Ghosts & Hauntings

Haunted house spooks potential buyers

By T.K. Randall
September 26, 2013

Image: AI-generated (Midjourney) At first glance Chaonei No. 81 in central Beijing has all the hallmarks of an expensive and extravagant property, but inside the million dollar mansion it remains a shell of its former self.

According to reports, in 1949 the wife of a high-ranking Kuomintang official hung herself on the rafters of the building after he abandoned her there, sparking decades of ghost stories and accounts of paranormal phenomena."Even in the 1970s, people thought the house was haunted," said Li Yongjie who grew up nearby. "As children, we would play hide-and-seek in the house, but we didn't dare come in by ourselves. Even the Red Guards who lived in the house during the Cultural Revolution got scared and left."

Despite being on a historic preservation list which protects it from being torn down the house has remained empty for some years and has attracted little interest from buyers. The building has been viewed by some as an example of how a reputation for being haunted can make an otherwise perfectly good property unsellable.

Source: NY Times

Tags: Ghost, Haunting