‘People came here dreaming of riches’: Inside the Nanning condo said to be part of a pyramid scheme

A four-bedroom unit at Skyfame Byland in Nanning, China. The unit is not known to be linked to the alleged pyramid schemes involving Singaporeans.

PHOTO: PEI EN RENTAL DIARY/XIAOHONGSHU

Published Sep 09, 2026, 02:00 PM

Updated Sep 10, 2026, 05:47 AM

NANNING – The door was shut, the curtains were drawn and everyone was told to put their phones away.

Charles (not his real name), a Singaporean in his 30s, was taken to the high-rise apartment one morning in 2024 by a friend for a “briefing” on how he could get rich.

The four-bedroom unit was in Skyfame Byland, a sprawling 22-block waterfront condominium in Nanning, the capital of southern China’s Guangxi region. Some blocks rise as high as 64 storeys, making the estate a prominent feature of the city’s skyline .

“The first thing that struck me was how spacious it was, and how lucky the Singaporean who owned this unit must be. I was envious,” he told The Straits Times.

Had the curtains been drawn open, he might have been able to see panoramic views of a horseshoe bend in the Yong River, its silt-yellow waters snaking through the city. He described the apartment as comfortably furnished with a homely vibe, without the oversized chandeliers and gilded flourishes associated with ostentatious living.

A view of Skyfame Byland, the Nanning condominium where some Singaporeans were given briefings of suspected pyramid schemes, overlooking Yong River. ST PHOTO: YEW LUN TIAN

A view of Skyfame Byland, the Nanning condominium where some Singaporeans were given briefings of suspected pyramid schemes, overlooking Yong River.

ST PHOTO: YEW LUN TIAN

More than 10 participants, mostly Singaporeans, piled into the living room, listening as promoters talked up Nanning’s prospects during the morning session. Their “hosts” – one for each participant – kept close watch from the adjoining dining area.

All the promoters seemed to be Singaporean, Charles recalled. They looked respectable and spoke fluent English. One silver-haired man introduced himself as a doctor.

After lunch, the group was taken to another unit in the condominium, where the afternoon session revealed how the scheme worked: Pay a subscription fee to join, recruit others and be promised a handsome return.

“I realised they were not investing in anything real. Whatever returns they promised were merely coming from later joiners,” Charles said, describing what is essentially pyramid selling, banned in China since 1998 .

“I could tell by looking at the faces of other participants that some were confused, and others like me didn’t buy the story. But even so, bizarrely, nobody stood up and left.”

“I think it’s because there were more of them than us in the apartment. Our hosts hovered around us all the time. I felt slightly threatened,” he said.

Charles said being abroad heightened his sense of vulnerability. He felt caught in a legal no man’s land.

“We are not in Singapore. I don’t know where we can get help.

“I assume Singapore police can’t reach into China to save us, and Chinese police can’t catch the perpetrators once they go back to Singapore.”

Charles had been taken to the briefing by a long-lost friend – a primary school classmate he had not seen since they were 12. He and the others were allowed to leave after the full-day briefing ended in the evening.

After he left, Charles texted his classmate to say he was not interested. He never heard from him again.

“It’s sad that instead of looking out for each other overseas, we have to guard against our fellow Singaporeans,” Charles said.

Had Charles not walked away, he might have ended up poorer, not richer.

People who spoke to ST said they knew of others who had sunk tens of thousands of dollars, or even hundreds of thousands, into similar schemes and struggled to claw their money back.

On Sept 4, the Singapore authorities revealed that 52 Singaporeans had been arrested in Guangxi by local police over their suspected involvement in pyramid schemes.

Investigations are ongoing. Several Singaporeans previously interviewed by ST said they were taken to condominiums such as Skyfame Byland to attend recruitment sessions.

Launched in 2015, Skyfame Byland is part of the much larger Skyfame ASEAN Maker Town, a mixed-use development that was earmarked as a base for business, technological innovation and trade cooperation serving South-east Asian nations, but never fully took off. It is 15km from the city centre.

