Two "nail buildings" obstruct traffic at the Xinan village section of the No 41 provincial-level highway in Yongjia city, Zhejiang province on March 10, 2015. [Photo/IC]

'Nail buildings' stand in middle of highway

A number of high-profile "nail houses", a Chinese neologism for homes belonging to people (sometimes called "stubborn nails") who refuse to make room for real estate development, have received widespread attention in the Chinese press. Here is the latest one.

Two buildings, with 10 households living in them, stand on the Xinan village section of the No 41 provincial highway in Yongjia city, East China's Zhejiang province, forcing vehicles to swerve to avoid them , China News Service reported on Tuesday.

Failure to negotiate an acceptable compensation to demolish the buildings is the reason why they still remain.

The newly-built 15.165-km highway is a key project for the province, with a total investment of 889 million yuan ($142 million). It opened temporarily to traffic before the Spring Festival of 2015 after construction kicked off on Dec 1, 2011.

In a previous trending article, city planners faced with a similar dilemma built their new highway around the stubborn homeowners, encircling them.

In our final story, a man replaces a damaged bridge and starts charging a toll to cross it.