The family of the deceased—buried there in 2004—has refused an offer of 1,000,000 yuan (about $160,000) to compensate them for the land. Chinese news reports say they can't understand why the developer chose this particular spot and have asked for an explanation. Meanwhile, the construction crew is sticking to their schedule, working toward an April 2013 completion date.

In similar situations around the country, people sometimes resist vacating their homes to make way for large-scale projects such as hotels, factories, and shopping malls. Typically, a developer will start work anyway, turning the home into what's known as a "nail house"—a single building that sticks up in the middle of a construction site like a stubborn nail in a board.

The homeowner