Known as China’s gateway to ASEAN, Nanning has been hosting the China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO), a trade fair, annually since 2004. Singapore’s ministers-of-state have attended the opening in previous years. The 2026 edition will take place on Sept 17.

When ST visited the condominium complex on Sept 6, birds chirped in the trees in front of the blocks, while children cycled and played badminton in the open spaces below.

“I’ve seen many Singaporeans come and go in my block. They move around in groups and don’t seem to be living here permanently,” a woman surnamed Zhou told ST as she played with her two-year-old daughter at a pavilion in the condominium’s courtyard.

“Lately, I don’t see them any more.”

Despite several blocks enjoying river views, the condominium remains mid-range. It is high-density – more than 4,000 units across 22 towering blocks – with basic facilities.

There is no clubhouse or indoor gym, only a scattering of small playgrounds, a running track and a half-size outdoor pool that charges per use and closes during winter.

A high-floor, four-bedroom unit with a river view fetches less than 1.4 million yuan (S$264,000) on the resale markets, just a tenth of a similar home in bustling Shenzhen in the neighbouring Guangdong province.

Skyfame Byland is a sprawling 22-block condominium complex in Nanning, China. The tallest block is 64 storeys high. ST PHOTO: YEW LUN TIAN

Skyfame Byland is a sprawling 22-block condominium complex in Nanning, China. The tallest block is 64 storeys high.

A stone’s throw away is a Singaporean-run eatery selling not just Singapore food , but also the Nanning dream, apparently .

Joy (not her real name), who had been living in Nanning for several years, was craving a taste of home. In February, when she spotted a new Singapore food stand on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, she made a beeline for it.

The Singaporean couple running the stand seemed friendly and chatty when she ordered Hokkien mee and char kway teow. Then they tried to press her to learn more about the “exciting investment opportunities” they had discovered, Joy told ST.

But the Nanning they described – a city brimming with opportunity and poised for growth – did not square with the one Joy had come to know.

“Frankly, there just isn’t much happening here,” she said.

Alarm bells went off. She left and never went back. “The food was too oily and salty anyway,” she said.

When ST visited the stall, there was only one middle-aged man running it. He spoke few words. He served us food and beer, then left us alone.

The layout of Skyfame Byland. ST PHOTO: YEW LUN TIAN

The layout of Skyfame Byland.

Back at Skyfame Byland, Zhao Yingzhe, the condominium’s cleaning services manager, was surprised to hear that Singaporeans may have been engaging in pyramid selling in the compound, right under his nose.

“I thought chuanxiao had been wiped out already,” he told ST, using the Chinese term for pyramid or multi-level marketing schemes.

Nanning was a hotbed of pyramid schemes, including the notorious “1040 Sunshine Project”, from the late 2000s to the mid-2010s.

Operators exploited the development of the Beibu Gulf Economic Zone, a trade and transport hub linking China with ASEAN, to sell recruits the promise of riches from an impending boom.

After Chinese police stepped up enforcement from 2016, raiding dens and targeting organisers and ringleaders, pyramid selling activities became far less visible.

But traces of that era remain.

Zhao said one of the cleaning services’ employees was a former university teacher who came to Nanning, lost his money in a pyramid scheme and, too ashamed to go home, now works as a sweeper at the condominium complex.

Years later, Zhao could see that the man – a Chinese national – was still trying to recoup his losses by promoting a “miracle pill” on social media that he claims can cure all ailments.

“Nanning is a city of chuanxiao refugees,” Zhao said. “People came here dreaming of riches, only to lose everything and end up stuck here.”

Additional reporting by Michelle Ng

Yew Lun Tian is an Assistant Foreign Editor at The Straits Times.

