1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,760 Despite what you see on tiktok or rednote, 2 00:00:02,760 --> 00:00:07,640 China isn’t that nice a place to live. 3 00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:09,600 Welcome to China Uncensored, I’m Chris Chappell. 4 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:14,518 Before we start the episode, remember we’re now  in phase 2 of Operation Honey Pot. 5 00:00:14,518 --> 00:00:15,959 Don’t know what that means? 6 00:00:15,959 --> 00:00:17,670 I’ll link the episode below. 7 00:00:17,670 --> 00:00:21,640 And watch  until the end for an Operation Honey Pot update. 8 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:24,400 Imagine you’re walking through a tunnel 9 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:26,840 And on the other end is your dream  home! 10 00:00:26,840 --> 00:00:30,160 A beautiful, two story house… 11 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:32,667 Located in the middle of a  freeway. 12 00:00:32,667 --> 00:00:34,960 Yes this is real. 13 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:36,840 The owner didn’t want to sell his house 14 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:41,080 to developers so they literally  just built the road around it. 15 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:45,560 You’d think they could have at least put ramps  on the road so cars would safely fly over it. 16 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:48,840 The owner says he regrets not selling it now. 17 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:51,200 Though apparently it does draw tourists. 18 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:55,480 So this wasn’t as much an abuse of  power by local authorities in cahoots 19 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:57,486 with corrupt property developers 20 00:00:57,486 --> 00:01:01,400 , as it was an  opportunity for an enterprising entrepreneur. 21 00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:03,640 This is what’s called a nail house. 22 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:07,080 And yes, it happens so frequently there's  a name for it. 23 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:10,097 It’s called that because the houses stick up like an old rusty  nail 24 00:01:10,097 --> 00:01:12,280 in an otherwise urban landscape 25 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:14,983 because the owner refused to make way for  development 26 00:01:14,983 --> 00:01:16,440 …perhaps being as tough and 27 00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:17,846 stubborn as an old nail. 28 00:01:17,846 --> 00:01:19,800 There’s some  debate over the origin of the term. 29 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:25,030 China has seen rapid urbanization, a  directive from the top of the Chinese Communist Party 30 00:01:25,030 --> 00:01:28,537 . And since local governments  can’t charge taxes, 31 00:01:28,537 --> 00:01:32,075 working w hrough some unscrupulous land sales 32 00:01:32,075 --> 00:01:35,960 was  a great way to rake in huge sums of cash. 33 00:01:35,960 --> 00:01:39,040 There are several notable “nail houses” in China, 34 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:41,760 Like this brick dwelling in the center of a plaza, 35 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:44,280 Or this mini-mansion in the middle of a road, 36 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:46,880 many of which have become tourist attractions. 37 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:48,960 Or, y’know, extra large planters. 38 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:52,440 I also hate moving, but these  folks took it to another level. 39 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:55,080 And that brings me back to  the owner of this nail house. 40 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:57,480 He’s a grandfather named Huang Ping, 41 00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:01,000 although he’s  been nicknamed “the strongest nail house owner.” 42 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:04,640 Huang lives in Jinxi with  his 11 year-old grandson, 43 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:06,640 but they spend a significant amount of time in 44 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:09,600 the town center to avoid all  of the construction noise. 45 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:14,280 According to Huang, he was offered  almost $220,000 to relocate, 46 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:17,160 and also offered three other alternative  homes, 47 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:19,760 but he rejected all of these offers. 48 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:23,160 So they just decided to build this  massive motorway around his house. 49 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:25,650 Huang has had time to reflect on his  decision 50 00:02:25,650 --> 00:02:27,320 , and is now expressing regret, 51 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:30,920 fearing the constant noise the  motorway will bring once completed. 52 00:02:30,920 --> 00:02:33,520 He even told reporters that  “If I could turn back time, 53 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:36,160 I would agree to the demolition  conditions they offered.” 