Beijing property blues

The old saying goes: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Well, shame on me. Because I've fallen into the tar pit known as the Beijing property market not once but twice. First in 1996, and again in 2003. If you have considered a property purchase in China in general and Beijing in particular, you might find these little stories interesting. The names have been changed to protect the innocent (although I cannot think of just who that is at the moment ... we are all guilty. Me of serial naivety, others of slightly more serious offences ranging from gross incompetence to corruption and fraud).