Nail House

Chongqing is not a City of Sichuan now. It have been Municipalities for years, just like Shanhai and Tianjing.

I feel sorry for this family. There must be a strong reason for them to suffer life like this, most likely finanical ones.. You can imagine life in the center of a construction site.

Yet, the stunning picture reminds the government a urgent request of more transparency in urban planning. Many officials and real estate enrich themselves at the cost of other stakeholders of the city.

To be frankly,Simon's homework like is not good enough for you to earn your day.

I summarize the "fun comments" from Chinese Cybercite,herein.

1)The house owners are apparently holding out for 2.5 million dollars--- This is a rumor, acoording to the interview with the house owner Mrs.Wu, you'll find visual files at Youtube or Chiness version Youtube-www.tudou.com

2)Yoffie,please do not feel sorry for this family, this family is not an easy family, in other words this family in not belong to vulnerable groups.
Take my words for it.

3)Some smart netizens take this as a "Super Girl" show,I agree with it.

4)Some netizens key in words BBS,it says,
In domestic ,we support this nailed down house.
In international, we require the sovereignty of Diaoyu Islands/Fishing Islands.

ding

中国最牛逼！！！中国万岁！！！

中国最牛逼！！！中国万岁！！！

I don't want to sound crass here, but how do the resdients get in and out of the house?

OK... from my understanding by reading thru the Chinese blog sites and news media sites, here are some facts about this case.

1. This house was not the owner's primary residency or their only property. However, they moved back to this house after the Chinese media started covering this story.

2. The owners of this house are fairly wealthy folks. Go watch the video clip of their interviews with the local TV station for proof. The lady was wearing fur coat with half inch thick of make up on her face. Her husband is a former martial arts Champ in the region.

3. The property is near a prime location in Chongqing, and this family is the only one refusing the deal from the developers out of 280 some families.

Thanks, Simon, for sharing the picture with the rest of the world. I believe most Chinese netizens already saw it. I don’t feel sorry for the house owners, like smatter said: they are not easygoing. I agree. They should pee on the ground and see their reflection in the pool to figure out what they are. As many Chinese people think, they are not what they are.

I feel sorry for the government to allow them to hold the property and the image to be disclosed to the people like us. That’s not going to help improving China’s image no matter how many good excuses they could give to the rest of the world for the incident. China won’t gain any from what’s happening there.

I have been watching this event since it first appeared on the internet. This lady, the co-owner, is absolutely shrew. She is an excellent business woman. She knows how to protect her own rights and properties by laws. She was ordered by a court to move out on March 22 around two months ago. But, the new property law may protect her rights to a far degree. Instead of moving out, she raised a national flag at the top of the house on March 22 and moved in with the help of her martial art champion husband and a few other relatives. She has claimed that she would live or die with this particular property. The property was a commercial property.

The event has generated so much interest like a circus in the Chinese netosphere. One of my relates, who is an university teacher in China, told me that his coworkers started complaining that their students had set up a 24x7 monitoring system and took turns to monitor the progress at the expense of their academic studies.

Is anyone reading this news will have a negative impression on China? This kind of conflict happens everyday and everywhere. People only get one-side story and which side they get depends on the medium they usually engage with.

Does image matter? Does any country really care their image? If yes, there will be no Iraq-invasion and no denies of Japanese wartime brothel.

China is imperfect for sure. However, reasonale analysis is still requried when learning the news in regards to China.

zzyzx,
In this case, the government actually encouraged the Medias to expose the whole issue. This is a case that both sides can pay for lawyers. So, it’s a perfect case that fits the government agenda of encouraging people to deploy laws and courts to settle disputes like this instead of violent protects.
It has become a case study for law professors and students. Now, the lawyers have to re-analyze the whole case against the new property law and the old local by-laws.

I can understand the people raised in China think it won’t damage China’s image. Many of them often find fault with the way they were told and educated, but they still seem to be struggling to justify themselves when moving into a civil society under the rule of law. That’s fine with me. They think the incident is showing the house owners can exercise their rights and the government is willing to work together with the owners to solve the issue through the legal proceeding according to the law. A bad thing is leading to good results.

