Because we received so much feedback from the original post, I felt compelled to inform you all that Yang Wu and Wu Ping have succumb to the Chinese Government and the real estate developer that will build a shopping mall in the area that their two story home stood just days ago. An end of March court order provided that the couple must vacate the premises or face forcible removal. Still, until the very end, they were defiant and strong. Their final settlement reportedly included a similarly sized apartment in the building that will replace the chasm in which their “nail house” once stood. They sure had a great run at it, but in the end, the man gets everyone down!

In the good ol’ U.S. of A, we have eminent domain laws that allow the government to take land from citizens as long as they pay the dispossessed a fair market fee for the “taking.” Yang Wu and Wu Ping, a couple living in the Chinese city of Chongquing, have been holding out in the most extreme sense to a real estate developer who wants to build a shopping mall where their neighborhood once stood. The conflict has been going on since 2004, when the developer paid the couple’s 280 neighbors to vacate their domiciles– as you can see in the photo, it has gotten to the point where their two story dingzihu (or “nail house”) is now perched precariously on a little spire of land around which the developer has begun to dig the mall’s foundation. A local court recently ordered Yang and Wu to vacate their home, but they nevertheless remain, holding out for more money, despite being offered around $450,000 USD (a very high amount for that particular region)– utterly determined to exercise their rights as property owners. They’ve garnered the support of fellow citizens and are getting a boat load of media attention. Any thoughts about this? Do you think the couple is justified in their actions? Or do you think they’re beyond reason?