Chengdu Couple Sues Luxury Apartment After Window Cleaners Spy on Nude Wife, Igniting Privacy Outcry.
In Chengdu’s rapidly expanding high‑rise district, a quiet dispute over privacy has erupted into a public controversy that has drawn the attention of netizens, legal experts and the city’s property management firms. The incident centers on a couple who rent a unit in the Jiaozihui International Apartment – a Vanke‑operated development that commands a monthly rent of roughly 10,000 yuan (about $1,400). On the morning of 25 April 2023, the husband, identified only as Mr Cheng, discovered that his wife had been seen naked while she slept, a violation that has since been linked to a diagnosis of depression and anxiety.
23 August 2025
According to the couple’s account, the woman was lying on a bed positioned directly beneath a floor‑to‑ceiling glass window. The apartment’s curtains were drawn up, and the lights were on, when two male exterior‑wall cleaning workers began their routine high‑rise maintenance at approximately 10:30 a.m. The workers, who were not notified in advance that the unit’s occupants might be vulnerable, looked out from the building’s façade and observed the woman in the nude. Startled awake, the wife reportedly shouted, and her husband hurriedly pulled the curtains shut.
The couple says they had previously asked the management to give prior notice for any window‑cleaning work, a request that had been confirmed twice by staff. In addition, they cited a prior incident on 23 September 2022 when housekeepers entered their flat without permission despite clear instructions to the contrary. After the May 2023 exposure, the wife sought medical help and was diagnosed with depression and anxiety, a development her husband says has made daily life unbearable.
In the weeks that followed, Mr Cheng raised the issue in the building’s resident communication group, demanding an apology and compensation for the psychological harm caused. Management initially denied having sent any notice, later conceding that no notification had been issued. Their only offer was a 600‑yuan (about $85) monthly discount if the couple renewed the lease – a gesture Mr Cheng deemed insufficient given the severity of the breach. For almost four months, the pair pursued a resolution without success, until they decided to take the story public as their contract neared its end.
The couple’s online post on 21 August 2023 quickly gained traction, prompting a report by the local outlet Dahe Daily the next day. The coverage detailed the sequence of events, the broken promises by the apartment management, and the medical diagnosis that the wife received. The story resonated on Weibo, where users expressed a mix of empathy, criticism and debate about responsibility.
A sizable portion of commenters placed the blame squarely on the apartment management, arguing that the failure to provide advance notice constituted a breach of contract and a violation of the tenants’ right to privacy. “The management promised to tell us before any cleaning, yet they didn’t,” one user wrote. Others, however, turned a harsher eye on the wife, suggesting that sleeping nude with uncovered curtains was itself negligent. “Adults should foresee the consequences of sleeping naked without pulling the curtains,” read a typical remark, reflecting a sentiment that the victim shares some culpability.
The window cleaners themselves garnered a degree of sympathy. Several users argued that the workers were merely carrying out their duties at altitude and could not have anticipated the presence of a nude occupant. “Here, only the workers are innocent,” one comment stated, underscoring a perception that the real fault lies with the property’s administrative oversight.
Legal experts entered the debate on 23 August, with lawyer Liu Yukun—who specializes in civil and intellectual‑property law—providing a concise interpretation. Liu cited Article 1033 of China’s Civil Code, which protects individuals from unlawful intrusion, photographing or “peeping” into private spaces, including private parts. He argued that while the cleaners’ act of looking through the window may technically be “peeping,” the apartment management bears primary liability for creating the conditions that allowed the invasion: they failed to honor their contractual obligation to give notice and to safeguard tenant privacy. Consequently, Liu advised the couple to seek compensation through negotiation or legal channels, noting that both the management and the workers could be held accountable for the privacy breach.
As of the end of August, the dispute remains unresolved. The management has reiterated that negotiations are ongoing, but no formal apology or monetary settlement beyond the modest rent discount has been offered. Mr Cheng continues to demand a “reasonable compensation” commensurate with the psychological impact on his wife and an official acknowledgment of the management’s negligence.
The incident highlights the growing pains of high‑density urban living in China, where glass façades and towering structures often blur the line between public and private space. It also raises questions about the standards of tenant protection in luxury rentals, the responsibilities of property managers to communicate maintenance schedules, and the psychological toll that privacy violations can exact. As the story circulates online, it may prompt other residents to scrutinize their own lease agreements and demand clearer safeguards—an outcome that, for the Chengdu couple, is a small consolation amidst a troubling experience.
