As in "Howl's Moving Castle" or "Spirited Away": a man defies demolition orders by building a house worthy of Miyazaki's fantasy world
Authorities razed most of Mr. Chen's village in southwest China's Guizhou province in 2018 to build a tourism project in the region known for its spectacular rice paddies and mountainous landscapes.
But Mr. Chen, 42, refused to leave. After the project failed, he defied a series of demolition notices to build his eccentric home, floor by floor.
Today, he reigns over this ten-story tower, made of teetering staircases, balconies and wacky extensions.
In the Chinese media, the building has been compared to those in the fantasy world of Japanese animated film director Hayao Miyazaki.
" I started building out of necessity, trying to renovate and expand our house," Chen told AFP one May afternoon, climbing a ladder from his pyramid-shaped home.
"But then it became a passion, a hobby that I enjoy," he adds.
The lack of building permits, however, has angered local authorities.
The upper floors, where he sleeps, sway in the wind, and dozens of ropes and cables keep the house anchored to the ground, giving the feeling that the whole thing could fly away at any moment.
"When I'm up there (...) I feel like a nomad," says Mr. Chen, looking out at the buildings, the airport and the mountains in the distance.
"People often say that it is dangerous, and that it should be demolished (...) but I will never let anyone destroy it."
Local authorities had planned to build a tourist resort of more than 300 hectares, including a theater and an artificial lake, on the site of Mr. Chen's village.
But his parents then refused the compensation offered, and he vowed to help them protect the house his grandfather built in the 1980s.
Even when the neighbors moved out and their homes were destroyed, he stayed put, even sleeping alone in his house for two months "in case the developers came to demolish it during the night."
Six months later, like many ill-conceived development projects in this over-indebted province, the tourist resort plan was abandoned.
Almost alone in the ruined village, Mr. Chen lives in this "nail house" - a Chinese term for homes whose owners refuse to move despite demolition orders .
A consequence of the country's rapid urbanization and incomplete private property laws, "nail houses" regularly make headlines when they succeed in delaying or modifying major real estate projects.
In recent years, as he patiently built the upper floors of his home, Mr. Chen continued to receive demolition threats.
Last August, his house was classified as an illegal building, and Mr. Chen was ordered to demolish everything within five days, except for the original bungalow.
He says he spent tens of thousands of yuan (several thousand euros) challenging these notices in court, despite several defeats in the first hearings.
The next one has been postponed, however.
"I'm not worried. Now that there are no more development projects, they have no reason to demolish ," he says.
Ironically, Mr. Chen's unusual home has begun to attract curious visitors on a regular basis in recent years.
On Chinese social media, some netizens are calling it "China's strangest nail house," comparing it to the fantastical constructions in Japanese studio Ghibli's animated films, such as "Howl's Moving Castle" and "Spirited Away."
At nightfall, the tower is illuminated by lanterns, offering a unique spectacle to walkers.
"It's beautiful," said He Diezhen, a local resident, as she took photos.
"If there are no security issues, it could become a truly iconic site in the region ," she adds.
Mr. Chen says his house awakens memories of many visitors' most extravagant childhood dreams.
"People dream of building their own house (...) but few succeed," he says.
"I didn't just dream it. I did it."
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