Professor Builds Illegal Mountain Villa Atop 26-Story Building in Beijing

One Chinese man – Zhang Biqing – let nothing stop him from building his idyllic mountain retreat, not even government safety regulations or the concerns of his neighbors. Biqing, a successful practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine, spent six years piling rocks and plants into and around his penthouse on the 1000-square-meter roof of a 26-story apartment building in Beijing.

With gardens and open terraces, Biqing has converted the rooftop property into a picturesque mountain resort. His neighbors don’t see it that way, however. They have complained about noisy construction and leaking cracks in the ceiling, and some residents even fear that the makeshift mountain has compromised the apartment building’s structural integrity. Others have complained of receiving threats or physical abuse from Biqing. Local planning officials have given him 15 days to either remove the structure or prove that it is legal, or else they will remove it by force.

Biqing certainly could have gone about things in a nicer way, but I can’t blame the guy for wanting to live in a mountain penthouse.