On an empty street in a remote suburb of Beijing, a huge golden unicorn stands guard over Season Joy City, a half-finished development of a dozen tower blocks set in 50,000 square meters of manicured parkland.

北京一处远郊空荡荡的街道上，一头巨大的金色麒麟守护着珠江四季悦城(Season Joy City)。这是一个尚未完工的楼盘项目，共有十几幢塔楼，占地5万平方米。

About a third of the apartments are sold, but with increasing signs that China's property market is turning sour, the developer behind the project is trying to hurry things along.

大约三分之一的公寓已经售出，但由于越来越多的迹象显示中国房地产市场的情况正在恶化，项目开发商试图加快销售进程。

Season Joy City offers a party bag of bonuses to lure potential buyers. The development's original selling point was 'buy one floor, get one free.' When China Real Time visited last week, helpful sales assistants also offered to throw in kitchen fittings and four air conditioning units for nothing.

为了吸引潜在购房者，珠江四季悦城推出了大力度的优惠措施。这个开发项目原本的卖点是“买一层，送一层”。“中国实时报”栏目记者上周到访这里时，热心的销售人员还提出可以免费赠送厨房设备以及四台空调。

But the biggest draw is a 'zero down payment' scheme, available for a two-and-a-half-week period only. At first sight this seems to go against government regulations, brought in to keep house prices under control, which stipulate a minimum 30% down payment on ordinary residential purchases.

但最吸引人的是在仅仅两周半的时间内推出的“零首付”计划。乍看上去，这似乎违反了政府为控制房价而出台的监管规定。相关规定要求购买普通住宅需要至少支付房屋总价30%的首付款。

Zero down payment schemes have popped up around China as developers go to ever greater lengths to shift apartments, but Season Joy City may have the distinction of being the first to try it in Beijing, said Tang Li, an analyst at North Square Blue Oak, an investment bank.

投资银行蓝橡资本有限公司(North Square Blue Oak)分析师Tang Li说，随着开发商极力销售公寓，零首付计划在中国各地涌现，但珠江四季悦城引人注目的一点是，它是北京首个试行零首付的楼盘。

'They will help homebuyers to apply for this consumer loan that they can use as a down payment,' said Mr. Tang. 'It's very difficult to judge whether this is in line with the regulations or not. So far there's been no punishment from the government.'

Tang称，开发商将帮助购房者申请消费贷款，他们可以用这笔钱作为首付款。这一做法是否符合政策规定很难评判，到目前为止，试行零首付的做法没有受到政府的惩罚。

All this is to avoid cutting prices, which developers could fear could tank public faith in the housing market and ultimately pummel sales further. Instead, they resort to ingenious 'promotions,' throwing in freebies worth thousands of dollars and even whole free rooms rather than slashing prices outright.

推出零首付的做法是为了避免降价。房地产开发商担心，降价可能会打击公众对楼市的信心，最终导致楼盘销售压力进一步加剧。所以开发商们采取独特的促销手段，免费赠送价值数千美元的家居用品、甚至免费赠送房间面积，而不是直接大幅降价。

At Season Joy City, the price remains unchanged at 14,800 yuan per square meter (the second floor isn't included in the calculation.) That means a 90 square meter apartment would clock in at 1.3 million yuan ($208,000).

四季悦城主力户型的售价为人民币14,800元/平方米（买一层得两层，赠送的一层不算在内）。这意味着一套面积90平方米的住房总价约为人民币130万元（约合20.8万美元）。

The developer behind the project, Beijing Pearl River Real Estate Development, says it will help customers arrange a loan from Soufun, real-estate brokerage, to cover at least part of the down payment -- although salespeople said the exact amount and conditions would depend on the buyer's creditworthiness.

四季悦城项目的开发商北京珠江房地产开发有限公司(Beijing Pearl River Real Estate Development)称，公司将安排购房者从搜房网(Soufun)贷款，这笔资金至少可以满足一部分首付款的支付需求。不过楼盘的销售人员称，确切金额和贷款条件将取决于购房者的信用记录。

'It's too large a pressure for our buyers to pay 50% in down payment up front,' said a saleswoman, Li Xiaona. 'We lend them a hand so they can have a sort of a buffer.'

楼盘销售人员李小娜（音）表示，支付50%的首付款对购房者来说压力太大了，所以开发商出手帮助购房者减轻压力。

The zero-down payment promotion has attracted plenty of attention. About 100 buyers signed up in the first two days, Ms. Li said, although the rush soon faded.

四季悦城的零首付促销吸引了许多购房者的注意力。李小娜说，零首付推出的头两天里有大约100位购房者签约，不过这股热潮很快消退。

Only a handful of prospective buyers were at the showroom when China Real Time visited, a striking shift last year, when mobs of eager customers around the country routinely entered lotteries just for the chance to buy similar apartments.

《中国实时报》的记者探访四季悦城的售楼处时，只有为数不多的准买家。这与去年的情况截然不同，当时全国各地急切的购房者要获得购买类似住宅的机会，一般都要参加摇号。

'I'm here for the zero down payment,' said one homebuyer, a 52-year-old businesswoman from nearby Liaoning province. 'Otherwise I wouldn't have come.'

购房者中，一位52岁的辽宁女商人说：我就是冲着零首付来的，否则我不会来。

Many analysts believe that China's largest cities will hold up relatively well in the slowdown sweeping the property market. But developments like Season Joy City, 12 kilometers from downtown Beijing, may still suffer.

许多分析师认为，在整体放缓的房地产市场中，中国最大城市的表现会相对较好。但像四季悦城这样的项目可能依然处于困境。四季悦城距北京市中心有12公里。

'It's very clear that developers are in a hurry to sell,' said Rosealea Yao, a Beijing-based analyst at research firm Gavekal Dragonomics. 'Developers in the suburbs always see the biggest decline in sales and prices [during a downturn].'

研究机构龙洲经讯(Gavekal Dragonomics)驻北京的分析师咬丽蔷(Rosealea Yao)说，很明显，开发商急于出售。她说，在市场低迷时期，郊区楼盘的销售和价格降幅往往是最大的。

In Season Joy City's showroom, a billboard explains why house prices won't fall in China. The property market is a big contributor to the economy, it says, so the government won't allow prices to fall.

在四季悦城的售楼处，有一个告示牌解释中国的房价为什么不会下跌。其内容称，房地产市场是中国经济的一大推动力量，因此政府不会允许房价下跌。

'If the property sector is in deep trouble, it's going to affect a whole lot of industries and that will drag down the entire economy,' said Liu Qinglong, assistant sales manager at the development. 'I think in the future the government will set up a long-term mechanism to ensure steady growth of property market.'

四季悦城的销售副经理刘庆龙说，如果房地产市场深陷困境，会影响到许多产业，进而会拖累整个经济。他说，他认为政府未来将建立一个长期机制，以确保房地产市场稳定增长。

But with buyers standing on the sidelines and some developers starting to sound desperate, the government's ability to support the market may soon be put to the test.

不过，在购房者普遍观望而一些开发商开始孤注一掷的情况下，政府支持楼市的能力可能很快会受到考验。