Liangzhu Shuqi Bay

Liangzhu is one of those places that recalibrates your sense of history. The Liangzhu Archaeological Site — a 5,000-year-old city that predates Stonehenge and the Egyptian Old Kingdom — sits five minutes by bicycle from the base. The UNESCO designation came in 2019, and the surrounding new town has been developed with an unusual degree of care.

The newest base in the list

Shuqi Bay opened in 2023 and benefits from everything the earlier wave of co-living spaces learned. The phone booths actually isolate sound. The standing desks are height-adjustable. The communal kitchen was designed by someone who cooks. The WiFi has redundant failover. These details accumulate.

The UNESCO adjacency

Living beside a 5,000-year-old city creates an odd but pleasant effect on productivity: the perspective it provides makes most work problems feel manageable. The Liangzhu Museum (designed by David Chipperfield) is a 10-minute cycle and is genuinely one of the best archaeology museums in China.

Hangzhou access

The base runs a shuttle to Hangzhou’s metro system (Liangzhu station, Line 5 and future Line 3 extension) every 30 minutes during commute hours. Door-to-door to Hangzhou East Station is 40 minutes. Door-to-door to Hangzhou’s Xixi coworking district is 35 minutes.

Community stage

Because the base is new, the community is still forming. This can be a feature: early residents have more influence over the culture than they would at an established base with fixed norms. The current team is actively recruiting writers, researchers, and founders who want to co-create what Shuqi Bay becomes.

Who it’s for

Nomads who want to be near Hangzhou’s ecosystem without paying Hangzhou city prices. Researchers with any interest in Chinese history or archaeology. Remote workers who’ve done rural bases before and want something culturally richer than just bamboo and fiber.