‘Trying to force us to leave’: China tenant turns balcony into funeral hall to ruin business of store below because of humming refrigerator

A man in China has transformed his balcony into a funeral hall to sabotage a ground-floor grocery store because he was annoyed with the constant low-frequency hum of the shop’s refrigerator.

The man placed funeral wreaths and a memorial tablet on his balcony hoping that potential customers would be turned off by the idea of shopping so close to a “funeral”.

However, the plan backfired, and the man has received numerous complaints from neighbours who do not appreciate the “chilling” decorations and a possible civic code violation.

The conflict in an upscale residential community in Hangzhou in eastern China’s Zhejiang province started about two years ago when the upstairs neighbour said he was annoyed at the low-frequency humming noise created by the refrigerator of the shop, according to the community affairs committee as reported by news portal cqcb.com.

At first, the committee intervened by pushing local city authorities to fine the store for making noise, and an employee at the grocery store said they had complied with the upstairs neighbour’s demands, but he was still not satisfied.

“We have moved our refrigerator and got rid of a large fish tank previously installed on the wall. I think we have done everything he required,” said the unidentified worker.

The employee said the man had previously splashed oil on the shop’s walls, saying: “We have taken a lot of abuse from him. I think he is trying to force us to leave the neighbourhood.”

Li Li, a lawyer from Chongqing Jieheng Law Firm, said the man may have violated a rule in the country’s Civil Code that requires residents to maintain public order.

“Putting wreaths on the balcony and turning on the red lights affected the daily lives of other residents. The residents can collectively file a lawsuit against him to safeguard their rights,” Li was quoted as saying.

A resident, surnamed Fang, said: “It is chilling to see the wreaths on his balcony. Besides, he placed red lights all over the balcony that are bright in the evening.

“This is an upscale community, with an average house price of 75,000 yuan (US$10,000) per sq metre. The flats in our community don’t sell well in the market because of the funeral wreaths and tablet display.”

Weird disputes between neighbours regularly trend on mainland social media.

A man in northeastern China’s Jilin province reported a woman to the police more than 40 times in the past year because she often knocked on his door fiercely and cursed him.

Suspecting the woman had a mental illness, police officers said they could do nothing to stop her.