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Traffic slowed to a crawl - by old houses

By Ma Chao (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-07-07 10:45

An eight-lane road is reduced to two by property belonging to the Zhang brothers. [Photos by Ma Chao / China Daily]

On a newly-built section of the eight-lane Shuguang West Road in Chaoyang district, the free-flowing traffic suddenly snarls to a halt.

The impediment in the road is not a slow-moving vehicle or a poorly parked SUV but a much less transient barrier - a group of old and dilapidated houses stand where planners had hoped the highway would be.

The houses, standing defiantly near the intersection with Taiyanggong South Street, cause the eight lanes to constrict to two.

A taxi driver complains that the sudden narrowing makes it difficult for cars to pass and often caused traffic chaos.

"Whenever I drive nearby, I always try to avoid going through here," he said.

Residents in the neighborhood blame the homes for the intermittent gridlock as well.

While they are dubbed by netizens as "the ablest nail household (the household that refuses to relocate) in Beijing", the Zhang brothers, who own the houses, told METRO no one has asked them to relocate in recent years.

Zhang Changfu, the elder brother, said they would be prepared to move out of the way and let the authorities bulldoze the homes, as long as they get reasonable compensation in return.

"Living in the middle of the road is inconvenient for us, too," he said.

The houses once stood in a village called Shangjialou in Taiyanggong township.

Since 2002, the village has been transformed into an area of high-rise tower blocks.

The Zhangs' neighbors took their relocation compensation and moved to a community called Xinji Jiayuan. All the houses in the village have since been destroyed, except theirs.

Zhang Changyou stands in front of his house. [Photos by Ma Chao / China Daily]

Zhang Changyou, the younger brother, told METRO his ID card and registered permanent residence paperwork still lists his address as the village of Shangjialou, but now the place is only a memory.

Construction of Shuguang West Road started in 2007. Zhang Changfu said the developers did not approach them asking them to leave but simply circumvented the houses. Before the 2008 Olympics, a wall was build to conceal the houses.

The Zhang brothers say they want reasonable compensation in line with the market price and State policy.

The average housing price is around 30,000 yuan per square meter in nearby communities.

Officials with Taiyanggong township government, however, said the Zhangs' demands are too high and unacceptable.

Huang Hongchun, vice secretary of the CPC (Communist Party of China) Taiyanggong township committee, said the authorities will apply the same policy to all the villagers, indicating that the compensation offered to the Zhang brothers will be the same as the amount offered to the other villagers who relocated in 2002.

"If we change the policy (for the Zhangs), it would be irresponsible toward the others," he said.

So, for the moment, it looks as if the houses blocking the highway will stay where they are.