Homebuyers promised ‘park views’ from new development get bright blue plastic lake instead

New residents 'feel ripped off', say social media users

Homebuyers at a new development in China were outraged to find the “park views” they had been promised turned out to be a bright blue plastic lake, according to reports.

Chinese state media reported that new residents were dismayed by the appearance of the largely paved area nestled between a forest of tower blocks.

Video shows people walking across the gaudy paving and even staging an ironic photo shoot at the development in Changsha, in Hunan province.

The mock lake is almost cyan in colour, footage from state newspaper People’s Daily shows. But its artificial nature did not prevent the developer from installing a bridge from which residents can admire their surroundings.

The turf inside grass-filled paving slabs that cover much of the rest of the space could be picked up with ease by hand, the footage showed.

“I have a friend who bought a home in this community,” People’s Daily quoted a social media user as saying. “He feels he got ripped off.”

“Even Minecraft is more realistic,” said another person quoted by the South China Morning Post.

The Post reported that the developer had promised prospective residents a “park lifestyle” and high vegetation cover.

Images do show a few trees in the courtyard but the area is far from the natural idyll the newspaper said had been advertised.

Bosses at Changsha Shiji Yujing Real Estate said they had never promised a lake in the first place, with one company worker saying the courtyard was built to government fire safety standards, the Post reported.

Local officials are said to be working with residents to rectify the situation.