Lin is the first victim to be rescued alive from the landslide. An updated list compiled by rescue workers on Tuesday shows that 76 people, 50 men and 26 women, are still believed to be trapped in the rubble.

Lin and another victim were discovered at 3:40am, however only Lin was alive. After being rescued, Lin was immediately given a protective helmet and hooked up to an IV.

Sunday’s landslide was the result of an enormous man-made pile of industrial waste that had been piling up for over two years. The Ministry of Land and Resources said, “The pile was too big, and the pile was too steep, leading to instability and collapse.”

Covering a vast area of 380,000 square meters (455,000 square yards) and up to 10 meters deep, the landslide engulfed over 30 buildings, causing some of them to topple.

There are more than 4,000 rescue workers involved in the rescue effort, along with 331 pieces of engineering equipment, 190 excavators, and 76 dump trucks.

The post Shenzhen Landslide Survivor Rescued After Being Trapped For 67 Hours appeared first on The Nanfang.

In an interview published on iFeng, Professor Wang Lifang argued that the proliferation of all the “weird buildings” that have been appearing in China are a mistake, saying they are “the result of a fickle and impatient mood”:

There are a few strange and unacceptable buildings that honestly have a hidden danger to them. For example, there’s this one building that has this large suspended horizontal component at its top. It’s so high, and yet this component is so large. This is not conducive to maintaining the safety of the structure. What’s more, this structure has two “legs” that are splayed, and yet the elevators inside are running vertically. This gives the builders and safety coordinators added problems.
In terms of fire prevention, once a problem arises, the people inside the building can only escape using the two “legs” of the building. (In the same way,) firefighters going to extinguish the fire can only go up using these same two “legs”. (All this time,) there’s no escape for (the people located) in the middle beam, and that’s what makes this a fire safety risk. What’s more, the distance of the suspended beam is so long that there’s a great possibility that it exceeds the reasonable distance required to be able to safely escape. Since none of these are reasonable arrangements, then it could be said that the price of being weird is great by sacrificing safety standards.

Hmmm, which building could he possibly have been referring to?

He also said these “weird buildings” are purely a Chinese phenomenon:

Weird buildings only appear in certain niche situations, and can not be considered mainstream. Recently, construction of new buildings in the West is very rare because they are already full of buildings. When they do have a project, such as to build a new conference center or a small-scale exhibition hall that may be a few thousand square meters large, it may become a little strange. But since construction space is limited, the (strange) influence will also be limited, meaning that they have little room to play around.

Photo: iFeng

The post Tsinghua Prof Says China’s “Weird Buildings” are a Safety Hazard appeared first on The Nanfang.

The collapse of an illegal basement belonging to a representative of the National People’s Conference last week revealed a new and disturbing trend in Beijing. In order to increase the size and value of their property, Beijing homeowners are building illegal basements. Mostly seen in the city’s east and west ends, basement construction is most prevalent among siheyuan, a traditional Beijing-style courtyard home.

Homeowners use reinforced concrete and steel to support their basements with ceilings only two meters high. While the doubled floor space can add up to 10 million yuan to the value of the home, the excavation involved in building these basements, risks the collapse of neighbouring properties. Basement expansions are illegal in Beijing, and no building permits are granted for such renovations.

Notwithstanding the risks involved, as well as the illegality of their construction, an industry insider surnamed Wang revealed that nothing is being done to prevent them:

Digging out your own basement is not about how much money you spend. Reinforced concrete isn’t the most valuable (resource here), what’s most valuable is the guanxi (relationships) that a family has that will prevent anyone from filing a report.

Mr. Zhang, a member of the Housing Agency, believes Guanxi is the key unspoken rule: Guanxi ensures that residents don’t inform authorities of the illegal construction and, conversely, prevents authorities from asking about them.

Photos: fznews

The post Hottest New Trend: Beijingers Building Illegal Basements appeared first on The Nanfang.

A sinkhole opened up in Xuzhou, Jiangsu, on January 24. It turns out it was created by a basement built illegally by Li Baojun, a representative of China’s National People’s Congress. The sinkhole forced 15 residents to be evacuated from their homes while a four-story house teetered precariously to one side. The hole was so wide it stretched out into the road in front.

Li had previously been penalized for making illegal renovations to his home last July.

Li had not obtained authorizations to build the basement, and many concerned residents had called the local chengguan hotline but their calls were not answered.

Crews have spent three days filling the 1.900-square meter hole with sand and cement. The street has since re-opened, and repairs are underway to fix the teetering home.

Related:

• No Elevator for Your 5th Floor Walkup? Man Builds His Own (Illegal) One
• Guy Builds a Forest on a Guangzhou Apartment Building to Hide Illegal Floors
• Demolition Begins on Hidden Forest House in Guangzhou
• Dongguan “castle in the sky” becomes latest controversial structure
• Police officer busted for having a decked-out illegal gambling den in Shenzhen

Photos: China News Network, iFeng

The post NPC Rep Builds Illegal Basement 18 Meters Deep, Leads to Massive Sinkhole appeared first on The Nanfang.

A makeshift private elevator in Zhuji, Zhejiang Province drew headlines in China recently after photos of the external elevator circulated online. Other residents said the private elevator blocked sunlight, ruined the environment, and took up space for parking.

It is the latest in a trend of outrageous (and usually illegal) constructions by Chinese residents, like rooftop temples and castles. Unlike those, however, this elevator wasn’t a vanity project but a pragmatic solution.