That’s not what my colleagues and I see. I passed the image to a few of my colleagues at lunchtime. Their first impressions were, like Yoffie, how sorry they felt for the family, how the government could let it happen, if the people were protected by the rule of law and how, etc. In my neighborhood, people need to get approved by the majority of the residents for their major home improvement, even though there is no homeowner association fee and most of the single family houses in the city were built 30 to 50 years ago. People can’t build a home to block their neighbors’ ocean or harbor or city view without the neighbors’ approval and the city officials can’t cut the residents’ utilities and block the residents’ traffic, except for emergencies in a very short period of time.

Just a correction.
Chongqing City is no longer belong to Sichun Province. Chongqing is like Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai.

To larryp:
The residents actually didn't live in that house. But they just do not want somebody tore down the house because they request to own a shop or do business in the new building on the same place.

I wonder what "property" means in Chinese. Does it has to be a primary residence before it is considered "property".

In law abiding countries, property is property, whether it is a primary residence, a shopping center, a vacation home or a pig sty. But, of course, China is different. China is the way that Chinese like. "Property" in Chinese style is different. May be the next excuse they will come up is whether one is a government official or not before one can be considered a human being. But Chinese like it that way.

Chongqing is a modern city, with an ancient history spanning more than 3,000 years. It is the nation's fourth municipality after Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin. It is said that it is one of the four cities shown in the map of china in UN .It encompasses within its borders, a great wealth of water reserves, mineral resources, dense forests and abundant flora and fauna. Being the focal point of the unique Yangtze Three Gorges tourist industry, Chongqing is a tourist attraction as well as being a commercial city. Situated in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River - at the confluence of Yangtze and Jialing Rivers, in Southwest China, Chongqing is a port city with the largest area and population in China. It has an area of 82,400 square kilometers (31, 800 square miles) and share borders with the provinces of Hubei, Hunan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Shaanxi. Beside the Han people that forms the majority of its total population of 30.9 million, there are numerous ethnic groups residing in Chongqing, such as Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Qiang, You and Tujia.

History Since its discovery 3,000 years ago, Chongqing was originally called Jiangzhou, Yuzhou and then Gongzhou, before getting its present name nearly 800 years ago. From the Qin Dynasty (221BC~206BC) onwards, many dynasties have set up various administrative institutions there, which endowed the city with brilliant culture. Perched beside the "Golden River" of the Yangtze River, Chongqing is the symbol of Changjiang civilization and also the cradle of Bayu culture

What to see Chongqing attracts visitors from home and abroad for its cultural heritage and tourist attractions. The city is the starting point of the Yangtze River Cruise, which is expected to explore the wonderful scenery of the Three Gorges. Other attractions include Dazu Grottoes, carved during the ninth century, which are valuable works of art and not to be missed is the Gold Buddhist Mountain, reputed as a rich repository of diverse animals and plants; and there's the Fishing Town, which is one of the three ancient battlefields in China. Traveling in Chongqing, one will feel fortunate to be able to savor the delicious local food, such as Sichuan cuisine and the world-famous hot pot dishes. Also, the handicrafts made from bamboo have been enjoying great popularity among the visitors.

When to go Chongqing's nickname as the "Fog City" or "Furnace" is no exaggeration. Annual average temperature is 18
C to 20 C, with the lowest temperature of 6 C in winter and the highest temperature of 38 C in summer. One will enjoy a warm winter but a hot summer. Annual average rainfall is about 1000 (39.4 inches) to 1400 (55.12 inches) millimeter. Chongqing has plenty of night rain all year round. So the best time to visit Chongqing should be in spring, autumn and winter.

Language Chongqing natives speak a dialect of Southern Mandarin Chinese, which is said to be "quite intelligible" to speakers of Northern (Standard) Mandarin. Because of their rough tones, people speaking the Chongqing dialect are said to talk like baby boys, while the softer sounding dialect in nearby Chengdu is compared to the speech of young girls.

Culture Sports and recreation are major activities in Chongqing, with numerous sports facilities, parks and gardens. Nearby are some popular mineral hot springs.

Food The number one specialty of Chongqing is Sichuan hotpot, in which diners cook their own sliced meat and vegetables in a bubbling pot of soup or spiced oil.

Folklore Due to its extreme heat in midsummer, Chongqing is called one of the "three furnaces" of China, along with Wuhan and Nanjing.

