Struggle against eviction in Guangzhou

Some said there is a "nail house" in Guangzhou again. But Pan Weiye, the protagonist of this incident, refuses to be classified as "nail". He argues that what he wants is an apartment of the same area in this district.

Pan Weiye's home is a house in Xiguan, an area famous by the wealth class in the past. It was located in the western side of the inner city of Guangzhou, a district for foreign trade in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Pan's house is a historical building and his family has been living here for three generations. There were five families before eviction but now only a family of seven members stays.

Pan says he feels angry with being cheated by government. That is why he refuses to move. In 2003, Guangzhou City Government's Bureau of National Resources and Housing issued a notic of eviction. The government is going to reclaim the land on the western and eastern sides of the Kangwang Road in the Liwan District for commercial development. The Bureau of Construction and Urban Affairs of the Liwan District government handles the eviction. The government promised to resettle Pan's family to a house with the similiar area in the Liwan District. However, the government brought him to visit a place in Haizhu District rather than Liwan District in August 2004.

The traditional-style wooden sliding gate (「趟櫳門」, see the photo below) of Pan's old house reminds me of my childhood in Macau. There was a gate like it in my maternal grandmother's home. I put my little hands on the thick timbers and felt very comfortable. I often climbed up and down or put my head or hands into the space between two timbers.

Mr Pan has fought against eviction for three years. The houses surrounding his are gone. Behind his home, there are a lot of real estate development. He never withdraws. The court issued notices and send officers to his home. He embraced a gas tank and the sliding gate to confront with them. His action arouses many support. Zola who covered the story of the "nail house" in Chongqing also came to Guangzhou to visit Pan.

Now Pan's home becomes a gathering place for people concerning demolition and eviction. Some disseminate public letters to protest against government. Some put up big slogans on the wall. Some even hang a big banner as high as a story of the apartment (see the picture).

I have never lived in Xiguan. Some years ago I followed my father to visit there. My father had lived there at the age of 2 or 3 when the KMT was withdrawing and the Communist Party was coming. After I saw Pan's sliding gate reminding me of the days when my mother and I frequently visited my grandmother's home, I suddently realize that the houses demolished are more or less a part of our "past".

Photo: Zola