SHANGHAI (SCMP): A court in eastern China ruled that a woman must pay her upstairs neighbour 19,600 yuan (US$2,750) after she took drastic measures to retaliate against what she perceived as his noisy lifestyle.
The man who owns the upstairs flat, surnamed Zhang, filed a lawsuit after the woman attempted to restrict him from performing basic night-time activities, including using the toilet, due to her heightened sensitivity to noise.
The woman, surnamed Wang, lived on the first floor of a residential block in Zhejiang province, and she is accused of making loud noises in revenge for her neighbour’s perceived sound violations.
As reported by Jiupai News, the upstairs neighbour took significant steps to accommodate Wang’s growing concerns about noise, including wearing soft slippers indoors and carpeting the floors after she began to express her dissatisfaction in January 2022 regarding his perceived “loud” activities.
Despite his efforts, Wang’s sensitivity to the sounds coming from his flat only intensified, prompting her to voice complaints over even the most minor noises, such as brushing his teeth, bathing, or accidentally dropping bottle caps.
Additionally, she requested that he refrain from using the toilet after 10pm.
In the lawsuit, the man said that when he would violate the noise rules with mundane activities such as daily chores, Wang would knock on the ceiling of her unit with a stick or make other loud noises with a speaker.
The man reported Wang to the police on multiple occasions, and the officers’ mediation efforts proved fruitless. The police issued Wang a warning and confiscated her speaker and stick, but that did not stop her from making her noises.
Fed up with the situation, the man moved out of the flat in July and began renting a different flat in the same block. He tried to lease his property to renters, but both attempts failed because the new residents could not handle Wang’s harassment.
The man took Wang to court earlier this year, claiming that she owed him 33,000 yuan (US$4,600) to cover the expenses he incurred during his move, as well as to compensate for the mental distress he experienced.
The woman said her noise retaliation was caused by the sounds the man had made in the beginning. She said it was his choice to move out and rent another flat, and she was not supposed to pay that fee.
A lower court sided with the man, saying his noises were reasonable while the woman’s revenge was “extreme” and inappropriate. The court ordered the woman to compensate the man 17,600 yuan for the expenses and another 2,000 yuan for mental distress. The woman lost her appeal against the verdict.
The news of the court ruling sparked a strong reaction on mainland social media, with the story being viewed over 50 million times on Weibo and causing a significant backlash against the woman.
The court ruling generated considerable buzz on mainland social media, amassing over 50 million views on Weibo. The story sparked significant backlash against the woman.
“If you are this sensitive to sound, you’d better buy a villa to live in,” said one netizen.
Another person wrote: “When you react to the man with such loud noises, are you not sensitive to the sound you are creating?” - South China Morning Post
