There are rooftop gardens, and then, there are rooftop mountains — at least in one part of Beijing

(CBS News) In Beijing, a man built a fake mountain on top of an apartment building. It took him six years and he didn’t have single permit. Now he’s supposed to tear it down. The illegal construction it appears takes more than money — it takes connections.

There are rooftop gardens, and then, there are rooftop mountains — at least in one part of Beijing. An illegally built two-story “mountainscape” and villa is perched on top of a 26-story apartment building in the city. The details, as seen from a neighboring skyscraper, include ladders, walkways, and dangling foliage.

CBS News tried to find its owner, Zhang Biqing — a well-to-do practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine.

China medicine mogul ordered to tear down luxury villa he built illegally on top of high-rise

CBS News’ Seth Doane knocked on his door, where a sign dated Aug. 12 reads that he must tear down the 800-square-meter, 카지노사이트 8,600-square-feet, illegal construction within 15 days. That couldn’t come soon enough for some neighbors.

“We’ve always heard noise from upstairs,” Mr. Li, a neighbor, told CBS News. “It was loud indeed.”

Another resident, Mr. Liu, said he heard drilling sounds from decorating. “Sometimes you can see decoration materials in the elevator,” he said. “He shouldn’t be able to do that.”

CBS News’ Seth Doane reported, “We’ve climbed up the stairs from the 26th floor — right below this mountainscape – and this is what we’ve found — trees, tree stumps, and fake branches.”

The owner of this villa-in-the-sky was once a member of a local advisory board to the ruling Communist Party. Residents said it was an example of the powerful playing by different rules.

It’s also a mountain-sized example of illegal construction, though hardly the only one. An extra floor was built on top of a building in northeastern China in 2011. Another home was illegally constructed under a bridge in southern China in the mid-90s.

Local officials in charge of building regulations in Beijing said they’d spent six years trying to contact the owner the faux-mountain. Though, demolition orders appeared to be fast-tracked after pictures went viral over the weekend.

China’s state television and local media have reported that the owner says he’ll tear down his fake mountain, thus returning the Beijing rooftop to its “natural,” though far less noteworthy, state.

Watch Seth Doane’s full report above.

Related Posts

•  “My G-String Mother: At Home and Backstage With Gypsy Rose Lee” by Erik Preminger (North Atlantic)
Strong winds blew down 21 trees, but otherwise the city emerged largely unscathed
But those who watched Ritts’ work over the years are not surprised that collectors want to own his pictures, which don’t come cheap: Prices can range from $40,000 up to $125,000. “His photographs are in a class of their own,” said lang. “You can just recognize a Herb Ritts photo from, you know, ten paces.” k.d. lang and Ritts collaborated on a Vanity Fair cover which made a big splash in the summer of 1993. “Where’d the idea come from?” asked Braver. “I just wanted to do something in a barber’s chair,” Lang replied. “Oh, he goes, that’s great. And then he calls me and he goes, ‘I’m gonna ask Cindy.'” “I’m like … ‘Cindy!'” lang laughed. “He said, ‘Can you come to the studio? I’m shooting kd lang and I wanna use you as a prop,'” Crawford recalled. “And I had that kind of relationship with Herb where I was like ‘OK,’ you know? “I thought Herb nailed it. And it became one of those images that people will always remember.” There are many Herb Ritts photos that people will always remember. Some of his most beautiful are not your typical glamour shots. Churchward described Ritts’ month-long trip to Africa where he got Massai warriors to be “fashion icons.” “They were having a great time,” Churchward laughed. “And the fact is that he wanted to prove that he could use his eye anywhere.” Ritts learned in 1989 that he had AIDS, but he worked up until the very end. His last shoot was of Ben Affleck for Vanity Fair. One last photograph by a man who never stopped trying to top himself. “What do you think we missed by not seeing him mature as a photographer?” Braver asked lang. “He put everything, a lifetime of knowledge and wisdom and his eye for art into that short amount of years,” she said. “Who knows what the plan is … but I can only imagine what his photos would have been like.” For more info: •  Herb Ritts Foundation

No comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *