A stong-willed grandfather refused to leave his home in Jinxi, southwest of Shanghai, China – so workmen built a motorway around it.
Huang Ping revealed he now regrets not accepting the government’s relocation conditions and admits he feels like he has “lost a big bet”, reports the Mirror.
Huang lives in the home with his 11-year-old grandson and locals in the area often describe him as the “strongest nail house owner” in China.
The house resembles an eye when viewed from the air and locals often flock to the area to take photos of the nail house. The roof of the house is almost level with the motorway that is currently under construction in the area.
Much to Huang’s dispair, dust continues to fill the air around the construction site. To combat this problem Huang takes his grandson to the town centre to spend the day before returning home at night when the builders have finished their shift.
He said the walls occasionally vibrate, but it’s quiet at night as the motorway is closed to traffic. He worries what it will be like when the expressway is up and running, admitting that he now regrets not accepting the compensation package proposed by the authorities.
He said they offered £178,245 (CNY 1.6 million) and two other properties, which was later increased to three. Huang stated: “If I could turn back time, I would agree to the demolition conditions they offered. Now it feels like I lost a big bet.” The homeowner added: “I regret it a bit.”
The secretary of the Jinxi County Party Committee previously said that Huang refused to relocate because he was dissatisfied with the government’s offer.
After a long period of fruitless negotiations, the authorities designed a bypass on both sides of Huang’s house to advance the motorway’s construction.
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