By Hong Soon-do, Beijing correspondent, AsiaToday - Dr. Tu Youyou, the first ever Chinese Nobel Prize winner in medicine, is well-known for her tenacity. She never let herself down despite she failed more than 190 times to discover Artemisinin, which significantly reduced the mortality rates for Malaria patients. Furthermore, she also suffered fatal liver damage from side effects of reagents for laboratory use. We could say that she is a great example of human victory.

Dr. Tu Youyou, the first Chinese Nobel Prize winner in medicine, criticized China's soaring house prices./ Source from search engine Baidu.

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But even the great Nobel laureate held up her hands when it's about China's mad property prices. In an interview with state-run Central Television (CCTV) on Tuesday shortly after the Nobel Prize winner announcement, she was asked what to do with the Nobel Prize money. She replied, "With the Nobel Prize money, I can't even purchase half of an apartment's living room in Beijing," criticizing China's soaring house prices. It was all a joke, but the reality is not so much different.
 
According to real estate experts on Wednesday, average apartment prices in Beijing are about CNY 30,000 (KRW 5.55 million) per sqm. For apartments that are either high-end or located in a popular school district, the price is all up to the seller. Take for example apartment prices in Haidian District, one of the best school district in Beijing. These can go from CNY 100,000 up to CNY 300,000 per sqm. That's a CNY 10-20 million (KRW 1.8 billion-37 billion) price tag for a 100-sqm (approx. 30 pyong) apartment.

An apartment complex in Beijing. Most apartment costs more than one hundred million yuan./ Source from search engine Baidu

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The Nobel prize money that Dr. Tu will get is roughly over 3 million yuan after taxes if the prize money is shared with other two winners. She could purchase a simple 100-sqm apartment in Beijing. But it's definitely impossible to purchase a new luxury apartment located in a popular school district. Dr. Tu's statement of investing the Nobel Prize money into real estate is impossible, is not an exaggeration at all. This is why even Chinese people say that China's house prices are crazy.