Dwelling Narrowness (Wo Ju), a popular domestic TV opera which depicts the lives of modern-day young people under the pressure of rocketing housing prices.

2009年，一部由長篇小說改編的同名電視劇《蝸居》（Dwelling Narrowness）橫掃電視熒屏，成了大家街談巷議的焦點。高房價（high housing prices）的壓力，做房奴（mortgage slave）的辛酸，許多普通百姓都有類似的經歷。

國務院總理溫家寶2月27日下午接受中國政府網、新華網聯合專訪，與廣大網頁在線交流時，也直言：“群眾的心情我非常理解。我也知道所謂‘蝸居’的滋味，因為我從小學到離開家的時候，全家五口人只有9平方米的住房……”

“蝸居”的含義是像蝸牛殼一樣小的地方。但在英語中，“蝸牛”（snail）一詞只有“緩慢”的比喻意義，而無“小”的內涵意義，故不可直接將“蝸居”譯為“snail's shelter”。在英語中，人們通常把小得可憐的房間叫做“pigeonhole”，其詞義正與“蝸居”相同，故可將“蝸居”一詞直接譯為“pigeonhole”。在日常表達中，也可以說“dwelling in a narrow space”。

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Internet users from home and abroad reacted enthusiastically and as of 2:59 p.m. they have raised nearly 40,000 questions. The following are some of them:

-- Have you ever watched the TV opera Dwelling Narrowness? (The popular domestic TV opera depicts the lives of modern-day young people under the pressure of rocketing housing prices.)

—— Excerpt from Online questions for Chinese Premier Wen ??

In the first eleven months of 2009, China's average home prices reached 4600 yuan (about 673.5 U.S.dollars) per square meter, up 27.8 percent from the same period in 2008.

"With such crazy conditions, owning a house can change your life. You can lose the one you love, or win her over but only to become a mortgage slave," said Zhou Jiantao, a white-collar worker in Shanghai.

Searching for a new flat for himself and his fiancee for more than a half year, he has become dismayed by the skyrocketing home prices in the city.

A popular TV drama called "Dwelling Narrowness" has gained much popularity in China, depicting modern-day young people struggling with the problem of high housing prices.

Even Premier Wen Jiabao mentioned the show during his an online chat with netizens Saturday.

Wen said he connected with the characters in "Dwelling Narrowness" as his five-member family once lived in a nine square meters room for quite a long time when he was a child.

—— Excerpt from Booming real estate sector puts China at crossroads in 2010

A popular TV series that focuses on rising property prices has been controversially taken off air.

Beijing Television stopped broadcasting Dwelling Narrowness (Wo Ju) from Nov 22, though other TV stations, such as Dragon TV based in Shanghai did not.

…

Several years ago, mainland Internet users adopted the term "mortgage slave" to describe young couples who are forced to spend most of their income on paying off their hefty mortgage. Now, within a short time, most young people in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou cannot even afford to become mortgage slaves.

—— Excerpt from Plug pulled on popular TV show