China's holdout homeowners stuck in the road
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Luo Baogen holds his land certificate as he stands next to his house in the middle of a newly built road in Wenling city in east China's Zhejiang province on Thursday, Nov 22, 2012. Luo, the owner of the house, refused to sign an agreement to allow his house to be demolished by the authorities, as the compensation offered to him was not enough, according to local media. -- PHOTO: AP
SHANGHAI (AFP) - Pictures of an elderly couple's house standing in the middle of a huge dual carriageway as they hold out for compensation to leave have gone viral on the Internet in China.
The photographs, widely carried by Chinese state media and Internet sites on Friday, show a partially demolished five-storey block of flats in the centre of the road in the eastern province of Zhejiang.
The phenomenon is called a "nail house" in China, as such buildings stick out and are difficult to remove, like a stubborn nail.
Mr Luo Baogen, 67, and his 65-year-old wife have waged a four-year battle to receive more than the 260,000 yuan (S$51,000) compensation offered by the local government of Daxi, the China Daily newspaper said.