Last house standing

A "nail house", the last building in the area, sits in the middle of a road under construction in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, April 10, 2015. According to local media, the owner of the house didn't reach an agreement with the...more

A car stops beside a house in the middle of a newly built road in Wenling, Zhejiang province, China, November 22, 2012. An elderly couple refused to sign an agreement to allow their house to be demolished. They say that compensation offered is not...more

A "nail house", the last house in this area, stands on the square in front of a shopping mall in Changsha, central China's Hunan province, November 13, 2007. "Nail houses" refer to houses whose owners have stuck to their ground and resisted...more

A nail house, the last house in this area, stands in the center of a construction site which will be developed as a new apartment zone in Chongqing Municipality, February 4, 2009. The owners of the house insist in seeking more compensation before...more

A six-floor villa is viewed on the construction site in the central business district of Shenzhen, China, April 17, 2007. Choi Chu Cheung, the owner of the villa, and his wife Zhang Lian-hao, refused to accept the compensation offered by the...more

Zheng Meiju walks towards her partially demolished nail house (back) in Rui'an, Zhejiang province, China, July 17, 2013. Zhang, owner of the nail house, refused to move due to dissatisfaction of the compensation since the demolition project started...more

Cao Mingyun, daughter of 75-year-old Cao Wenxia, the owner of a nail house, talks to journalist in front of their house in Hefei, Anhui province, China, January 29, 2010. Cao's family refuse to move due to unsatisfied compensation for their house,...more

A "nail house", the last house in the area, is pictured at a construction site which will be developed into a new apartment zone in Hefei, Anhui province, China, January 3, 2008. The banner reads "strongly requesting the government to punish the...more

A general view shows the demolition of a "nail house", the last house in the area, at a construction site in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, January 8, 2008. The owners of the house had filed but lost a lawsuit against the developer of the land to...more

A partially-demolished "nail house", the last house in the area, is seen at a construction site in Hefei, Anhui province, China, February 2, 2010. The owner of the house was attempting to seek more compensation before agreeing to the demolition of...more

Cao Wenxia (L), the owner of a nail house, lights firecrackers to celebrate Chinese New Year near an excavator used for demolishing buildings near his house in Hefei, Anhui province, February 13, 2010. Cao's family refused to move due to...more

A woman walks past a nail house, the last house in this area, on the outskirts of Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China, October 31, 2008. REUTERS/Sean Yong

A "nail house", the last building in the area, is seen surrounded by a ditch at a construction site for a new residential compound in Xiangyang, Hubei province, China, November 19, 2013. REUTERS/Stringer

Xu Aiguo, the owner of a nail house, the last house in the area, set up a Chinese national flag outside his balcony in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China, November 8, 2010. REUTERS/Stringer

Owner Zhao Xing, 58, collects water near his partially demolished "nail house", the last house in the area, at a construction site in Kunming, Yunnan province, October 30, 2010. REUTERS/Stringer

A woman stands at the balcony of her house which will be demolished to build new apartments in downtown Shanghai, December 1, 2010. REUTERS/Carlos Barria