Chinese Nail Houses

Luo Baogen and his wife must have felt they were sitting pretty when they rejected government compensation for their apartment, saying it wouldn't cover the cost of rebuilding somewhere else. In any other jurisdiction their intransigence would probably trigger a lengthy court battle. But this was in China.

The government forged ahead and built a four-lane highway, lapping the asphalt on either side of the five-storey apartment building in Xiazhangyang, a village in Zhejiang province. These structures are known as nail houses.