What follows is an old entry that I typed up, saved on the hard drive and forgot to publish a few weeks ago. From CHINA BUSINESS BRIEFING #116 Real estate bubble loom in China Over the first eight months of this year, the total area of vacant houses across China increased by 14.1%. Of the unsold houses, about 43.97 million square meters, which are 11.5% more than those of the same period last year, have been idle for over a year. By July of this year, capital held standstill by the vacant houses shot up to CNY 250 billion, the No 1 non-performing assets in terms of its size in all the industries in current China. (People's Daily, 16 October) Haven't I been calling this before? A drive through the new housing developements in Tianjin and Beijing shows many empty houses that people cannot afford. Even this month's China Business Briefing made a sarcastic comment about the real estate bubble in China popping soon. Again, I like the idea of mini-flats, as described in a South Africa Financial Gazette article. [ Link ] Universal theme park planned for Beijing Universal Studios plans to build a USD 900 million theme park in Beijing, its first venture into China. The Hollywood entertainment group signed a preliminary agreement with one of the mainland's largest travel enterprises, the Beijing Tourism Group, to build a park of American-style attractions with Chinese cultural characteristics. (SCMP, 18 October) "American-style attractions with Chinese cultural characteristics" may not have been intentional but it is a prime candidate for Richard's China Cliché series.