Illustration: Peter C. Espina/GT

Chinese writer Mo Yan has chosen to spend nearly half of the 8 million Swedish crowns ($1.2 million) he received for the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature on an apartment in Beijing. Costing a pretty 3.6 million yuan ($586,634), his new 200-square meter suburban flat located outside of the fifth ring road, encircling the city about 10 kilometers away from the city center, has in actuality cost him the dedication of a lifetime. With only one Mo Yan out of billions of people in China receiving the Nobel Prize over the years, what does that mean for ordinary Chinese people born outside Beijing who want a home of their own in the city?