A stubborn grandfather, who refused to sell his home to make way for a highway in China, is now living a house in the middle of had the motorway after it was built him.
Huang Ping’s two-storey home in Jinxi, China, is now surrounded by a construction site and the constant dust by noisy builders is making him regret his decision to turn down the £180,000 (approximately ₹2 crore)Als he was offered.
Huang said that the Chinese government’s money offer now seems reasonable as he fears what living in his property will be like once the expressway opens. “If I could turn back time, I would agree to the demolition conditions they offered. Now it feels like I lost a big bet,” he said.
In a video shared on social media, the two-storey house can be seen surrounded by the massive highway with its roof almost level with two lanes of the motorway.
Take a look at the post here:
Huang, who lives with his 11-year-old grandson, had refused to relocate because he was dissatisfied with the government’s offer. After long negotiations, the authorities gave up and began construction around his house.
{{/usCountry}}Huang, who lives with his 11-year-old grandson, had refused to relocate because he was dissatisfied with the government’s offer. After long negotiations, the authorities gave up and began construction around his house.
{{/usCountry}}The old man's defiance has now made his house a popular attraction that residents flock to and take photos, dubbing Huang the “strong nail house owner” in China. A nail house is a Chinese term for an occupied home whose owners are holding out against property development.
These properties often find themselves surrounded by rubble or with developers building around them. Owners go to remarkable lengths to preserve their homes, even as skyscrapers and shopping malls tower above or roads are designed to cut through them.
In 2017, a well-known "nail house" in Shanghai, which had obstructed traffic on a major road for nearly 14 years, was finally demolished. The residents had rejected all offers to move since 2003, citing inadequate compensation, but ultimately agreed to relocate for £300,000.
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