Walking as a city developed on hills, Chongqing is not a suitable place for bicycling like most other Chinese towns. It's a good destination to explore on foot since there are many interesting alleys to discover and experience on your own. Between the Liberation Monument and Chaotianmen area are a number of steep, laddered alleyways usually lined with little shops. Good maps in Chinese and less detailed ones in English are available from street vendors (those that sell newspapers) around the Liberation Monument area.

Photography Chongqing is also the right place for photographers. Closely-positioned buildings are arranged uphill for a clear position of the entire city and you may take fantastic night pictures with lights or a neon flow along the streets or rivers if you in a proper shooting position. The city is geographically divided by two rivers and hills. Cross-river cable cars and ferries are popular public daily transports for the locals besides buses. Riding them is a great experience and suitable backdrops for some nice snapshots.

Shopping Local Products as a large metropolis, Chongqing boasts rich many natural resources and local specialties, making it a fine place for shopping. Due to the fact that Chongqing is a city surrounded by mountains, there are many rare Chinese traditional herbal medicines in these parts including the rhizome of Chinese goldthread (huanglian), Gastrodia elata (tianma) and the bark of eucommia (duchong) that are highly sought after. The fertile land here is ideal for growing fruit, such as oranges, pears, pomelo and persimmons. Chongqing is also a major tea producing area. With a long history of cultivation, Chongqing Tuo Tea, Cuiping Silver Needle Tea and Xinong Maojian Tea are highly prestigious brands. Folk handicraft in Chongqing has long been highly praised. Shu Embroidery (also known as Sichuan Embroidery) has been ranked among the four most famous embroidery types in China since the Southern Song Dynasty, along with Suzhou Embroidery, Hunan Embroidery and Cantonese Embroidery. Rongchang paper fans are also exported and have been since the Qing dynasty.

Chongqing people’s life The first local people our Yangtze cruisers are going to meet are those at the harbor. Peddlers, carriers, porters. Porters would be the first of first to be noticed. They would come to surround you, offering you their help with your bags to your ship, or from ships to the street level. Carrying a bag to walk some distance at the Mountain City, with a lot of steps, is not an easy work for some individual western travelers, instead of group travelers. The Chongqing people call the porters "Bang Bang Jun" -- An Army of Poles. "Jun" means army -- They are everywhere, in the city streets, train and bus stations, and ship piers. So they also call the porters "Bang Bang" -- use the tool they are using. Not necessarily means discriminating, but it truly shows the humor personality of the Chongqing people, to their "farmer brothers" (a term frequently used by the government). Normal Chongqing residents would not like my putting the "Bang Bang Jun" as the most note position, or representative of Chongqing people, because "Bang Bang Jun" are actually from the suburbs, or countryside. They are supposed to be farmers. Some still are when they are not busy at home -- they work seasonally in the city.

There is only one thing we should care about, is the house their property?If so, they have the right to do anything with it no matter they are rich or not, good person or totally rascal.
Maybe we shouldn't take this whole thing into a pretty high level, although this means something to "the Harmony Society" today.

Chasseur: You are talking about legal rights. But the Chinese style "legal" system gave the rights to the government officials, not the owner or the occupier.

And "Harmony" means "no argument", or "absence of dissent" to the Chinese government. So, if you have an issue with the government, you should keep quiet.

John Smith: sincerely hope you could learn something from those guys like Yoffie and zzyzx.

I think there could be countless spins on this: it could be an example of how far the Chinese government is willing to go to protect private citizen's property rights, or how free the press has become these days in China to report and embarrass the government. It could also be a case of how inept the local developers are handling their PR affairs... (to zzyzx's comment on the negativity of the image, and his understanding of people who were born in China who see it differently)

The problem is there is not enough data in the blog to substantiate any of these. Yet it doesn't stop us from expressing our opinions on this while filling in the missing details using our imaginations or past knowledge or perceptions...

John, to your point of what is considered property, I think the local government is with you on the law. Your issue might be with the views expressed by the Chinese netizens, which may not represent those of the Chinese population in general. But even these netizens are mostly arguing on the point of how worthy this family is in receiving public sympathy. Either way, the respect or protection of private property is not at issue here.

Frankly, I don't read much at all in this case from either political, social, or legal perspective, despite its visual drama.

I think blogs like this merely cause readers like John and zzyzx to be more lock-minded on their perceptions about China and the Chinese people, and be more likely to generalize on a limited number of facts.

