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Because they want more compensation – Incredible images of China’s remarkable ‘nail houses’

Incredible images of China’s remarkable ‘nail houses’, left standing after owners refuse to let developers demolish them

  • Homes such as these in China are known as ‘nail houses’ because they are difficult to remove, like a stubborn nail
  • One house in Wenling, Zhejiang province, had a main road built around it when the owner refused to move 
  • Another image shows a house sitting alone in a crater at the centre of a construction site in Chongqing Municipality 

We’re used to reading about construction projects springing up in China at lightning speed – but things don’t always go according to plan.

Sometimes stubborn house owners get in the way, as these incredible images show.

These are the ‘nail’ houses in China left standing after their owners refused to give in to property developers vying for their demolition.

Homes such as these in China are known as ‘dingzihu’ or ‘nail houses’ because they stick out and are difficult to remove, like a stubborn nail.

Last house standing: A car stops beside a house in the middle of a newly built road in Wenling, Zhejiang provinc

Last house standing: A car stops beside a house in the middle of a newly built road in Wenling, Zhejiang provinc

A nail house, the last building in the area, sits in the middle of a road under construction in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. According to local media, the owner of the house didn't reach an agreement with the local authority about compensation of the demolition
A nail housestands in the centre of a construction site which will be developed as a new apartment zone in Chongqing Municipality

A nail housestands in the centre of a construction site which will be developed as a new apartment zone in Chongqing Municipality

A nail house is seen surrounded by a ditch at a construction site for a new residential compound in Xiangyang, Hubei province

A nail house is seen surrounded by a ditch at a construction site for a new residential compound in Xiangyang, Hubei province

A woman walks past a nail house, the last house in this area, on the outskirts of Nanjing, Jiangsu province

A woman walks past a nail house, the last house in this area, on the outskirts of Nanjing, Jiangsu province

Cut off: A six-floor villa on the construction site in the central business district of Shenzhen

Cut off: A six-floor villa on the construction site in the central business district of Shenzhen

Here comes rubble: A partially demolished nail house at a construction site in Hefei, Anhui province

Here comes rubble: A partially demolished nail house at a construction site in Hefei, Anhui province

One of a kind: A nail house is pictured at a construction site which will be developed into a new apartment zone in Hefei, Anhui province. The banner reads '(We) strongly request the government punishes the criminals. They demolish my house by force. They must return my land'

One of a kind: A nail house is pictured at a construction site which will be developed into a new apartment zone in Hefei, Anhui province. The banner reads ‘(We) strongly request the government punishes the criminals. They demolish my house by force. They must return my land’

It remained in the middle of the road for four years.

Another image shows a house sitting alone in a crater at the centre of a construction site in Chongqing Municipality, its overgrown garden still intact.

Cao Wenxia (left), the owner of a nail house, lights firecrackers to celebrate Chinese New Year near an excavator used for demolishing buildings near his house in Hefei, Anhui province

Cao Wenxia (left), the owner of a nail house, lights firecrackers to celebrate Chinese New Year near an excavator used for demolishing buildings near his house in Hefei, Anhui province

Zheng Meiju walks towards her partially demolished nail house (back) in Rui'an, Zhejiang province

Zheng Meiju walks towards her partially demolished nail house (back) in Rui’an, Zhejiang province

The demolition of a nail house at a construction site in Guangzhou, Guangdong province

The demolition of a nail house at a construction site in Guangzhou, Guangdong province

Owner Zhao Xing, 58, collects water near his partially demolished nail house at a construction site in Kunming, Yunnan province

A similarly bizarre sight resulted when a home owner in in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, refused to give in to developers.

There’s now a single-storey ramshackle house there sitting at a skewed angle in the middle of a road in an otherwise modern and symmetrical housing development.

According to local media, the owner of the house didn’t reach an agreement with the local authority about compensation for the demolition.

Defiant to the last, nail house owners will often carry on living in their homes even when water and electricity supplies have been cut off.

A woman stands at the balcony of her house which will be demolished to build new apartments in downtown Shanghai

A woman stands at the balcony of her house which will be demolished to build new apartments in downtown Shanghai

Xu Aiguo, the owner of a nail house in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, sets up a Chinese national flag outside his balcony

Xu Aiguo, the owner of a nail house in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, sets up a Chinese national flag outside his balcony

A nail house stands on the square in front of a shopping mall in Changsha, central China's Hunan province

A nail house stands on the square in front of a shopping mall in Changsha, central China’s Hunan province

Cao Mingyun, daughter of 75-year-old Cao Wenxia, the owner of a nail house, talks to journalist in front of their house in Hefei, Anhui province

Cao Mingyun, daughter of 75-year-old Cao Wenxia, the owner of a nail house, talks to journalist in front of their house in Hefei, Anhui province

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