Why is Hegang called "the city of death"?

As a person who was also born in a small fourth-tier city in Heilongjiang, he is really familiar with Hegang. So let me talk about my observation and understanding of Hegang.

Hegang was a very good town as early as 1980s and early 1990s, but it is a famous coal city in three northeastern provinces and even the whole country. Relying on local coal resources, people in small cities did not live as well as Daqing, the richest city in Heilongjiang at that time, but the local people lived a prosperous life in a peaceful corner. The industry here is mainly related to coal mining and processing. Residents are also mainly concentrated in several large state-owned coal enterprises. In the 1990s, a 70-80 square meter house there cost about 50,000-60,000 yuan. Of course, this house price is also the center of the local area.

However, with the gradual depletion of local coal resources in Hegang and the reform of state-owned enterprises that was not implemented in the 1990s, many former employees of state-owned enterprises left their original work units actively or passively and began to choose their own jobs. However, this road is not easy. People who have come out soon find that the economic model that the city has developed for decades is now unsustainable, and a large number of people can no longer rely on the re-employment of coal-related industries. But there is no other industry in this city where freelancers can make a living. There is no way for a large number of local young people to leave Hegang in 2000 and seek development in other bigger cities. At first, most of them were Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang Province. Later, most of them chose to go to the southern coastal development cities.

After twenty years, people who left Hegang in early 2000 have settled in other cities, and their lives will undoubtedly be better than those in Hegang now, and those who left are unwilling to go back. Of course, not only oneself, but also children, have the ability to take the elderly from Hegang to the city where they live now. In this way, Hegang, where the population is gradually losing, has become a "dead city" that no one pays attention to.

Most of the people who stayed in Hegang now work in a few state-owned enterprises, government agencies and institutions, or in some supporting service industries. However, the general trend is to give priority to people with older age and lower education. The whole city has no innovation ability, and after decades, no new industries have been introduced to settle in the local area. Local people's wages are generally low, with an average monthly salary of around 1500 yuan. There is no purchasing power and demand for low wages. Fortunately, local goods are cheap. For example, the price of food is about a quarter lower than that of the same city in the south.

The house is cheaper. As long as there is no demand for housing, locals or permanent residents here have houses, many of which are two or three sets. Moreover, houses in the north are not as good as those in the south, and they have their own holding costs, mainly in addition to residential property fees or heating fees every winter. Take an 80-square-meter house as an example, the annual heating cost is about 2000 yuan. Even if you can't live, you have to pay. Think about who is willing to buy such a house that doesn't make money and put it in the hands of losing money to invest.

There may be many reasons why houses in Hegang are cheap, but the fundamental reason is that the local economy is too poor. It lacks the vitality of production and consumption that a city should have. At the same time, the problem has not been solved for a long time, so the situation is getting worse and worse. Of course, the house of 1.5 million bought by women in news reports is also a special case. I understand that the main reason is that the location of Hegang's house is also relatively poor, or the apartment. In the central area of Hegang, the current average house price is around 3,000-4,000, and it is normal to set it at 200,000-300,000. However, there is a serious phenomenon that there is no market for value. But this house price is still very competitive compared with other southern cities.

Houses in Hegang are so popular now. In the words of netizens, "life is too difficult now. After working hard in the society for several years, I was really hit and got a better understanding of myself. Since I can't move anyone else, I want to see if there is a good place to lie down for the rest of my life. There is no doubt that this town with a house price of120,000 is really attractive, but I still want to advise you here. When you first come to this town, you can lie down easily, but after a long time, you will find it uncomfortable to lie here, because without a job suitable for the development of young people, your life will be unsustainable. And the decadent atmosphere of the whole city can easily make you stay for a long time and never stand up again.

With the new economic changes in China, more and more small cities with poor economic development will join Hegang. For example, Shuangyashan and Jixi, which are close to Hegang, we see that the population will be more and more concentrated in the big city centers with good economic development in the future. Although Hegang seems a bit lonely today, it is only the epitome and symbol of a country's urban development. No one wants the city where they live to gradually become Hegang.