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Shenzhen Nail House — Shenzhen

A lone seven-story brick building, a so-called nail house, standing on cleared ground near Shenzhen North Railway Station, China, in 2016
Artwork FileGuangdong, China

Shenzhen Nail House

Gone2017

East of Shenzhen North Station East Square, Longhua District, Shenzhen, China · 2003–2017

Photo: N509FZ / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0), cropped, as published on Street Art Utopia.

A seven-story brick building stood alone on cleared land across the street from Shenzhen North Railway Station, in Shenzhen’s Longhua District. It was the last of three holdout buildings on the plot. Its owner, Ms. Yang, signed a compensation agreement with the local government in autumn 2017, and the building was torn down on 16 November 2017. Source Source Source Checked

Gone 2017: Shenzhen Commercial Daily (17 Nov 2017) and That’s Shenzhen (21 Nov 2017) report the last building was torn down on 16 November 2017. A search on 10 November 2026 found no newer evidence that changes this. Source Source Checked

💡 4 things to know

  1. Last of three
    Three seven-story buildings owned by three households stood on the roughly 47,000 m² cleared plot. One came down in May 2017 and another in mid-July, leaving Ms. Yang’s building last. Source Source Checked
  2. Taller than approved
    According to The Paper, courts ruled the buildings illegal: the approved plan was 360 m² over three floors, while each building rose seven floors on a 120 m² plot. Source Reported
  3. Two dates for the deal
    The Paper says Ms. Yang signed the compensation agreement on 31 October 2017; Shenzhen Commercial Daily says 3 November 2017. That’s Shenzhen says early November. Source Source Source Conflicting
  4. Rumours of the price
    A WeChat post claiming a 120 million yuan payout was called false by Shenzhen police, according to The Paper. Ms. Yang herself put the sum at 16 million yuan. Source Source Source Reported

📍 Where it is

The building stood on the east side of Shenzhen North Railway Station’s East Square, in the former Minzhi (Zhangkeng) Huaqiao New Village, Longhua District. The coordinates are the photographer’s position for the 2016 Commons photo, which looks east towards the building; the site has been cleared. Source Source Source Checked

Open in Maps

🗓️ Sightings

  1. 201612 Aug

    Photo of the building (Commons)

  2. 2017

    Neighbour building demolished, May

  3. 2017

    Second holdout demolished, mid-July

  4. 201716 Nov

    Last building torn down

  5. 201721 Nov

    That’s Shenzhen reports the demolition

  6. 201724 Nov

    The Paper on the 14-year dispute

Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark records or reports; red stamps mark loss. Publication dates are not camera dates.

✅ The facts

Place
Across the street from Shenzhen North Railway Station, Longhua District Source Source Checked
Height
Seven stories Source Source Source Checked
Material
Brick Source Source Checked
Built
2003–2004, according to Shenzhen Commercial Daily; never completed, according to That’s Shenzhen Source Source Reported
Owner
Ms. Yang (Yang Meilan in The Paper) Source Source Source Checked
Compensation
16 million yuan, as stated by the owner Source Source Source Checked
Deal signed
31 Oct 2017 (The Paper) or 3 Nov 2017 (Shenzhen Commercial Daily) Source Source Conflicting
Demolished
16 November 2017 Source Source Checked
Photo
Camera date 12 August 2016 (Commons) Source Checked

🔗 Related

All sources & image credits

Last checked: 10 November 2026. How we verify art