A recent survey on property prices in major Chinese cities' shows the government's curbing measures are taking effect. But when you look at the suburban areas surrounding those cities, it's quite a different picture. Property prices in the so-called "satellite cities" are increasing at a surprisingly rapid pace.

It's the weekend. At a property lot close to Zhuozhou, a city in Hebei province, many hopeful house-hunters have gathered to look at flats. There are so many interested buyers, the sales representatives are too busy to speak with us.

Sales representative said "I am so sorry, can you please wait for a while, we have too many people today. I will get back to you right after I finish here."

The reason behind this boom can be traced back to Beijing's sky-high real estate prices, and strict property measures. The demand is on for urban properties, and prospective buyers pushed out of major Chinese cities have turned their hopes to smaller satellite cities, like Zhuozhou.

And there's another attraction - Hebei province has big ideas, to attract more Beijing residents to these cities. It's planning to integrate 13 smaller cities into 3 larger ones. To sweeten the deal, it's pumping investment into improving infrastructure between the satellite cities and Beijing. It's a popular selling point for property developers.

Sales representative said "This is the newspaper, it says we're going to use 010 as our area code. We're going to integrate with Beijing, and we'll become part of Beijing."

It's a 55 kilometer commute between Zhuozhou and Beijing. But property developers are banking on home buyers' willingness to take that trip. And it seems to be a sensible investment - prices are surging, and already out of the reach of local residents.

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