Motorway Built Around Couple's Home In China's Wenling City

Living On An Island

When a couple in China refused to accept compensation for having their home demolished to make way for a motorway the developers carried on anyway.

Now the five-storey abode forms a bizarre island around which runs a new road built as a connection to the train station.

It is believed that the couple refused to move because they were unhappy over the level of compensation they were offered by the local government.

The house sits in the middle of a motorway that connects to a train station

According to local media, for safety purposes adjacent rooms in the building have been left intact but all their neighbours have moved out.

People who refuse to relocate when new development are built are known in China as ‘Nail Householders’ - referring to a stubborn nail that is not easy to remove from a piece of old wood.

Another remarkable house-island has formed in Zaozhuang in northern China’s Shandong Province after real estate developers dug out the ground around it.

Niu Chuangen and his wife Zhang Zhongyun, both in their 60s, have been living on their very own dirt “island” without water and electricity since 2009 when a local developer started to build high-rise residential buildings in the area.

Niu said he didn’t sign the compensation contract as the offered amount was too little.

The earth has certainly moved for one elderly couple in China

So Niu and his wife stayed and not only was the earth around their home removed but they have been intimidated by gangsters a number of time.

They have also had to fend off various attempts to illegally demolish their house.

Niu says he has spoken with the developer many times in an effort to negotiate an agreement but they refuse to offer him more than half the market price of the land his house sits on.

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