Demolition workers scale Beijing rock villa
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An eccentric Beijing resident has built a huge house among what looks like a pile of rocks dotted with trees on top of a 26-storey apartment block in the capital, reports said Monday.
Neighbours have complained about China's latest architectural oddity, which covers more than 1,000 square metres (10,000 square feet), saying they fear it could cause the structure to collapse on top of them, the Beijing Morning Post reported.
The rocks, said to be imitation shells rather than solid stone, have trees and bushes growing among them, as in classical Chinese landscape painting.
Poking out from between them, sections of the house underneath can be seen -- a blue-framed window here, a balcony under a curved roof there.
At least two neighbours have moved out because of the construction work, which has been going on for years, the paper said.
Others complained about damage to pipes and walls in their units, it said.
"We feel this is extremely unsafe. What if the top collapses in rain and wind storms? What if our ceiling collapses?" the paper cited an unnamed 26th floor resident as saying.
Authorities have posted notices that the villa in the Haidian area in the west of the city is illegal, it added.
Houses standing on top of multi-storey buildings are not unknown in China, where a rising property market is making land more and more expensive.
A developer in central China built 25 luxury villas on top of a shopping mall, which became migrant workers' residences after authorities declared them illegal, Chinese media reported earlier this month.
The fate of the rockery building remains unclear, and law enforcement is often applied selectively in China.
Land disputes have become more frequent as officials and developers seek to cash in on the property boom, so that the government has reportedly forbidden housing demolitions without the owners' consent.
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Rooftop rock villa faces demolition in China
A bizarre villa built among what looks like piles of rocks and trees on top of a 26-storey Beijing apartment building faces demolition within 15 days, local authorities saidAn order seen by AFP Tuesday, issued by a branch of the Chinese capital's urban management bureau, was posted on the door of a top-floor apartment in the block.
It gave the owner of the structure -- which covers 800 square metres (8,608 sq feet) of rooftop -- to destroy it or give authorities an explanation within 15 days of Monday's date. Otherwise, a forced demolition will be carried out.
But such threats are not always followed through in China, where law enforcement is sometimes selective.
Access to the rooftop was blocked Tuesday by piles of plastic bags, cardboard boxes and other rubbish.
The debris has already proved an obstacle for the municipal personnel who would be charged with enforcing the order.
"The most difficult thing is that we can't get through the door," the Beijing News on Tuesday quoted one official as saying.
Local media said the rooftop house was built over a six-year period by Zhang Biqing, the founder of a national chain of acupuncture clinics and a former member of a district-level political advisory body.
At least two neighbours have moved out because of the construction work, while others complained of the noise and potential risk of the structure collapsing, reports said.
Houses standing on top of multi-storey buildings are not unknown in China, where a rising property market is making land more and more expensive.
A developer in central China built 25 luxury villas on top of a shopping mall, which became migrant workers' residences after authorities declared them illegal, media reported earlier this month.
Land disputes have become more frequent as officials and developers seek to cash in on the property boom, so that the government has reportedly forbidden housing demolitions without the owners' consent.
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cham ah, next time penthouse suite above got another penthouse suite
above condo got condor
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Penthouse suit above got another penthouse suite... then the bottom one will be downgraded to a condo.
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Demolition workers scale Beijing rock villa
Workers scaled an apartment building in Beijing on Friday to demolish a bizarre rooftop villa which captured worldwide attention but was deemed illegal by Chinese authorities
At least six workers wearing bright orange jackets were visible on the 26-storey building's roof and were dismantling the elaborate house, which was built among rocks and trees.
Work began on Thursday after the villa's well-connected owner hired a team to start dismantling it, the Beijing Youth Daily reported, following intense media scrutiny of his business activities.
"I'm very angry that the departments responsible didn't take any action for years, but this is a good start," said a 70-year-old woman surnamed Teng, who lives in a building opposite.
"It's a good thing that demolition has finally started," she told AFP.
Authorities on Monday said the brazen structure -- which began springing up six years ago -- was illegal and threatened to demolish it after 15 days if its owner did not remove it.
The owner, Zhang Biqing, founder of a national chain of acupuncture clinics and a former member of a district-level political advisory body, had threatened neighbours who complained about the construction, reports said.
International and local media attention on the building has been intense, with Chinese web portal Sina using an aerial camera to swoop over it, revealing a multi-tiered construction heavy with vegetation and with several security cameras.
"We resolutely support major media outlets in revealing this residential compound's illegal structures," read a red banner placed on the fence of the building's compound, apparently written by residents.
But some were less supportive of the demolition.
"It's something an ordinary person would never usually build," said 63-year-old local resident Tan Huiqin.
"It's a bit of a shame that it's being demolished... I'm not sure if it is truly dangerous."
Taxi driver Jin Jian was clearly impressed.
"It's an awesome structure," he said as he waited opposite the building.
The rooftop villa has focused attention on the issue of illegal construction in China, with local reports saying that Zhang's connection with celebrities and government officials had given him a sense of impunity from the law.
But some locals were sceptical about whether all of Zhang's roof-top additions would be removed.
"It won't be demolished completely," said one middle-aged man who sat on a motorcycle outside the building, but declined to give his name.
"He must have good relationships (with authorities), he's even had celebrities to sing karaoke in the villa," he said.
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Aerial shots show luxury of Beijing roof-top mountain villa as demolition of the mansion begins
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wah~
ah tiong land de cardboard can support such a large rock villa on top???
the rock villa is actually made up of styrofoam izzit??