Chinese city built motorway bridge around tiny house after owner refused to move

Getting to sleep must be fun but they were adamant they were not moving!

Published Mar 24, 2024, 13:16:09 GMTLast updated Mar 24, 2024, 13:16:06 GMT

When someone threatens to mow down your family home, the honourable thing to do is fight for your rights and stand tall against such an injustice.

But when you're up against the Chinese[1] government, who, instead, decide to build an entire motorway bridge around your small house, what do you do?

The tiny Guangzhou home[2] is now stuck in-between two wings of the Haizhuyong Bridge, which opened in 2020.

Refusing to budge, the owner of the one-storey property lives in a 40-square-metre (430-square-foot) flat, situated in the middle of the four-lane traffic links.

Known by her surname Liang, the home owner said she wouldn't move because the government failed to offer her a replacement property[3] in an ideal location.

She also said that she was more than happy to deal with the consequences and did not mind what other people thought of her.

Liang told[4] the MailOnline: "You think this environment is poor, but I feel it's quiet, liberating, pleasant and comfortable."

Well, maybe before the bridge was built.

Weibo

Government officials said that they earmarked the plot for demolition in 2010 to build the Haizhuyong Bridge.

A decade later, they got it set up, albeit not entirely how they thought it would be.

Authorities described how Ms Liang was offered many flats[5] as well as cash compensation schemes - but she would not budge.

They added that they will continue communicating with Ms Liang and said engineers studied the relevant safety issues before constructing the bridge to make sure it was fine for her to continue living there.

This is China's version of the UK's house in the middle of the M62 motorway[6] - only in this case, the owner wasn't too stubborn to move.

The real reason Stott Hall Farm is slap-bang in the middle of the motorway is because a geological fault beneath it would have been a massive inconvenience to sort out.

Weibo

You see, the land on which the house was built contains a 'geological anomaly', which made it 'impossibly steep' for six lanes to be built upon it.

The granddaughter of former owner Ken Wild, Kimberley Pollard, spoke to The Huddersfield Daily Examiner some years ago about the unusual development.

"The story is my granddad was a stubborn old Yorkshireman who refused to move - but he's actually from Lancashire," she said[7].

"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."

Featured Image Credit: Weibo

Topics: World News, Home, Weird, China[8][9][10][11]

References

1. ^ Chinese (www.ladbible.com)
2. ^ home (www.ladbible.com)
3. ^ replacement property (www.ladbible.com)
4. ^ told (www.dailymail.co.uk)
5. ^ many flats (www.ladbible.com)
6. ^ UK's house in the middle of the M62 motorway (www.ladbible.com)
7. ^ she said (www.examinerlive.co.uk)
8. ^ World News (www.ladbible.com)
9. ^ Home (www.ladbible.com)
10. ^ Weird (www.ladbible.com)
11. ^ China (www.ladbible.com)