Suzhou has not seen the correction in real estate prices locals had expected in the Spring this year. Certainly, the bank lending frenzy that poured billions of RMB into the economy through loans to real estate developers and State Owned Enterprises helped the market defy gravity. A Western friend also indicated another factor: the high speed rail that is supposed to tie Suzhou and Shanghai together in a twenty-minute levitated ride has Shanghai people looking at Suzhou as a bedroom community – like Westchester county to New York City.

A local Suzhou TV report placed Suzhou 15th in the country for real estate pricing; Shanghai Number 1. That said, all those Shanghai residents that want to escape the Shanghai real estate bubble have already begun their migration – to Suzhou.

At least Suzhou makes for a nice bedroom, as communities in China go.