Stories of residents fighting against the demolition of their homes are not new. But this nail house (钉子户) story is definitely more unusual than most, because the resident in question is a Beijing police officer.

Three years ago, Wang Hui’s family home was slated for demolition. When an agreement with developers couldn’t be reached Wang Hui and his neighbor, Dazhang, refused to move. Three years later, they are still there. His house has now become one more in an increasing amount of nail houses in China.  

Wanghui has been a police officer for 20 years. Not much scares him, but he has spent three years afraid of “the plan to tear down his house” in a sudden and unexpected attack. Remember, the Jilin woman whose house was “accidentally” destroyed in the middle of the night? Wang Hui remembers one night when two crazed dogs came into the house barking. Wang Hui, terrified, hid under the bed, but then he found his courage and went outside to make lots of noise in order to scare off the developers who were waiting in the dark.

Although Wang Hui is a determined nail house owner, he says it has never influenced his police work. In 20 years he has never had a complaint. In regards to the potential issues with being a nail house owner and police officer Wang Hui said, “Police is my work, nail house is my life, the two are in conflict”. But he has been transferred to a police station far away from home, probably in an attempt to limit this conflict.

Wang Hui’s dedication to his nail house has made his family life difficult, his wife and daughter live with his mother-in-law and coordinating their schedules can be tricky. Interestingly, his daughter, who is studying for her university entrance exams, wants to go to the People’s Public Security University, and later become a police officer.  

Wang Hui’s case was reported about in Beijing news back in 2010, and yet still he sits and waits.

Source: www.cpd.com

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Keywords: Nail house in China Beijing police