A grandfather in Jinxi, China, is a man leaving with regrets. Huang Ping, who was stubborn enough to refuse to leave his house is now living in the middle of a highway.
But how?
Jinxi County wanted to build a highway in the region. Jinxi County Party Committee approached locals who had developed their property in the area where the motorway was to pass.
All the other locals accepted to cede their land for the road project, except for Huang. Not even the £178,245 (CNY 1.6 million) offer and two other properties — which was later increased to three — could convince him to relocate.
According to the secretary of the Jinxi County Party Committee, after fruitless intense negotiations, authorities decided that they would design a bypass on both sides of Huang’s house.
The end result? The roof of Huang’s two-storey home is now almost level with the highway that is currently under construction.
‘I regret’
According to U.K outlet Metro, Huang — who lives with his 11-year-old grandson — now spends most of his days in the town centre to avoid the hustle and bustle of the construction site. He only returns home when the builders have called it a day.
“If I could turn back time, I would agree to the demolition conditions they offered. Now it feels like I lost a big bet,” the homeowner says, as reported by Metro. “I regret it a bit.”
But as Huang regrets, his house has turned out to be a tourist attraction site for the locals, who have been streaming to the property to take pictures.
Nonetheless, it is common for the the government in China to build around homes when owners have refused to relocate. These homes are referred to as ‘dingzhius’ or ‘nail houses’. The ‘nail’ part comes from their likeness to a single nail sticking out from the land.
NEW: Grandfather says he "regrets it a bit" now that a highway was built around his house after he turned down $220,000 to move.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 24, 2025
Huang Ping of Jinxi, China, who lives with his grandson, now lives in the middle of a soon-to-be busy road.
To access his home, Ping has to… pic.twitter.com/zD5t0gs2aZ