The problem with this blog is that the key basic facts are so sketchy to warrant much meaningful analysis.

I am not familiar with the facts either. But for the sake of argument, let's assume two plausible scenarios to find out what would happen with the same set of circumstances in the U.S., how it would be treated by the media, and how we would respond.

Scenario 1: The owner is challenging the legal rights of the developer in court. Then the same thing could have happened in theory in the U.S., but much less visually theatrical because the property owner would have received some accommodation in easement, or compensations for hotel or rental accommodation and there would be no questions like "how do they get in the house", and would probably not be reported for lack of drama, visually or otherwise.

Scenario 2: There is no litigation to challenge the developer's right to proceed. Then it would not have gone that far in the U.S. It would have ended when the developer went to the court and secured a court order. The court order was enforced by local law enforcement. The family would either have taken a compensation based on fair market value and walked away, or would be taken away in hand cuffs for obstruction of law and /or contempt of court. The chances of this being reported is pretty slim either if it happened in the U.S., unless the story involves celebrities.

And of course if hand cuffs were involved in this particular case, Simon might be writing a different blog and readers would be expressing their outrage over the violation of civil rights of individuals in China and express more sympathy for the victims.

Never mind my layman's analysis. I am simply trying to make a point.

The media have too often taken a simplistic approach when it comes to China (Simon may want to reconsider creating or keeping a "Only in China" category if he already he has one for the sake of serious journalism. Because it would make him resemble more the mindset of a bored tourist looking for excitement in an exotic land such as China than a serious journalist trying to inform people with complete and balanced facts.

I think the real story that should have been told is how individual lives were impacted / touched during the economic reform in China that have changed many lives in profound ways and how the government, and society in general have evolved to cope (or fail to do so) with the challenges not felt before.

I have no reason not to respect Simon's work and hope I am not being too critical of him on this. Simon is not the only journalist who do this (and maybe that's the problem).

Please take my comment as constructive feedback.

This is probably the sloppiest journalism I have ever seen, if you call it that. Five sentences and a picture are supposed to make a point? No details on the court case, parties involved, terms of settlement. Are all American reporters like this?

March 24,2007,China goverment had forced all web media n forums to deleted news n discussions about "Nail House" completely.meanwhile,tv and newspapers keep quiet out of fear!this is Chinese democracy.news is dead,justice is dead too--god

Nail House is responsing that China goverment are more paying attention citizen adevantage.It was not imanginable to this phenomenon happened in the modern China last few years.

just heard that the news group of state department of china has order that the main chinese web forbid to have the news relative to this event.

doubting....

The writer Simon Elegant dosen't know China very much ,he even still thinks Chong Qing as one city of Sichuan province.His blog is so short for readers to understand this whole thing well.All in all ,he's not a responsible writer.

I'm just wondering why TIME lets this guy,totally a China laic,writing blogs about China on its website which is so ridiculous.

TIME should find someone who turally know China pretty well to write this China Blog.

The news has been reported for many days. I greet them everyday on the newpaper. The residents do live in that "loft" upon there. They travel up and down by ladder and bring food and water from far away, using big buckets and barrels.

If the house was located in rural area where a new road would be built,the owner will take the developer's offer and move right away . Now that it is in the downtown CBD, 2.5 million ,my holy!

PLUS:

John Smith, you,don't konw what Chinese people like. SO SOTP fantasizing you do

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind...

John Donne

see

http://image2.sina.com.cn/dy/c/p/2007-03-23/U2036P1T1D12596371F1394DT20070323151902.jpg
重庆“钉子户”男主人杨某爬上“孤岛”房顶挥舞国旗，继续拒绝搬迁。此前，重庆九龙坡区法院裁定支持房管局关于搬迁的裁决，并要求被拆迁人在本月22日前配合拆除该房屋。如不履行，法院将强制执行

A typical example of 穷山恶水出刁民!

Ryan: Just like an ancient Chinese scholar said: "You are not a fish, how do you know what pleases a fish." You are not me, how do you know that I don't know what Chinese like ?

Since the Chinese people has don't nothing contrary to liking their current form of government in the last 60 years, and there are plenty of posts in just this site from Chinese defending their system, and objecting to anyone saying anything about their system is proof enough that they like their current system.

