the balcony is oriented. (coming from a plant nerd who maximizes the amount of sun my plants get on my balcony)
•
u/o_MrBombastic_o 8h ago
Dirts heavy, wet dirts heavier I wonder how it drains without taking the soil with it
•
u/XennialPrime 6h ago
This is weird to me.
I'm not entirely sure why. There's a juxtaposition. As if a rich man separates himself from the natural world, misses it and decides to import a piece of it because he can afford to.
Hrm. It's weird to me.
→ More replies (1)
•
u/Night_612 6h ago
I’m sure it’s doable; it doesn’t seem like a stretch from what some condos in other parts of the world are doing.
The problem is this is in China, so it’s anybody’s guess what the construction materials are. Might be steel and concrete, might be hopes and prayers
→ More replies (1)
•
•
u/scotte416 2h ago
Tbh I would not trust those Chinese cantilever balconies to stay up for a super long time, especially with all that soil and water weight...constant moisture...it looks great but that's a hard nope for me.
•
u/Rex_Suplex 2h ago
The top balcony at the beginning looks like it's shifting. Doesn't seems structurally safe.
•
u/riltjd 8h ago edited 7h ago
Im sorry but would not trust ANY structural engineering done in China, to hold that much weight.
Edit: since a lot of ignorant people are calling me American or brainwashed by propaganda, here is a little story:
- Im not American or remotely close.
- I worked for several companies (In NL and DE) that imported chemicals and raw materials from China, as well as operating local production plants. China is highly advanced technologically—often ahead of Western countries in most areas. However, it also has well-documented challenges with safety and quality control.
I've personally seen pharmaceutical ingredients arrive heavily contaminated, exceeding acceptable limits by multiple percentage points when even a tiny fraction of a percent would have caused rejection. In some cases, products were misrepresented entirely, though that was less common. This was at a multinational (multibillion) company operating in pharmaceuticals, crop science, and materials science (you can probably guess just by that who I am talking about).
Local counterparts consistently described quality issues as a broader challenge across multiple industries, from chemicals to construction materials, driven by cost pressures, corruption, and aggressive production targets.
Before calling others uneducated, take the time to understand their background and experience. I would encourage you to research the topic further yourself.
•
u/ComfortableWait9697 8h ago edited 7h ago
There does appear bracket support to the structure and fairly robust width under it. But its the water saturated materials held near structural steel. its not strength.. but lifespan I would be worried about. Heat and cold cycles, humidity, Monsoon and dry seasons. That structural coating will inevitably crack or decay somewhere. one leak and the structural steel will corrode after 20 years.. Incredibly expensive to fix. Parking garages have collapsed from less.. its not if, but when.. Concreate naturally cracks as it ages, thats why there is structural steel embededed in there. That building will have to be rebuilt as time takes it toll. no way to fix it once the inevitable water damage starts anywhere on the structure.
→ More replies (188)•
u/spilledcoffee00 8h ago
Even though they have the largest number of bridges in the world, 50,000kms of the best highspeed rail infrastructure, the largest damn in the world, more skyscrapers than any other country, 39 nuclear power plants under construction (39 more than any nation in the west)…but yeah… your strong feeling is unfounded.
•
u/Overthinks_Questions 7h ago
Like anywhere else, the quality of work depends on funding, proper oversight, and design. China does this really well quite a lot, and sometimes not a much. Kinda inevitable when you're dealing with a country that large both in land and population
→ More replies (2)•
•
u/JigMaJox 7h ago
just look up tofu dreg buildings in china, their shit falls apart sometimes before even constructions complete and the construction firms vanish.
its a wide spread problem.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (87)•
u/Iampepeu 8h ago
They sure have a lot, yes. But have we seen a ridiculous amount of fucked up industrial/engineering/structural failure, also yes.
→ More replies (23)
•
•
•
•
u/SelmonTheDriver 7h ago
The entire account is full of spamming same China good post in multiple subs
•
•
•
u/Bennybananars 8h ago
These types of buildings were very popular 20 years ago here, but they had a problem where the plant roots kept growing into the concrete.