54 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:38,920 And that “now it feels like I lost a big bet.” 55 00:02:38,920 --> 00:02:40,120 He’s not alone, either. 56 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:44,976 Some of the owners of these nail houses ultimately  ended up accepting compensation 57 00:02:44,976 --> 00:02:47,950 or alternative properties in exchange for demolition 58 00:02:47,950 --> 00:02:50,680 because they  got tired of all the attention they were getting. 59 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:52,400 Or, y’know, being in the middle of a road. 60 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:56,440 Others held out for a long time, hoping  for an even better compensation package 61 00:02:56,440 --> 00:03:00,720 from the authorities–which, as you  can guess, didn’t go so well for them. 62 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:03,037 So why do these nail houses even exist? 63 00:03:03,037 --> 00:03:05,920 Why  don’t the homeowners just take the money or 64 00:03:05,920 --> 00:03:07,670 alternative property and leave? 65 00:03:07,670 --> 00:03:10,400 Do they  not have any friends they can trick into 66 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:13,600 helping them move with promises  of pizza and beer (corner box)? 67 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:18,360 Well, there are a couple of reasons, besides being  attached to their homes like any normal person. 68 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:21,683 You can see how this, might  have been bit more spacious 69 00:03:21,683 --> 00:03:24,040 than Living in one of these tiny apartments. 70 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:25,650 You know before the road. 71 00:03:25,650 --> 00:03:28,810 Residents say the new, smaller houses or high-rise apartments 72 00:03:28,810 --> 00:03:32,675 they are being moved into are either too far from their fields 73 00:03:32,675 --> 00:03:36,920 , too expensive,  or ill-suited for their needs as farmers. 74 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:39,920 Others say that the offer  they were given wasn’t fair. 75 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:43,363 The issue is in China, the government owns all the  land, 76 00:03:43,363 --> 00:03:45,960 whether in the countryside or big cities. 77 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:48,870 The way the Communist Party phrases  that is that the people 78 00:03:48,870 --> 00:03:51,680 own all the land collectively. 79 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:55,280 And since the  Party represents the people, well… 80 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:56,560 You get stuff like this. 81 00:03:56,560 --> 00:03:59,668 The only reason  these houses don’t get knocked down, 82 00:03:59,668 --> 00:04:04,040 like they used to, is that the central  government has discouraged it. 83 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:08,560 So local officials and developers  will “encourage” people to move. 84 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:12,320 Now this is important because we’ve had  a bunch of Americans go on the Chinese 85 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:16,570 controlled app TikTok, or now, even more  stupidly, RedNote 86 00:04:16,570 --> 00:04:18,897 , get a bunch of Chinese propaganda videos 87 00:04:18,897 --> 00:04:23,280 and think everyone in  China has the right to cheap housing!” 88 00:04:23,280 --> 00:04:27,862 Well keep in mind almost 1 billion people in  China 89 00:04:27,862 --> 00:04:31,200 live off less than 300 dollars a month. 90 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:34,080 And if you somehow manage to afford a home, 91 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:35,800 This can happen to it. 92 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:38,000 And now, Operation Honey Pot. 93 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:40,770 I told you in a special bonus China  Uncensored episode 94 00:04:40,770 --> 00:04:44,947 about how YouTube claimed there was nothing wrong with my  channel, 95 00:04:44,947 --> 00:04:48,619 and the reason I suddenly lost 5 million views 96 00:04:48,619 --> 00:04:52,360 was just because people  weren’t interested in my videos anymore. 97 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:06,100 I wasn’t buying it. 98 00:05:06,100 --> 00:05:10,440 And you’ve proved  YouTube wrong, with Operation Honey Pot. 99 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:15,080 So many of you are telling me you’re finally  seeing China Uncensored videos again. 100 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:16,570 Great work, everyone! 101 00:05:16,570 --> 00:05:19,924 And remember, we’re in phase  2 of Operation Honey Pot now. 102 00:05:19,924 --> 00:05:22,723 Which means we’re really targeting the algorithm 103 00:05:22,723 --> 00:05:25,469 . So there are  three things I’m asking you to do: 104 00:05:25,469 --> 00:05:29,392 one, watch China Uncensored videos all the way to the end. 105 00:05:29,392 --> 00:05:32,760 Two, if you see one of my videos get recommended, 106 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:34,540 please click on it. 107 00:05:34,540 --> 00:05:38,580 And three, keep liking  my videos and leaving honey pot comments. 108 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:51,751 Thank you, my 50-Cent Army. 109 00:05:51,751 --> 00:05:54,020 You’re the reason the show can continue. 110 00:05:54,020 --> 00:05:57,280 Now keep the honey pots flowing!