Summary
August 13, 2013: An eccentric doctor who owns a chain of acupuncture clinics has spent the last six years constructed an artificial mountain with a villa on top of a 26 floor apartment building in Bejing, China without asking for permits from the residents or the authorities. He has now been given 15 days to remove the mountain before it will face forcible removal.
The owner of the structure is quoted as saying:
“Since I dare to live here, I am not worried about complaints.
“Famous people come to my place and sing. How can you stop them?” the newspaper quoted him as saying about the noise at night.
Neighbors who complained about the noise and the structure were apparently harassed and even beaten, in the case of one 77 year-old resident who was forced to move.
Source
Game and Story Use
- What kind of Feng Shui did the doctor attempt to channel with this construction?
- For a villain, flaunting local building laws like this makes a powerful statement about his reach and influence. Plus a scene on such a rooftop mountain villa will be a lot more dramatic than on the ground.
- Don't overlook the possibility of being able to defeat a villain with lawfare - Al Capone was taken for tax evasion, so a villain's lair might well be in violation of planning restrictions or building codes.
- Far more impressive if the mountain appears overnight … but still pretty funny for the "where the hell did that come from?" effect even if it doesn't.