Beijing man builds illegal rooftop villa on apartment block

[Desire]

Beijing man builds illegal rooftop villa on apartment block

Monday, 12 August, 2013, 9:48pm
Vicky Feng [email protected]

A rooftop villa is seen on top of a 26-storey residential building. Photo: Simon Song

When it comes to illegal structures, a rooftop villa built by an eccentric Beijing resident on top of a 26-storey residential building puts Henry Tang’s wine cellar to shame.

The house features elaborate fake rocks, real trees and grass, and covers the entire top of the building. Parts of the structure look as they could spill over the edge of the roof at any time.

The two-storey illegal construction is located in a high-end residential compound called Park View in Beijing’s Haidian district, an area of government institutions and universities.The house features elaborate fake rocks, real trees and grass. Photo: Simon Song

The bizarre structure has bothered the building’s residents for years. Neighbours say the owner, whom they know only as “Professor Zhang”, has spent six years building the rooftop house.

Disturbed by constant noise from heavy construction machinery working on the roof, occasional water leaks and worried about structural damage, neighbours have complained repeatedly to the building management company, local urban management officials and even the police.

When confronted by reporters from local newspaper Beijing Morning News, Zhang, whose full name was not known, said, “Since I dare to live here, I am not worried about complaints.

“Famous people come to my place and sing. How can you stop them?” the newspaper quoted him as saying about the noise at night.

The community’s property management office declined to comment and phone calls to the Haidian district urban management office went unanswered on Monday.

The “rooftop garden villa” might not be the only illegal construction in this community, Chinese netizens have found out.

A property agent posted photos of another apparently illegal rooftop house online in late 2011, featuring a blueprint of a three-storey structure with more than a dozen rooms and a bird’s eye view of a nearby lake.

The structure, which the agent also called a “rooftop garden villa”, had a total indoor area of more than 590 square metres and an asking price of 15 million yuan (HK$19 million).

When contacted by phone by the Post on Monday, Sun Jianchao, a Beijing real estate agent who posted the pictures, denied the structure in the pictures was the same one in the news this week, but declined to give more details.

Some Chinese netizens mocked the rooftop house. “Even the Hanging Gardens of Babylon are overshadowed by this hanging villa in Beijing,” said one Weibo user.

While others were angry at the owner with one internet user saying, “How can this guy be a professor? He gained his happiness by torturing others.”

Almost all add-on structures or alterations to residential buildings are illegal in China. However, this hasn’t stopped thousands of owners of top-floor or ground-floor properties from adding rooms, and even floors, to their homes, or encroaching into public space by putting up additional walls or fences.

The rooftop home built on top of the apartment block in Beijing Photo: CEN

 

[Sinkie]

Is admission free? I will like to go to the villa to pee.

 

[HereIsTheNews]

China Mountain Villa On Tower Block 'Must Go'

3:56pm, Tuesday 13 August 2013
By Victoria Wei in Beijing

Officials are hunting a man who infuriated neighbours by building an elaborate residence on an apartment block.

About six years ago Zhang Biqing, said to be an ex-army medic, started his grand project to cover the rooftop of the 26-storey Beijing building with fake rocks, real greenery and even a swimming pool.

The apartment is on the roof of the 26-storey building

But residents have expressed their anger at the penthouse, which has no permission or licence to be there.

Mr Zhang, who became famous after inventing a system of Chinese acupuncture treatment, managed to carry out the building work despite years of constant complaints.

The project has allegedly caused water leaks and structural damage to the flats downstairs.

A surveillance camera is seen on the top of a privately built villa, surrounded by imitation rocks, on the rooftop of a 26-storey residential block in Beijing

The pool is said to have flooded other apartments

One family who lives at the opposite building told Sky News that the work was hugely intrusive.

They said it was loud and very bright and it meant they could not open their curtains at night.

"It was not only the construction work that carried on at night but also the camera at the top that seemed to be working and recording all the time - we don't have any privacy," the woman, who did not want to be named, told Sky News.

