Steamrollered by the Chinese miracle

But these incredible before and after pictures show what happens when homeowners stand in the way of official progress in China.

Known as 'dingzihu' (or 'nail houses'), they stood defiant amid booming property development across the country, but now they have disappeared - demolished in the name of progress and construction.

In recent years, China passed a series of regulations to protect the land rights of holdout tenants, including outlawing the use of violence during evictions.

Rules also stipulated that market rate compensation must be paid to relocated residents. 

But local officials often ignore these rules, according to researchers and campaigners. 

One house in Wenling, Zhejiang province, had a main road built around it when the couple living there refused to move.

Pictured in November 2012, the half-demolished apartment building is seen standing in the middle of the newly-built road. But just a month later, it was demolished after the owners agreed to compensation.

Another peculiar sight of a single-storey 'nail house' is seen, in a photograph taken in April, standing in the middle of a road in Nanning, in southwest China's Guangxi province - but less than four weeks later, it was gone.

It stood out, sitting at a skewed angle, in contrast against the modern and symmetrical housing development surrounding it.

According to local media reports, its owner refused to give in to developers and did not reach an agreement with the local authority about compensation.

And some nail house owners even carried on living in their homes even when water and electricity supplies have been cut off. 

(dailymail.co.uk)