Fed up with the constant noise made by his upstairs neighbors, a man in China got his revenge by giving them a taste of their own medicine. He bought a device known as a “building shaker” online and left it on for a whole weekend.
楼上邻居噪音不断，中国一男子忍无可忍，决定以其人之道还治其人之身。他在网上购买了一台机器，俗称“震楼神器”，开机运行了一整个周末。
A resident of Xi’an, China’s Shaanxi province, the man – known only by his surname, Zhao – had complained that his upstairs neighbors’ son was making too much noise jumping around, and robbing him of his much needed rest and relaxation. He first tried reasoning with the family, politely asking them to keep the noise down at certain hours, but his requests fell on deaf ears and the constant banging continued.
这位先生，我们只知其姓赵，现居西安（陕西省会），他之前就抱怨过楼上邻居家的儿子一直跳来跳去，噪音很大，连最基本的休息时间都被剥夺了。一开始，赵先生试着去和这家人讲道理，希望他们在某些时间段内可以安静下来，但好像他的这些请求是对牛弹琴，无济于事。
After the diplomatic approach failed, Zhao decided that it was time for some serious payback. He went online and paid 400 yuan for a device known as a building shaker. Yes, you can actually buy such a thing legally in China, and a simple search on online retail giant Taobao reveals dozens of different models and brands priced as low as 76 yuan. They are designed to produce strong vibrations, with the stronger versions claiming to reproduce the same effect as someone drilling into the floor. Upstairs neighbors have to shout to hear each other over the loud noise, so sleeping is out of the question, and the constant vibration is annoying as well. Most models even come with timers or connect to your smartphone so you can turn them on while you are away.
好言相劝失败以后，赵先生决定反击。他在网上花400元买了一台机器，通称震楼电动机。你没看错，在中国购买这种东西是合法的，只需在淘宝（网络零售平台）上简单一搜，就会出现各种各样、不同型号、不同品牌的震楼电动机，价格最低仅需76元。它们经专门设计，可以产生强震，据说最强机型产生的震感和钻地板的感觉一样。楼上的住户必须要大声喊话，才能盖住噪声让对方听到自己，所以睡觉是根本不可能了，除此之外，机器本身的震动也让人厌烦至极。大多数的型号甚至还有计时器，有的还可以连接手机，这样一来，你出门在外也能启动这些机器。
And that’s exactly what Zhao did. He turned on the building shaker at 8 pm, on Friday, just before leaving his apartment for the weekend. For two days straight, his noisy upstairs neighbors had to put up with the drill-like sound and vibration caused by the motorized device, and they were powerless to stop it. They tried calling the property management and the police to complain about the situation, but since the owner of the apartment where the noise was coming from wasn’t at home, all they could do was wait until he got back.
赵先生正是这么做的。周五晚上8点，就在他要离开家门过周末的时候，启动了震楼电动机。电动机震了整整两天，楼上的邻居不得不忍受它发出的电钻般的噪音和震动，而且没办法停掉机器。他们试着给物业和警方打电话抱怨这件事，但是所有人能做的只有等待，因为噪音的来源，也就是楼下公寓的业主不在家。
Police were waiting for Zhao when he returned home on Sunday afternoon, and asked him to turn off the infernal building shaker, but it’s unclear if he was fined for his revenge scheme. TOMO News reports that Zhao and his neighbors agreed to never bother each other again.
周日下午，赵先生回家的时候，警方正好在等着他，要求他关掉吵闹的电动机，但是赵先生为此是否要接受罚款的处罚，尚未可知。据新闻网站TOMO报道，赵先生和他的邻居双方达成一致，同意再也不会互相烦扰。
Believe it or not, building shakers are marketed as the perfect way of getting back at noisy neighbors and making their life a living hell. Apparently, they are designed to keep the noise in the user’s apartment to the level of an air conditioning unit, while wreaking havoc upstairs.
信不信由你，震楼电动机被标榜是反击恶邻居，让他们生不如死的完美途径。显然，这些电动机经专门设计，在用户家中的音量和空调一样大，但是对于楼上邻居而言，却是一场浩劫。