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Nailhouse


April 3, 2007 | permalink |


For today's Geo Quiz, we're looking for a city in south-west China. A city in Sichuan province, along the great Yangtze River.

The confluence of the Jialing River and Yangtze River as seen from our mystery cityThe confluence of the Jialing River and Yangtze River as seen from our mystery city

The nailhouseThe nailhouse

The city is building a new mall, downtown. But one Chinese couple there refused to budge from their home to make way. You may have seen the pictures posted on the 'net by their supporters last week.

Ping Wu, the wife of Wu Yang, shows the verdict of a local court that orders them to move from their home to make way for develoPing Wu, the wife of Wu Yang, shows the verdict of a local court that orders them to move from their home to make way for develo

But, last night bulldozers razed the couple's little brick house.

The nailhouseThe nailhouse

It's called a nailhouse, says our Beijing correspondent, Mary Kay Magistad, because its owners acted like stubborn nails:

“The Chinese term nailhouse refers to the fact that if you think of a board with a nail that's sticking out of it, a stubborn nail that refuses to be pounded in, its actually a figure of speech in Chinese and it can also be used to refer to people who refuse to go along with government policies.”

So -- we want you to name this hilly city of more than 4 million residents.

We'll hear more about that stubborn nailhouse when we reveal the answer...





Geo Quiz archive



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