位于中国南宁Skyfame Byland的一套四居室公寓。目前尚不清楚该公寓是否与涉及新加坡人的传销骗局有关。

图片来源：裴恩租赁日记/小红书

发布于 2026 年 9 月 9 日下午 2:00

更新于2026年9月10日 上午5:47

保姆——门关上了，窗帘拉上了，每个人都被告知把手机收起来。

查尔斯（化名），一位30多岁的新加坡人，在2024年的一天早上，被朋友带到一栋高层公寓，听朋友“简报”如何致富。

这套四居室公寓位于广西壮族自治区首府南宁市的滨水豪宅“天梦之境”（Skyfame Byland），该项目由22栋楼组成，规模庞大。部分楼栋高达64层，使该住宅区成为南宁市天际线上的一个显著特征。

“我首先注意到的是这套房子非常宽敞，拥有这套房子的新加坡人真是太幸运了。我非常羡慕，”他告诉《海峡时报》。

如果窗帘拉开，他或许能看到永江马蹄形河湾的全景，泛着淡黄色的河水蜿蜒流淌在城市中。他形容这间公寓布置舒适温馨，没有那种奢华生活常见的夸张吊灯和镀金装饰。

这是位于南宁的Skyfame Byland公寓的景色，一些新加坡人曾在这里接受关于疑似传销骗局的简报，公寓俯瞰着永河。（海峡时报摄影：田耀伦）

从这里可以看到位于南宁的 Skyfame Byland 公寓，一些新加坡人曾在这里接受关于疑似传销骗局的简报，公寓俯瞰着永河。

照片：田耀伦

十多位参与者，大多是新加坡人，挤在客厅里，听着推广人员在上午的会议上吹嘘南宁的发展前景。他们的“接待人”（每位参与者一位）则在隔壁的餐厅密切关注着这一切。

查尔斯回忆说，所有主办方似乎都是新加坡人。他们看起来都很体面，英语也很流利。一位银发男子自我介绍说是位医生。

午餐后，一行人被带到公寓的另一间房间，下午的会议揭示了该计划的运作方式：缴纳会员费加入，招募其他人，并承诺获得丰厚的回报。

“我意识到他们根本没有投资任何实际的东西。他们承诺的任何回报都只是来自后来加入的人，”查尔斯说道，他所描述的本质上就是传销，这种销售方式自 1998 年以来在中国已被禁止。

“从其他参与者的表情来看，我可以看出有些人很困惑，而另一些人，像我一样，根本不相信这个故事。但即便如此，奇怪的是，竟然没有人站起来离开。”

“我觉得是因为公寓里他们的人比我们多。我们的房东一直围着我们转，让我感觉有点受到威胁，”他说。

查尔斯说，身处国外加剧了他的脆弱感。他感觉自己被困在了法律的无人区。

“我们不在新加坡。我不知道我们能在哪里获得帮助。”

“我估计新加坡警方无法进入中国营救我们，而中国警方也无法在罪犯返回新加坡后将其抓获。”

查尔斯是由一位失散多年的朋友——一位他自 12 岁起就没见过的小学同学——陪同他参加简报会的。他和其他人被允许在当天晚上结束的全天简报会后离开。

他走后，查尔斯给同学发短信说自己没兴趣。之后就再也没收到他的消息。

“令人悲哀的是，我们本应在海外互相照应，现在却不得不提防自己的新加坡同胞，”查尔斯说。

如果查尔斯没有离开，他最终可能会变得更穷，而不是更富有。

接受《海峡时报》采访的人表示，他们认识其他人，他们向类似的骗局投入了数万甚至数十万美元，并且很难追回损失的资金。

9月4日，新加坡当局透露，52名新加坡人在广西被当地警方逮捕，他们涉嫌参与传销活动。

调查仍在进行中。此前接受《海峡时报》采访的多名新加坡人表示，他们曾被带到诸如Skyfame Byland之类的公寓参加招聘会。

Skyfame Byland于2015年启动，是规模更大的Skyfame ASEAN Maker Town的一部分。Skyfame ASEAN Maker Town是一个综合用途开发项目，旨在成为服务于东南亚国家的商业、技术创新和贸易合作基地，但从未完全实现。它距离市中心15公里。

