Häätöuhka

Nail household refer to the residents who refuse to move from their houses and resist developers or government.)
Chongqing. An isolated earth platform stood upright in the pit of a building site. On the platform was a lonely house, unyielding and erected — in the eyes of many Chinese it has become a symbol, a totem. It represented a bullheaded fight against the overbearing power, a clear statement that the private ownership could not, and should not be trampled.

In March, 2007, the new Real Right Law was passed. Soon after this, a picture appeared on hundreds of websites. In it, the two-story house remained the last building of the deep pit. The mass media caught the hot news and soon found the owners were a couple that refused to move because the compensation was thought to be too low in comparison with the regional price. Moreover, the owners’ opinion had never been consulted before the developers came to dismantle their houses. They alleged: no compromise without representation.

The internet paid the incidence a continuous concern, during which a hot debate going. The couple insisted the land was sold to the developer for commercial use, with nothing related to the so-called public interest. Most netizens sided with them. Nail households all over the country came to Chonqing to support the couple. It was like a sitcom which millions of people collectively acted. On 22nd, March, the scheduled demolishment approved by the local court didn’t come. The male owner flaunted the national flag to show his determination on staying with his home.

Finally, the couple got a satisfactory compensation and agreed to move in April. In the uproar of bulldozers, a legend ended. The incidence performed as a torch-bearing case of the new law, also a collective harvest of so many netizens, who sat before computers staring at the event, or went in-person to the site to support the weak.

Wind may come in, Rain may come in, but the King may not.