Parents in Beijing desperate to get their kids in the right school district are buying several square meters of property for millions of yuan, reported the Beijing Morning Post. 

Known as 'hallway apartments,' the spaces are merely the corridors that give access to other courtyard apartments deep in Beijing's hutongs, Beijing Morning Post found. 

A hallway of 1.5 x 7 meters located in Daerduo Hutong is priced for 1.5 million yuan ($227,700), a local real estate website advertised.

The hallway, cramped with the bikes of neighboring residents, promises parents a local address and access to coveted school districts. 

"The hallway area appears as 'residential' on housing documents ... So it can still be registered for school enrollment, guaranteed," a local real agent said.

However, some real estate insiders warned against such purchases. "Police will check the place, and if they find it's non-residential, you cannot register with it," said the insider.

Beijing Morning Post