Can anybody put some latest pictures about this "nail house" event,'cause I can not read about this thing from neither China media,nor forum online.
It's a shame that Chinese goverment is trying to cover the whole thing, and they forget one old saying: If there is no truth, there will be all kinds of rumours!

John, your ancient Chinese scholar quote may not apply here because it refers specifically to judging the state of mind of another individual. Your lack of knowledge about China is not a state of mind (it would have been if you haven't shared your opinions).

I think the Chinese bloggers are rejecting your views because of your excessive negativity about China. This negativity seemed to have impaired your critical thinking ability to come to reasonable conclusions based on facts. They doubt your fairness.

BTW, I think you were off when you previously responded to criticism of your negativity.

Negativity does not mean that you can't be critical on things that are negative. It means that you refuse to see the positive side of things when most reasonably minded persons do.

Very few major social changes happen overnight. Maybe you can't or refuse to see, but things are changing in China and are changing for the better. Try to change your perspective and join the Chinese to embrace those changes.

There is a report in New York Times today on this. It's a good report and serious journalism because it reflects a fair and balanced view that most reasonably minded people would probably share and agree.

To Nicky Q,
You can find thousands of pictures and articles on this house from Chinese media.Maybe you don't recognize Chinese, so you cann't find them. Just search for钉子户，

The comments of some Chinese on this comment post are very interesting to say the least. This is a news whether you like it or not and regardless or how well it has been reported.

I cannot count the number of times that I have read articles about the US, EU, or Japan that have been written much less clearly and with much more nationalistic flare. Many have this "us vs. them" outlook when in fact it is an interesting story despite all the arguings back in forth over facts and reported data.

Furthermore who can you trust in this era of either overblowing a story or covering it all up. It seems like a time of extremes.

For you Chinese netizens that come to these sites, it is not a place to defend the motherland with Red Guard wrath, but rather a place to read information that is usually not available in its entirety on the mainland.

Time magazine is an excellent example, how long have people been able to visit this site on the mainland? Not long.

they are hero!

I am of the opinion that no one is above the laws, which of course, has its loop-holes especially in a developing country – The owners, the developers and officials should honour and abide by the current laws, which had been formulated in black and white instead of giving excuses of how shrewd or uneasy-going the owners are. If they think these laws are not fair to any party, then they should try to amend the laws later. I agree that western media has its prejudices against China and; hey be easy because not everybody in the world will like and praise you. I see Simon’s criticisms as thought-provoking and we should read all comments with an open mind and some skeptisms, not with blind nationalism. Personally I don’t think anything wrong with the owners fighting for their own rights, but just let the laws decide; not sentiments.

重庆出名了！

坚持是艰难的，官员说的话并非一定合法，有一些官员只能代表强权，能够坚持是需要勇气和耐心，更重要的是要有智慧。要找到有效的申辩渠道。支持你！！！！

Ils sont dans mon héros de coeur, je les soutiennent !

Note:None lives there.

she wanna be chairman mao or easter bunny???

The house was pushed down yesterday evening.
People lose their struggle with the gov't again.

As long as people fight against the government, the people will prevail. The fact that this house was eventually demolished does not negate the fact that once upon a time, someone stood up against the government till the end. If anyone think that the government is going to loose because of some kung fu master's house, then you are kidding yourself. However, if you think this did not chip away something at the government's foundation, then your also kidding.
Unless you live in China, its hard to understand what is going on. This is China, not the US or Europe.

Why is it so hard to understand? Same as all real estate transaction anywhere, the owners accepted a final "make-me-move" offer, a new apartment of the same size, and put the nail house into escrow, oh, to wrecking ball.

Unfortunately, if the Chinese government decides that you should move, then you move. If you argue, you go to prison where you are are to die like a good citizen.

So, some rich, party member wins this round at the expense of a regular person. Not unusual, but if that fact were mentioned, you'd be executed for divulging state secrets.

I live china,bu iunlike here. Chinese government can't do anyting.

I live china,bu unlike here. Chinese government can't do anyting.

This is Chinese Culture and society. This is balance between personal right and society right.

I come from chognqing ,why don't they move away? after all it's amatter of profit,finally they got a house(95 square mters) downtown and 1.2million

This photo is too terrible and shocked

they've got. You got to stoop pretty low to argue with them, so why bother? Just don't even lower your standards to respond to them.