Mr Zhang has been given 15 days to leave the residence. (Pic: Victoria Wei)

"I heard the swimming pool has caused floods to downstairs flats a few times; those poor families."

Local shopkeepers and security guards suggested bribes had possibly exchanged hands, claiming there were close connections between Mr Zhang and the compound's management, who turned a blind eye to the project.

Chinese officials have given Mr Zhang 15 days to vacate the residence in the city's west district of Haidian - but they face a major issue.

"The only thing now for us is that we can't find the owner," said the Beijing City Enforcement Bureau's Chen Yu told reporters.

Beijing authorities say they cannot find the owner

"We have issued a lot of summonses, but he never came to us to be investigated."

But local media managed to find Mr Zhang, who told them he had to keep the villa to accommodate "famous people coming to stay and sing".

"I live here, so I'm not worried about the complaints," Mr Zhang said.

 

[CuttingItFine]

Beijing gives rooftop villa owner two-week demolition deadline

<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/6FZAeu7FZH8?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>

Aug. 13 - A man who built a large mountain-like villa on top of a Beijing apartment block is given 15 days to dismantle his residence or the city's management authorities say they will demolish it. Nathan Frandino reports.

 

[Reflekt]

TCM chain probed after illegal villa exposed

China Daily, August 14, 2013

Beijing authorities have begun investigating a traditional Chinese medicine chain after learning its founder built an illegal house on top of a 26-story apartment building.

The Qijingtang TCM chain is being investigated by the Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce's Chaoyang branch, a spokeswoman named Song said.

The authority will investigate the chain's licenses and release the results as soon as possible, Song said.

​

A villa privately built on the rooftop of a residential building in downtown Beijing has prompted complaints from neighbours living below. Professor Zhang, the villa owner, has been instructed to tear down the illegal building, according to the property managers.[China.org.cn]

Zhang Biqing, the chain's founder, said he will demolish the illegal house within 15 days, as ordered by the authority, Mirror Evening News reported on Tuesday.

Haidian district chengguan, or urban patrol officers, issued a notice on Monday that Zhang should demolish the house within 15 days, as it was illegal.

The house, on top of a 26-story apartment building in the Renji Shanzhuang community, was built with rock and decorated with trees and bushes, covering more than 800 square meters.

Neighbors complained about the home as it was being built in 2007, and later about music and singing late at night after it was finished.

Zhang said he was aware of the problem and will demolish the illegal parts of the house, Mirror Evening News reported, but he dismissed allegations that he had beaten a neighbor who argued with him over the illegal building.

Zhang is a former member of a district branch of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the political advisory body, according to chengguan authorities.

His case became a hot topic among Chinese netizens, who also questioned his experience in curing diseases, which was mentioned on Qijingtang's website and the website of a medical research academy he headed.

According to its website, Qijingtang has 11 stores in Beijing and many others across the country.

"We have our own legal representative. The operation of this shop has nothing to do with Zhang," said a woman named Zhao, who is in charge of the Qijingtang chain store in the Hujialou area of Chaoyang district.

"We only introduce his therapy, but we have no contact with him now," Zhao said.

"Our massage therapists have all received formal medical training."

Zhao said the store uses magnetic acupuncture therapy to relieve pain in the cervical vertebra and omovertebral bone.

According to the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the store has been approved for prostate disease therapy.

Healthcare products on the shelves of the store in Hujialou cost from several hundred yuan to more than 2,000 yuan ($327).

The store's reception hall covers about 10 sq m, with three rows of benches for waiting patients.

According to its website, Qijingtang has a training department, which charges 3,000 yuan for a course.

People who complete the course receive training and occupation qualification certificates for therapists, which say they have been approved by the Ministry of Human Resource and Social Security.

The website was closed on Tuesday afternoon for an upgrade, according to a Qijingtang employee.

The Chaoyang branch of the Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce said it will investigate Qijingtang's training program.

​

The Qijingtang TCM chain is being investigated by the Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce's Chaoyang branch, a spokeswoman named Song said.[Xinhua]