南宁素有“中国通往东盟门户”之称，自2004年起每年举办中国—东盟博览会（CAEXPO）。新加坡多位部长曾出席往届博览会开幕式。2026年博览会将于9月17日举行。

9月6日，《海峡时报》记者走访了这处公寓小区，只见楼前的树上鸟儿鸣叫，楼下的空地上孩子们骑自行车、打羽毛球。

“我看到我们这栋楼里有很多新加坡人来来往往。他们成群结队地来来往往，似乎并不打算长期居住在这里。”一位姓周的女士一边在公寓庭院的凉亭里和她两岁的女儿玩耍，一边告诉《海峡时报》。

“最近，我都没再见到他们了。”

尽管部分楼栋享有河景，但该公寓仍属于中档水平。它属于高密度住宅区——22栋高耸的楼宇，超过4000套单元——配套设施基本完善。

这里没有俱乐部会所或室内健身房，只有零星分布的小型游乐场、一条跑道和一个半尺寸的室外游泳池，该游泳池按次收费，冬季关闭。

一套位于高层、拥有四间卧室且可欣赏河景的公寓在二手房市场上的售价不到 140 万元人民币（约合 26.4 万新元），仅为邻近广东省繁华都市深圳类似住宅价格的十分之一。

天景苑（Skyfame Byland）是位于中国南宁的一个大型公寓综合体，由22栋楼组成，最高楼栋达64层。（海峡时报图片：田耀伦）

天梦之城（Skyfame Byland）是位于中国南宁的一个大型公寓综合体，由22栋楼组成。最高的楼栋有64层。

不远处有一家新加坡人经营的餐馆，不仅出售新加坡美食，而且显然还出售南宁之梦。

在南宁生活多年的Joy（化名）一直很想念家乡的味道。二月份，她在抖音（中国版TikTok）上发现了一家新开的新加坡美食摊，便立刻前往品尝。

据《海峡时报》报道，乔伊告诉《海峡时报》，摊位上的新加坡夫妇在她点福建面和炒粿条时显得友好健谈，然后他们试图说服她了解更多关于他们发现的“令人兴奋的投资机会”。

但他们所描述的南宁——一个充满机遇、蓄势待发的城市——与乔伊所认识的南宁并不相符。

“坦白说，这里没什么大事发生，”她说。

她警觉起来，离开了，再也没回去过。“反正食物太油腻太咸了，”她说。

ST去摊位的时候，只有一个中年男人在经营。他话不多，给我们上了食物和啤酒，然后就离开了。

天空之梦湾的布局。照片由田耀伦拍摄。

Skyfame Byland 的布局。

回到 Skyfame Byland，公寓的清洁服务经理赵英哲惊讶地得知，新加坡人可能就在他眼皮底下在小区里从事传销活动。

“我以为传销已经被消灭了，”他告诉《海峡时报》，他用中文称传销为金字塔式或多层次营销骗局。

从 2000 年代末到 2010 年代中期，南宁是传销的温床，其中包括臭名昭著的“1040 阳光项目”。

一些不法分子利用北部湾经济区（连接中国与东盟的贸易和运输枢纽）的发展，向新兵兜售即将到来的经济繁荣带来的财富承诺。

自 2016 年中国警方加大执法力度，突袭窝点并打击组织者和头目后，传销活动变得不那么显眼了。

但那个时代的痕迹仍然存在。

赵先生说，这家清洁公司的员工中有一位以前是大学老师，他来到南宁，在一次传销骗局中赔光了钱，因为羞于回家，现在在这个公寓楼里当清洁工。

多年后，赵发现这名男子——一名中国公民——仍在试图通过在社交媒体上推广一种“神奇药丸”来挽回损失，他声称这种药丸可以治愈所有疾病。

赵说：“南宁是一座川萧难民之城。人们怀揣着发财致富的梦想来到这里，结果却一无所有，最终困在了这里。”

Michelle Ng 的补充报道

田耀伦是《海峡时报》的助理外事编辑。