Chinese Motorway Built Around House Because Residents Refuse to Move

G'Day to you! You're looking good today! Pour some freshly roasted and brewed coffee into your outheld mug and tickle your palate with a scrumptious virtual muffin. Boy, do I have a doozie for you today...A half-demolished building stands in the middle of a new motorway in in the city of Wenling, China’s Zhejiang province, after its elderly residents refused to move.

Talk about an accident waiting to happen… Cars travelling at high speeds in the Chinese city of Wenling have to go around a building located right in the middle of a newly-built motorway. Luo Baogen and his wife refused to relocate, because they believed the compensation offered for relocating was not enough to cover the costs of rebuilding. So even though all their neighbors took the government’s deal, they stayed behind in the empty building. To ensure the structural integrity of the building, adjacent rooms in the building have been left intact.

During most of the Communist era, private ownership of property was abolished, so it was easy to relocate people, but nowadays the new laws make it illegal to demolish a building until an agreement is reached with all its owners.

Although the five-storey structure was affected by all the heavy machinery operating in the area during the construction of the motorway, the old Chinese couple have no intention of moving away. Luckily for them, traffic is pretty light, because the new road has not yet been officially opened, but once that happens, the noise alone will probably be too hard to bare, not to mention the danger of crossing the street.

From the picture, it appears they plan to have the motorway go around both sides of the house. Why not just divert the motorway around the back of the house so the old folks can live out their remaining days without having to cross a busy highway everytime they want to leave the building? Makes sense to me but then remember...Western logic does not always apply in Asia!

See ya, eh!

Bob