'It's small but complete': Impoverished Chinese family sets up home in tiny hotel lavatory for £800 a year

  • Zeng Lingjun lives in a male toilet with his wife Wang Zhixia and baby Devi
  • The 33-year-old rents the block from a hotel for around £830 a year
  • Mr Zeng describes his home as 'small but complete'
  • Family must flush regularly to keep smell at bay

By LUCY CROSSLEY

Published: | Updated:


With space at a premium and skyrocketing rents, one family have found an unusual solution to the housing shortage in one of China's largest cities - by setting up home in a converted male toilet.

When Zeng Lingjun moved to Shenyang to find work, the enterprising 33-year-old decided that instead of his house-hunting mission becoming a busted flush, he would rent out the unused hotel bathroom.

Shoe repairer Mr Zeng moved into the 20 square metre male toilet in 2006 and when he married wife Wang Zhixia in 2010 she joined him, with their baby son Devi born a year later.

Round the U-bend: Zeng Lingjun, his wife Wang Zhixia and their baby Devi have set up home in a converted men's toilet

Round the U-bend: Zeng Lingjun, his wife Wang Zhixia and their baby Devi have set up home in a converted men's toilet

Enterprising: Mr Zeng created a bed by placing planks on top of one toilet and has transformed tow stalls into wardrobes

Enterprising: Mr Zeng created a bed by placing wooden planks on top of one toilet and has transformed two unused stalls into wardrobes

Despite his family's unusual living arrangements, Mr Zeng decribes his home  - still fitted with urinals - as 'small but complete', and says they are used to the lingering odour.

And he is so content with his lot that he even called his baby 'Devi' which means satisfying one's desire.

Originally from a poor family living in the village of Fumin in Jilin Province, Mr Zeng won a place at the Heilongjiang Institute of Science and Technology in 1999.

However, he was unable to attend the university as he did not have the money to pay his tuition fees so instead moved to Shenyang, in Liaoning province, to make money, with just 50 yuan, worth around £5.25, in his pocket.

After moving into the toilet Mr Zeng quickly set about making alterations, placing planks over one toilet to make a bed - which faces a small television set up on a table nestled between two urinals.

Two other stalls were converted into wardrobes.

Homemaker: Wife Wang Zhixia cooks outside the entrance to the family home. She said the living arrangement was not 'convenient for cooking', but that she is used to it

Homemaker: Wife Wang Zhixia cooks outside the entrance to the family home. She said the living arrangement was not 'convenient for cooking', but that she is used to it

Upbeat: Mr Zeng decribes his home - still fitted with urinals - as 'small but complete', and called his baby 'Devi', which means satisfying one's desire

Upbeat: Mr Zeng decribes his home - still fitted with urinals - as 'small but complete', and called his baby 'Devi', which means satisfying one's desire

On the opposite wall he has put up a red paper cut-out of the Chinese character "xi", or happiness -- a Chinese tradition to court good luck.

'I am satisfied with what I have now, said Mr Zeng told news website Englishnews.cn.

'Life actually is better here than where I used to rough it out.'

Outside the 'bedroom', in what used to be a washbasin, is their kitchen and Mr Zeng's workshop.

Hard working: Mr Zeng set up his workshop for his cobbling business inside his toilet home

Hard working: Mr Zeng set up his workshop for his cobbling business inside his toilet home

'It's not convenient for cooking, but I'm used to it,' former cleaner Ms Wang told China Daily.com.

Mr Zeng pays out around 8,000 yuan a year, roughly £830, to rent the toilet from the hotel, and was given a space in front of the building for free where he polishes shoes for 10 yuan a pair.

He takes home 2,000 yuan a month from his job as a shoeshine, cobbler and locksmith, which is nearly double the minimum wage set by the government of Shenyang.

Despite his enthusiasm, Mr Zeng admits his home is not the most comfortable and says he has to flush the toilet regularly to wash away any odours that come down the pipes from the in-use lavatory block on the floor above his home.

Long-term exposure to the humid atmosphere has left his child, now aged three, with eczema.

When he married his wife in 2010 he could not scrape together enough money for a real honeymoon, but as he was determined to give his wife a taste of luxury he took out 500 yuan from his savings and rented a 900-square-feet apartment in a high-end neighborhood.

They lived there for six days before they came back to start their new life together in the toilet.

Although he would like to find a better paying job and move his family into a more conventional home he still has to send money to his aging parents, and soon must find enough cash to send Devi to school.

China's 240 million rural migrant workers in cities and factory towns form a vital cog in China's booming economy.

However, many of them live in undesirable conditions, with limited access to health care and education.

Mr Zeng has applied for low-rent housing in Shenyang, but because his registered residence status is still in his home province of Heilongjiang, it is difficult for him to get his application approved.

However, he is determined to remain positive.

'Take it easy. We are still young. Life will be better as long as we work hard', he said.

Wedded bliss: Ms Wang shows her son the couple's wedding photograph. Mr Zeng could not scrape together enough money for a real honeymoon, but took out 500 yuan from his savings and rented a 900-square-feet apartment in a high-end neighborhood

Wedded bliss: Ms Wang shows her son the couple's wedding photograph. Mr Zeng could not scrape together enough money for a real honeymoon, but took out 500 yuan from his savings and rented a 900-square-feet apartment in a high-end neighborhood

Lingering: Although the family say they are satisfied with their home they have to flush the toilet regularly to wash away any odours from the in-use lavatory block on the floor above

Lingering: Although the family say they are satisfied with their home they have to flush the toilet regularly to wash away any odours from the in-use lavatory block on the floor above

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