SINOLINK Housing Estate is different in one way from its counterparts in Shenzhen: it has the largest number of nationalities as residents.

"We have about 60 foreign families from 37 countries living in Sinolink," said a Mr. Li who heads the estate’s housing department.

The international residents are mainly from Japan, Germany, France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Belgium, India and Italy.

A Shenzhen Municipal State Land and Housing Estate Administration Bureau official surnamed Luo said Sinolink was one of the reasons Shenzhen was the winner of the Nations in Bloom competition for cities with populations of more than 1 million in Washington D. C. three years ago.

Competition officials visited Sinolink when they inspected Shenzhen four years ago. Two years ago, when a session of Nations in Bloom was held in Shenzhen, hundreds of participants from all over the world visited Sinolink.

"We feel very comfortable living here," said Pratibha Wadhwaney, an Indian housewife.

A man from Belgium, who declined to give his name, said he had bought an apartment in the estate where the environment and service were comparable to any housing estate in Belgium.

"The quality of the estate is an important part of the living standard which is quite high in Shenzhen," he said.

Li said Sinolink provided documents in English for foreign renters and buyers.

"We have English-speaking workers to communicate with our foreign customers," he said.

The estate management had subscribed to a copy of Shenzhen Daily for every foreign household.

A Japanese renter, who chose not to be named, said he and a dozen of his compatriots felt it was quite safe to live in Sinolink. He also said that many Japanese Sinolink residents worked in Dongguan and Huizhou and it was easy to get to expressways from the estate.

Sinolink Housing Estate Management Company was a member the World Golden Key Concierge Organization, or Union International Les Clefs D'or, Li said.

The average selling price per square meter is about 8,000 yuan (US$960), and the rent for a three-bedroom apartment per month ranges from 4,000 to 5,000 yuan. With a total floor space of more than 1 million square meters, Sinolink is one of the largest housing estates in Shenzhen.

(Shenzhen Daily July 20, 2004)