China rental biz drives second-home sales

[BEIJING] Wu Junhua had been allowing her investment, a furnished one-bedroom apartment in the lake city of Hangzhou, to sit empty for a year until she found a solution: China's version of Airbnb.com, known as Tujia.

Letting Tujia put up short-time travellers who otherwise would stay in a hotel, Ms Wu shares the income they generate while waiting for her 37-square-metre asset to appreciate. Her place can rent for around 260 yuan (S$58) a night, the starting price of nearby four-star lodgings listed as "most popular" on China's biggest online booking website, Ctrip.com, which also carries Tujia's listings.

"Now I have nothing to worry about, and I get paid," said Ms Wu, 59, a retired pharmacist, noting that Tujia also changes towels, arranges cleaning and has kept her apartment in the same condition as when she bought it, erasing her sceptical first impression of Tujia: "Are these people con artists?"