Zhang Bining, 59, a retired accountant from Chongqing, Southwest China

Last month, I finally moved out of my noisy old apartment and moved to a suburb. I can't believe I lived there for almost a decade. The old place was convenient: It was close to my work and the rail station and surrounded by shopping malls and grocery stores. But it was also located on the busiest street in the city.

After retiring a couple of years ago, I stayed at home most of time and started to feel, as some people would say, "the pulse of the city" - for me it was endless auditory and mental torment.

Every time a train passed, its horn sounded. Although it only lasted a few seconds, it felt like much longer than that and I could feel the windows shaking.

My neighbors' dogs barked all day along. Once one started to growl, the dogs in the other apartments would bark back and made a harsh chorus, which could last for hours. At one point, I was even woken at 4 am by a rooster crowing. Fortunately that only lasted a few days. Maybe the owner cooked the bird for dinner. I hope so!

For years, I have had trouble sleeping. Even the dripping of a leaky faucet would keep me awake. And it was hard for me to take a nap during daytime because of my neighbors' noisy pets.

One of my neighbors leased his apartment to a private company as offices, so there were always people in the hallway.

The rhythmic click-clack of women's heels wasn't the worst thing, although that was bad enough. People's ring tones bothered me the most. They were so loud that I couldn't help thinking their volume should be regulated. They would always come from nowhere and freak me out. Sometimes the phones just rang and rang but nobody ever answered them.

Zhang Bining spoke to Peng Yining.