làn wěi lóu: 烂尾楼 - Unfinished Building, "Rotten-Tail Building", Stalled Project

• Keywords: 烂尾楼, lanweilou, unfinished building in China, stalled construction China, ghost building China, rotten tail building meaning, Chinese real estate crisis, Evergrande ghost cities, what is lanweilou, buying property in China
• Summary: “烂尾楼 (lànwěilóu)” literally translates to “rotten-tail building” and refers to the all-too-common sight of an unfinished or abandoned real estate project in China. More than just a stalled construction site, this term is a potent symbol of financial distress, broken promises from developers, and the shattered dreams of homebuyers. Understanding `烂尾楼` is essential for grasping the complexities of modern Chinese society, its urban development, and the personal stories behind the headlines about China's real estate crisis and “ghost cities”.

• Pinyin (with tone marks): làn wěi lóu
• Part of Speech: Noun
• HSK Level: N/A
• Concise Definition: An unfinished or abandoned building project, typically due to the developer running out of funds.
• In a Nutshell: Imagine paying your life savings for an apartment, only for construction to halt indefinitely, leaving a concrete skeleton where your home was supposed to be. That skeleton is a `烂尾楼`. The term carries a heavy feeling of waste, financial ruin, and deep disappointment. It's not just a building; it's a physical monument to a failed project and the broken dreams of the families who invested in it.

• 烂 (làn): Rotten, decayed, spoiled. Picture a piece of fruit that has gone bad. It implies a state of uselessness and decay.
• 尾 (wěi): Tail, end, final part. Like the tail of an animal, it's the last piece of something.
• 楼 (lóu): A building with multiple floors; a tower.

The characters combine to form a powerful metaphor: a “rotten-tail building.” The project had a beginning (the body), but its “tail” or end was never properly completed and was instead left to “rot.” This vivid imagery captures the sense of an incomplete process that has ended in failure and decay.

The term `烂尾楼` is deeply embedded in the story of China's rapid urbanization and real estate boom of the last 30 years. In a culture where homeownership is a paramount life goal and often a prerequisite for marriage, a `烂尾楼` represents a catastrophic failure to achieve this fundamental dream. These buildings are symbols of systemic economic issues: a speculative property market, over-leveraged developers (like the infamous Evergrande), and the risks of the “presale” model (期房, qīfáng), where citizens pay for homes long before they are built. A useful Western comparison is a “white elephant” project—a costly, useless burden. However, `烂尾楼` carries a much heavier and more personal weight. While a “stalled construction site” in the West is an investor's problem, in China, it's often a crisis for hundreds of ordinary families who have already paid for their homes and are now stuck paying mortgages on apartments that may never exist. This has led to significant social issues, including widespread mortgage boycotts (停贷, tíngdài) and protests, making `烂尾楼` a key term for understanding modern social and economic tensions in China.

`烂尾楼` is a common term used in news reports, on social media (Weibo, Douyin), and in everyday conversations about the economy, real estate, and personal finance. It almost always carries a strongly negative connotation, evoking feelings of anger, sympathy for the victims, and frustration with the system. It can be used literally to refer to a specific abandoned building, or more metaphorically to describe any ambitious project that started with great promise but ended in failure and was abandoned before completion.