Mr Li, who lives on the sixth floor, built the elevator for his aging parents who live on the fifth floor. Li’s mother had surgery on her leg this year, so she has trouble climbing stairs.

Li’s neighbors in the lower apartments initially supported the idea to help Li’s parents, but later turned against the elevator. Li originally said it would be five meters away from the building, but the final version was only 1.6 meters from the exterior wall, which irked residents.

The local planning department tried to negotiate a settlement, but talks broke down and the planning department gave Li a seven-day ultimatum: either work it out with your neighbors or the elevator will be dismantled.

With his back against the wall, Li did what any filial son would do: he purchased all of the other apartments below the 5th floor flat.

Li wouldn’t give a precise price, but said he paid about RMB 10,000 ($1,600) per square meter for each 150 square meter apartment, or approximately RMB 600,000 ($240,000) for all of the apartments.

In addition to the elevator, which cost tens of thousands of yuan to build, it seems Li could have saved some money and hassle if only he simply bought a ground floor apartment for his parents. But that wasn’t an option, Li said:

My mother is turning 90 soon, and she just had surgery performed on her leg. As she’s used to living here, she’s not willing to move.

Li didn’t say what he plans to do with the other four apartments, nor if the elevator will stop at each floor now that all of the apartments are his.

Related:

• Demolition Begins on Hidden Forest House in Guangzhou
• Dongguan Castle in the Air Becomes Latest Controversial Architecture
• Shenzhen Temple is the Latest Elaborate and Controversial Rooftop Structure

Photos: 163

The post No Elevator for Your 5th Floor Walkup? Man Builds His Own (Illegal) One appeared first on The Nanfang.

President Xi Jinping recently said enough is enough. “I don’t want any more strange architecture,” he said. Now, the deputy mayor of Beijing Chen Gang agrees and says the city will play a more active role in enforcing style standards. “City planners are to consider the overall style of city buildings. Dimensions, scale, style, color, shape, and materials must conform to standard regulations.”

Chen made the comment at the Beijing Cultural Heritage and Innovation Forum of Construction Experts. Chen also said the new policy is to ensure public harmony and preserve traditional architecture, all while embodying a cosmopolitan spirit that maintains regional characteristics.

Photo: cbda

The post Beijing To Enforce Guidelines After Xi Edict on “Strange Architecture” appeared first on The Nanfang.

Two newly constructed buildings in the Pudong area of Shanghai, nicknamed the “kissing buildings”, are threatening their occupants as one building leans precariously into the other.

The apartment buildings were first occupied by residents only two years ago. Yet foundation cracks can already be seen throughout the exterior of the leaning No. 17, which is located only inches away from its twin 15-story neighbor at their closest spot.

Pudong was originally a swampy grassland that was largely undeveloped before the revitalization of China’s economy in the 1990s. In order to ensure a stable foundation, thousands of steel pillars dozens of meters long were driven into the earth.

However, Pudong’s highest skyscrapers already have long cracks in the sidewalks below them as critics claim the entire area is sinking.

Shanghai is also where a 13-story apartment building fell over completely intact, having become free from its foundation. One person was killed in the incident, but no residents were living in the building at the time.

Photos: People’s Daily Online, SMG News

The post Shanghai Apartment Building Teeters Precariously Into Next Door Neighbor appeared first on The Nanfang.

Dreamed up by CR-Design and Chalmers University of Technology, Cloud Citizen would be “one interconnected system of functions and public plazas in the sky” comprised 18.3 million square feet in floor space and featuring all kinds of buzzwords like living modules, rolling green space, and rainwater basins, reports Citylab. It would also be the second tallest building in the world.

The Shenzhen Center for Public Art said the “execution scheme for this project will need further consideration and shall be implemented after approval by the statutory procedures,” which may lead to the building of this behemoth, or not.

The designers of Cloud Citizen outlined their vision:

As an integral part of the urban ecosystem, the proposal also has the ability to harvest rainwater and produce power from the sun, wind, and algae. In addition, it stores carbon and filters particles from the air while housing sanctuaries for wild plants and food-production modules. By implementing these mechanisms, the architects were able to place shelters throughout the exterior terraces in order to place visitors, residents, and workers in close proximity to nature, leisure, and healthier lifestyles.

[h/t Shanghaiist]

Photos: Photolab

The post [Photos] Shenzhen Set To Build Massive City In The Sky appeared first on The Nanfang.

READ: Shenzhen’s brand new airport already leaking

In the case of the Shijiazhuang Railway Station, “leaky” may not quite capture what is happening. Netizens posted pictures last night showing a torrent of water spraying from the railway station ceiling, covering a large section of the passenger hall.

To be fair, a record rainfall hit Shijiazhuang at that time. The rain was so severe it flooded roads and delayed flights and trains. And yet, if you were a resident of the capitial of Hebei that night, you wouldn’t be able to find shelter from the storm at its brand new train station.

Here are some more pictures:

Instilling a respect for the natural environment, the leaky Shijiazhuang Railway Station has inspired a hashtag on Weibo named after the Water Curtain Cave in Shanxi Province. While it appears to be an appropriate enough name, the visual similarities are there as well.

Related:

• Guangzhou Metro Line 6 opens to water leaks at two stations
• Apartment with “Runny Nose” Drips “Yellow Goo” From Ceiling In Huizhou

Photos: Dongguan Times, Sina Hebei, 761

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