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Despite what you see on tiktok or rednote, 
China isn’t that nice a place to live. 

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Welcome to China Uncensored, I’m Chris Chappell.

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Before we start the episode, remember we’re now 
in phase 2 of Operation Honey Pot. Don’t know what  

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that means? I’ll link the episode below. And watch 
until the end for an Operation Honey Pot update. 

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Imagine you’re walking through a tunnel

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And on the other end is your dream 
home! A beautiful, two story house…

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Located in the middle of a 
freeway. Yes this is real.

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The owner didn’t want to sell his house  

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to developers so they literally 
just built the road around it.  

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You’d think they could have at least put ramps 
on the road so cars would safely fly over it. 

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The owner says he regrets not selling it now.

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Though apparently it does draw tourists. 

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So this wasn’t as much an abuse of 
power by local authorities in cahoots  

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with corrupt property developers, as it was an 
opportunity for an enterprising entrepreneur. 

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This is what’s called a nail house. 

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And yes, it happens so frequently there's 
a name for it. It’s called that because  

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the houses stick up like an old rusty 
nail in an otherwise urban landscape  

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because the owner refused to make way for 
development…perhaps being as tough and  

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stubborn as an old nail. There’s some 
debate over the origin of the term.

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China has seen rapid urbanization, a 
directive from the top of the Chinese  

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Communist Party. And since local governments 
can’t charge taxes, working with developers  

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through some unscrupulous land sales was 
a great way to rake in huge sums of cash. 

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There are several notable “nail houses” in China,

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Like this brick dwelling in the center of a plaza,

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Or this mini-mansion in the middle of a road,

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many of which have become tourist attractions.

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Or, y’know, extra large planters. 

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I also hate moving, but these 
folks took it to another level.

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And that brings me back to 
the owner of this nail house. 

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He’s a grandfather named Huang Ping, although he’s 
been nicknamed “the strongest nail house owner.”

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Huang lives in Jinxi with 
his 11 year-old grandson,

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but they spend a significant amount of time in  

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the town center to avoid all 
of the construction noise.  

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According to Huang, he was offered 
almost $220,000 to relocate,  

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and also offered three other alternative 
homes, but he rejected all of these offers. 

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So they just decided to build this 
massive motorway around his house. 

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Huang has had time to reflect on his 
decision, and is now expressing regret,  

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fearing the constant noise the 
motorway will bring once completed. 

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He even told reporters that 
“If I could turn back time,  

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I would agree to the demolition 
conditions they offered.”

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And that “now it feels like I lost a big bet.”

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He’s not alone, either.

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Some of the owners of these nail houses ultimately 
ended up accepting compensation or alternative  

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properties in exchange for demolition because they 
got tired of all the attention they were getting.

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Or, y’know, being in the middle of a road.

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Others held out for a long time, hoping 
for an even better compensation package  

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from the authorities–which, as you 
can guess, didn’t go so well for them.

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So why do these nail houses even exist? Why 
don’t the homeowners just take the money or  

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alternative property and leave? Do they 
not have any friends they can trick into  

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helping them move with promises 
of pizza and beer (corner box)?

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Well, there are a couple of reasons, besides being 
attached to their homes like any normal person.

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You can see how this, might 
have been bit more spacious than 

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Living in one of these tiny apartments.

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You know before the road. 
Residents say the new,  

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smaller houses or high-rise apartments 
they are being moved into are either  

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too far from their fields, too expensive, 
or ill-suited for their needs as farmers.

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Others say that the offer 
they were given wasn’t fair. 

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The issue is in China, the government owns all the 
land, whether in the countryside or big cities.

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The way the Communist Party phrases 
that is that the people own all the  

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land collectively. And since the 
Party represents the people, well…

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You get stuff like this. The only reason 
these houses don’t get knocked down, like  

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they used to, is that the central 
government has discouraged it.

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So local officials and developers 
will “encourage” people to move.

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Now this is important because we’ve had 
a bunch of Americans go on the Chinese  

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controlled app TikTok, or now, even more 
stupidly, RedNote, get a bunch of Chinese  

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propaganda videos and think everyone in 
China has the *right* to cheap housing!”

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Well keep in mind almost 1 billion people in 
China live off less than 300 dollars a month.

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And if you somehow manage to afford a home, 

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This can happen to it.

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And now, Operation Honey Pot. 

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I told you in a special bonus China 
Uncensored episode about how YouTube  

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claimed there was nothing wrong with my 
channel, and the reason I suddenly lost  

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5 million views was just because people 
weren’t interested in my videos anymore. 

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I wasn’t buying it. And you’ve proved 
YouTube wrong, with Operation Honey Pot. 

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So many of you are telling me you’re finally 
seeing China Uncensored videos again. 

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Great work, everyone! And remember, we’re in phase 
2 of Operation Honey Pot now. Which means we’re  

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really targeting the algorithm. So there are 
three things I’m asking you to do: one, watch  

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China Uncensored videos all the way to the end. 
Two, if you see one of my videos get recommended,  

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please click on it. And three, keep liking 
my videos and leaving honey pot comments.  

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Thank you, my 50-Cent Army. 
You’re the reason the show  

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can continue. Now keep the honey pots flowing!