• Example 1:
  • 那个开发商破产了，把这里变成了一片烂尾楼。
  • Pinyin: Nàge kāifāshāng pòchǎn le, bǎ zhèlǐ biànchéng le yí piàn lànwěilóu.
  • English: That real estate developer went bankrupt, turning this place into a stretch of unfinished buildings.
  • Analysis: This is a typical, literal use of the term, explaining the direct cause (bankruptcy) and effect (the creation of `烂尾楼`).
• Example 2:
  • 他买到了烂尾楼，现在每个月还要还房贷，真是太惨了。
  • Pinyin: Tā mǎi dào le lànwěilóu, xiànzài měi ge yuè hái yào huán fángdài, zhēnshi tài cǎn le.
  • English: He ended up buying an apartment in an unfinished project, and now he still has to pay the mortgage every month. It's truly tragic.
  • Analysis: This sentence highlights the profound personal tragedy associated with `烂尾楼`—the financial burden without the benefit of a home.
• Example 3:
  • 政府正在想办法解决这个城市的烂尾楼问题。
  • Pinyin: Zhèngfǔ zhèngzài xiǎng bànfǎ jiějué zhège chéngshì de lànwěilóu wèntí.
  • English: The government is trying to figure out a way to solve the city's unfinished building problem.
  • Analysis: This shows the term being used at a policy level. The existence of `烂尾楼` is a social problem that requires official intervention.
• Example 4:
  • 听说那栋烂尾楼终于有新公司接盘，要复工了。
  • Pinyin: Tīngshuō nà dòng lànwěilóu zhōngyú yǒu xīn gōngsī jiēpán, yào fùgōng le.
  • English: I heard a new company is finally taking over that stalled building project and construction is about to resume.
  • Analysis: A rare hopeful sentence. `接盘 (jiēpán)` means “to take over a mess,” and `复工 (fùgōng)` means “to resume work.”
• Example 5:
  • 买期房风险太大了，你得小心别买到烂尾楼。
  • Pinyin: Mǎi qīfáng fēngxiǎn tài dà le, nǐ děi xiǎoxīn bié mǎi dào lànwěilóu.
  • English: Buying a pre-sale apartment is too risky; you have to be careful not to end up with an unfinished one.
  • Analysis: This is a common piece of advice in China, directly linking the risk of buying `期房 (qīfáng)` to the potential outcome of a `烂尾楼`.
• Example 6:
  • 这个新区规划得不好，到处都是烂尾楼和空置房。
  • Pinyin: Zhège xīnqū guīhuà de bù hǎo, dàochù dōu shì lànwěilóu hé kōngzhì fáng.
  • English: This new district was poorly planned; there are unfinished buildings and vacant houses everywhere.
  • Analysis: This sentence connects `烂尾楼` to the larger phenomenon of “ghost cities” and poor urban planning.
• Example 7:
  • 他的那个创业项目，最后也成了个烂尾楼。
  • Pinyin: Tā de nàge chuàngyè xiàngmù, zuìhòu yě chéng le ge lànwěilóu.
  • English: That startup project of his also ended up becoming an unfinished mess in the end.
  • Analysis: A perfect example of the term's metaphorical usage. It describes any project (not just a building) that was abandoned before completion, failing to deliver on its initial promise.
• Example 8:
  • 我们所有的积蓄都投进了那套烂尾楼里！
  • Pinyin: Wǒmen suǒyǒu de jīxù dōu tóu jìn le nà tào lànwěilóu lǐ!
  • English: All of our life savings were poured into that apartment in that unfinished building!
  • Analysis: This sentence conveys the immense emotional and financial devastation felt by victims, using `投 (tóu)` for “invested” or “poured into.”
• Example 9:
  • 这栋楼已经烂尾十年了，现在看起来像个鬼楼。
  • Pinyin: Zhè dòng lóu yǐjīng lànwěi shí nián le, xiànzài kànqǐlái xiàng ge guǐlóu.
  • English: This building has been abandoned mid-construction for ten years; now it looks like a haunted building.
  • Analysis: Here, `烂尾 (lànwěi)` is used as a verb state (“to be unfinished”). It also shows the natural progression from `烂尾楼` to `鬼楼 (guǐlóu)`, a “ghost building.”
• Example 10:
  • 由于资金链断裂，那个宏伟的购物中心项目烂尾了。
  • Pinyin: Yóuyú zījīnliàn duànliè, nàge hóngwěi de gòuwù zhōngxīn xiàngmù lànwěi le.
  • English: Due to a break in the capital chain, that magnificent shopping mall project was left unfinished.
  • Analysis: This sentence provides a common, specific reason for a project becoming `烂尾`: `资金链断裂 (zījīnliàn duànliè)` or a rupture in the funding chain.

• Not just any abandoned building: A common mistake is to use `烂尾楼` to describe any old, derelict, or abandoned building. A `烂尾楼` is specifically a project that was never finished. An old factory that shut down is a `废弃的工厂 (fèiqì de gōngchǎng)`, not a `烂尾楼`.
• False Friend - “Unfinished Building”: While this is the literal translation, it completely misses the cultural and emotional weight. In English, “unfinished building” is a neutral, technical description. In Chinese, `烂尾楼` is a loaded term that implies financial disaster, shattered dreams, and social injustice. It's a judgment, not just an observation.
• Focus on the “Why”: The core concept of a `烂尾楼` is tied to the reason for its incompletion—usually the developer's financial failure. The term carries an implicit story of broken contracts and lost investments.

• 期房 (qīfáng) - Pre-sale/off-plan property. Buying a `期房` is the high-risk activity that can lead to owning a `烂尾楼`.
• 现房 (xiànfáng) - A completed, move-in-ready property. The much safer alternative to `期房`.
• 开发商 (kāifāshāng) - Real estate developer. The entity most often blamed for the existence of `烂尾楼`.
• 鬼城 (guǐchéng) - Ghost city. A city or district with vast, empty housing developments, which often include many `烂尾楼`.
• 房地产泡沫 (fángdìchǎn pàomò) - Real estate bubble. The macroeconomic condition that fuels speculative building and often results in `烂尾楼` when it bursts.
• 停贷 (tíngdài) - Mortgage boycott; to stop mortgage payments. A form of protest undertaken by angry buyers of `烂尾楼`.
• 维权 (wéiquán) - To defend/protect one's rights. A common action taken by `烂尾楼` victims when they organize protests or seek legal recourse.
• 资金链 (zījīnliàn) - Capital chain; funding chain. When this “breaks” (`断裂`), a `烂尾楼` is often the result.