Wen City

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Wen City
Original Name	温城
Type	Neutral Character (AI)
Novel	Rebirth 1990: I Have Three Golden Fingers
First Appearance	Chapter 4

Geography and Urban Structure

Wen City is constrained by mountains to its south, north, and west and by the sea to its east. Its limited buildable land becomes a central obstacle to industrial expansion; land reclamation is presented as the principal long-term solution, though insufficient to meet demand. 48 78

• The Oujiang River separates the Urban Area from Oubei, making ferry travel essential before the construction of Xinghai Bridge. 89 247 261
• Oubei initially contains the Oubei Pier, bus station, scattered workshops, factories, and vacant land suitable for large-scale development. 89 111
• The Urban Area is harder to redevelop because of dense old housing, difficult relocation negotiations, and high land costs. 89 111
• Longwan Airport lies east of the city; the Oujiang River estuary remained undeveloped before land-reclamation projects began. 78
• Shenhai Road in the city center is known for gang activity during the early part of the story. 71

Economic Character

Wen City’s economy is built on household businesses, specialized markets, small towns, and rural entrepreneurs. Its early market-oriented development lets it pull ahead of other cities before they can respond. 48

• By the early 1990s, Wen City has completed a second wave of entrepreneurship marked by industrial upgrading, urbanization, and international expansion. 48
• Its economy is described as among the country’s strongest, with GDP exceeding that of two provincial capitals combined. 48
• Mountains and scarce farmland push many residents into business, contributing to Wen City people’s reputation as hardworking and commercially capable. 49
• Private enterprise is a defining feature of the city; the setting was specifically chosen for the novel because Wen City is a representative hub for private businesses. 69
• Fiat taxis are a recognizable feature of local transport, with thousands already operating in the city. 71

Real Estate and Land

Land scarcity, rapidly rising prices, and a strong local appetite for property make real estate central to Wen City’s economy.

Period	Development
Early 1990s	Wen City’s first apartment building, Liming Qiaocun Building 16, is completed with 236 units and 24,439 square meters of floor area. Its three price tiers reach 1,250–1,850 yuan per square meter. 7
Early 1990s	Private houses remain comparatively cheap at a few hundred yuan per square meter but are rarely sold; high rents are driven by workshop demand. 7
2000–2001	Property speculation groups emerge in Wen City, beginning a city-led wave of wider national speculation. 7
2003	Housing prices approach 10,000 yuan per square meter, exceeding Shencheng’s prices; local speculation groups then shift their focus to Shencheng. 7

• The city’s limited land supply forces factories to consider relocating when they cannot obtain expansion sites. 48 136
• Fang Bai advocates concentrating valve workshops and factories in an industrial zone, freeing Oubei land for commercial and residential development. 136 192
• The resulting Valve Industrial Zone draws numerous small workshops and accelerates Oubei’s development. 192
• Oubei housing prices later reach an average of 5,000 yuan per square meter, higher than those in Shencheng’s urban area. 262

Oubei Development

Oubei becomes Wen City’s principal redevelopment area under Xinghai Group’s influence. Its comparatively open land, lower acquisition costs, and proximity to the river make it preferable to the difficult redevelopment of the Urban Area. 89 111 201

• Xinghai Group’s planning envisions Oubei as a mixed commercial and residential zone, while industrial activity shifts westward. 201 210
• The broader plan includes wider roads, parks, schools, commercial streets, residential districts, hotels, office buildings, and supporting public facilities. 201 211
• Around 5,500 mu are included in the Xinghai Group–Wen City Ten Billion Investment Project, with 500 mu designated for educational and public facilities. 211
• The project’s planned investment exceeds 7 billion yuan and includes a bridge, golf course, villa district, hotel, CBD office buildings, and high-end residences. 211 215

Xinghai Plaza

Xinghai Plaza transforms Oubei into a major commercial center.

• Phase One begins as a 5,000-square-meter, five-floor shopping mall and is already the largest shopping center in Wen City for its era. 177 247
• Phase Two expands the plaza beyond 50,000 square meters, making it the largest single-building shopping plaza in the country. 246 247
• The complex introduces Wen City residents to an open-format supermarket, children’s facilities, restaurants, leisure spaces, and one-stop shopping. 177 247
• Its popularity damages the business of older grocery stores and department stores, while drawing heavy ferry traffic from the Urban Area. 177 199
• The plaza’s service standards become a public selling point after Fang Bai disciplines a tenant store for mistreating a customer. 248

Lanhuayu'an Villa District

Lanhuayu'an is a high-end villa district in Oubei, positioned as Wen City’s premier residential enclave.

• The district faces the Oujiang River, is enclosed on three sides by an artificial lake, and borders an 18-hole golf course. 210 239
• It forms part of more than 2,000 mu allocated to the villa district and golf course. 239
• Subscription sales open on New Year’s Day 1994, with villas priced from 10.68 million yuan. 239
• The development emphasizes privacy, security, three-meter-plus interior heights, and long-term “ancestral home” quality. 239
• Fang Bai’s family estate occupies 20 mu within the district and contains a New Chinese-style villa and a modern minimalist villa. 248

Infrastructure

Xinghai Bridge

Xinghai Bridge is a privately funded Xinghai Group project linking Oubei and the Urban Area.

Feature	Details
Length	Approximately 1.2 kilometers 261
Structure	Two levels: pedestrian traffic below and vehicle traffic above 261
Road Capacity	Four lanes total, with two lanes in each direction 261
Opening	Early October 261
Impact	Replaces the inconvenience of cross-river ferry dependence and improves travel between Oubei and the Urban Area. 261

The bridge is publicly regarded as a charitable contribution to the city, although Xinghai Group also benefits from the substantial appreciation of its surrounding land. 247

Public Safety

Wen City’s business environment improves over time, but robbery and gang activity remain concerns during the early years of Fang Bai’s rise. 71

• The area around Shenhai Road is identified as particularly active for gangsters. 71
• Fang Bai equips stall guards with helmets, custom stab-proof vests, shields, and steel forks to deter local thugs. 71
• Security in Oubei improves after Xinghai Plaza’s development; troublemakers at the mall are quickly subdued by security and handed to police. 247
• A later violent incident involving Fang Bai’s family exposes slow police response times and prompts city leadership to demand stronger city-wide security measures. 214

Reputation

• Wen City is widely associated with entrepreneurial skill, private enterprise, and a strong commercial atmosphere. 49 69 257
• Visitors from other cities view Xinghai Plaza and Xinghai Group’s projects as models worth studying rather than merely local developments. 85 257
• Xinghai Plaza is credited with placing Wen City at the forefront of national commercial development. 199
• By the opening of Xinghai Plaza Phase Two, residents increasingly view Oubei as Wen City’s future commercial center. 239 247