China: After This Woman Refused To Move, Authorities Built A Highway Around Her House

We have all seen wonderful houses that have lost their charm because a busy highway or road, or electricity pylons have been built nearby. But the story of this 'Nail House' in Guangzhou, China is beyond anything we could have imagined.

The owner of the small house refused compensation from the real estate developer in charge of building a highway to demolish her house. For 10 years, they tried to change her mind without success. The authorities therefore authorized enclosing the house in the middle of the tracks!

Tiny house

Nail house which stand around highway in china | Photo: Wiebo

According to Guangdong TV station, the house is 40 square meters and is now in the middle of a two-lane road. Not really what you are looking for in a house; almost no light, a lot of noise and air pollution.

Rejected offers

MailOnline says the owner, a woman named Liang, said she didn't want to move because the government hadn't offered her a replacement home in a great location.

According to reports, Ms. Liang was offered two flats in replacement but refused and had demanded the government to give her four flats.

She said she had no problem with the aftermath and didn't care what others thought of her. She explained: "You think this environment is poor, but I feel it's quiet, liberating, pleasant and comfortable."

Bridge completed

According to media reports, Ms Liang, an owner of the house, fought against the Chinese government for 10 years. The government wanted to buy and demolish her house and the woman did not want to let this happen. Eventually, the highway was built and a motorway bridge was built around the house. This house has now become famous as 'Nail House'. It got this name because the woman had refused to take compensation from the government for breaking the house. Ten years later in 2020, the bridge was finally completed, although not everything went according to the original construction plans.

10-year-long fight

Nail house which stand around highway in china | Photo: Wiebo

Media reports say that Ms. Liang was the only person out of 47 families and seven companies to refuse compensation and relocation. Authorities said she had been offered several houses, as well as monetary compensation, but rejected them all.

They added that the safety issues related to this house locked in the road had been investigated before the construction of the bridge so that Ms. Liang could continue to live there safely, in the middle of a highway.

UK¡¯s Nail House

This is the Chinese version of the UK house in the middle of the M62 motorway ¨C in this case alone, the owner wasn't too stubborn to move, despite popular beliefs about its history. The real reason Stott Hall Farm is slapped in the middle of the highway is because a fault line underneath would have been a big headache to solve.

According to reports, the land on which the house was built contains a ¡°geological anomaly¡± that made it ¡°impossibly steep¡± for six lanes to be built on it.

The house situated in the middle of the M62 | Photo: PA

Ken Wild's granddaughter Kimberley Pollard, spoke to The Huddersfield Daily Examiner some years ago. She said: "The story is my granddad was a stubborn old Yorkshireman who refused to move - but he's actually from Lancashire.

"He was far too subdued for that - and he wouldn't have had a choice in the matter because the farm was rented from Yorkshire Water."