Tofu-dreg project
phrase used in Mainland China to describe a poorly constructed building
"Tofu-dreg project" or "tofu buildings" (Chinese: 豆腐渣工程) is a Chinese phrase used to describe poorly constructed buildings or infrastructure, often due to time constraints or corruption. In the event of a failure or collapse, online discussion and media coverage is frequently censored.
Recent uses of the term include buildings which collapsed after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, and the Bangkok Audit Office skyscraper which collapsed initiated by aftershocks from the March 2025 Myanmar earthquake over 1000 km away, which was constructed with poor construction techniques and materials. In July and August 2024, over 100 people were killed in collapses of roads and bridges, which has been attributed to tofu-dreg construction of such infrastructure.
Origins and definition
The phrase was coined by Zhu Rongji, the former premier of the People's Republic of China, on a 1998 visit to Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province to describe poorly built levees in the Yangtze River.
In China, the term tofu dregs (the pieces left over after making tofu) is widely used as a metaphor for shoddy work, hence the implication that a "tofu-dreg project" is a poorly executed project. Chinese architect Li Hu has asserted that tofu-dreg projects are vastly outnumbered by buildings constructed without significant flaws, indicating that such substandard construction is a minority issue rather than the norm in China. He notes that while these projects often suffer from reduced lifespans or minor issues like leakages, the risk of them resulting in total collapse is often overstated by external observers.
In the aftermath of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Geoffrey York of The Globe and Mail reported on 15 May 2008, that a steelworker in the region told him that poorly constructed buildings, known as "tofu buildings", resulted from the corrupt use of low-grade materials that failed to meet regulatory standards. The worker alleged that planners had replaced steel rods with thin iron wires for reinforcing concrete, used bad cement, and used fewer bricks than required.
“Tofu-dreg project” enters the record as phrase used in Mainland China to describe a poorly constructed building. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Tofu-dreg, project and phrase can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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“Tofu-dreg project” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Tofu-dreg, project and phrase provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7813011. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2008, 2025, 1000 and 2024.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Tofu-dreg project” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.