In Beijing, No Answer to The Bulldozer

BEIJING, April 25 -- Su Xiangyu realized his house would be the next to face the bulldozer when a beefy man pulled up a crate and sat down near Su's front door last Friday. The man didn't say anything. Just sat and smoked. Watched Su and waited.

"He showed up after Wang Lianmin's house was demolished," said Su, squinting as he scanned the field of dirt and rubble that used to be a community of more than 550 families.

Su, Wang and another neighbor were the last three holdouts to fight for their families' homes against developers who own rights to this land, just across the street from the main Olympic park in Beijing. The three have now been forced to join the thousands of people -- housing advocates say hundreds of thousands -- whose homes have been plowed under in the rush of Olympics-related construction over the past seven years.

Less than four months before the Summer Games open, the forced relocations in Beijing are highlighting another cost of the Olympics, as residents make way for such architectural glories as the National Stadium, known as the bird's nest, and the apartment and office towers springing up nearby. Whole neighborhoods have been wiped out. Especially controversial has been the destruction of about 800 of the city's 1,200 hutongs, lanes full of traditional, courtyard-style houses.

Beijing real estate prices are soaring, but residents are often blocked from realizing the full value of their homes when the government orders them out. Many complain that compensation levels set by authorities are far below market rates, making it impossible for them to find comparable housing elsewhere.

"You can never win when you sue the government," said Su, who fought in the courts for more than three years after he and his neighbors received their first demolition notices on March 7, 2005. He refused to accept the developer's settlement offer even after most of the others had done so.

By the end of 2006, only 12 families were left in what was once Yangshan Village. One by one, their houses began to be demolished.

Su's ex-wife, who still lives with him, recently began pressing him to settle. The neighborhood had become a construction zone, and things were starting to feel unsafe. On April 1, the water was cut off.

Su had lost again in court, but he did not want to give up. He visited his great-grandfather's grave, seeking a sign.

"I am full of feelings for this land," he said. "I was born here. My family was all here."

Then, on Thursday last week, Su watched as Wang and his family were forced from their home. Then a demolition crew, backed by 30 police officers and guards, razed the house.

Later that day, Su found the silent visitor on his doorstep. On Wednesday, he agreed to settle and began moving out. The bulldozer arrived the next day.