Land dispute - stand-off with the government
Trip Start
Jul 20, 2004
1
107
157
Trip End
Jul 20, 2012
Beijing,
China
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Town: Luzhang Village
Landmark: Hongluo Temple Park
Problem: Land dispute, access to GuanYin Temple - stand-off with the government
This report is entirely based on the conversation we had with villagers involved in a stand-off with the government at Hongluo Temple Park. For the uninitiated, Hongluo Temple is located about 1.5 hours north-east of Beijing in Huairou county. Once long ago, this locale was the largest Buddhist center of the north and comparable in importance to the Potala Palace in Tibet. Now this former sacred park is more like a Buddhist Disneyland with attractions for the young and not so young. Access to the park is 30 Yuan but visitors are given a discount resulting in a ticket price of 27 Yuan
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. The discount was given because not all temples were accessible. After traipsing around the temple grounds for about two hour we were on the way to climb up to GuanYin Temple when we were stopped in our tracks by a park warden explaining that we can't continue due to "men fighting" (English translation of my friend). Promising to protect my friend from any fighting men, we continued disregarding her warnings. After a few 100m, we encountered barricades made of shrubs and barbed wire. The villagers on hand explained that we can't continue due to some land dispute issues. Undeterred, we stepped over the barricades and continued, followed by much verbal harassment from the villagers, a small trail. And there he was, another villager who told us that we can't go any further and who was ready to stop us physically if we dared to disregard his warnings.
So, we sat down and conversed with the villagers. Most of the villagers guarding the barricades are people in their 60's and 70's. They told us the story of a 7 months power struggle between the village which owns the right to the land, and the Hongluo Temple Company that manages the park and which the villagers accuse of being in with the government and not paying any financial tribute to them for leasing the land. The dispute is known to the government which has been unable to solve the issue to date. So, to be heard, the villagers have been blocking the trails to the temple and putting up banners to inform visitors about their issues. They also mentioned that several journalists had interviewed them but were either unable or afraid to publish their story. For the villagers, growing trees and harvesting them for sale is their way of making a living. Many of them planted the trees during their childhood and have been waiting to cut and sell them in their old years. As told to us by them, the managing company started cutting down trees and selling them and sharing the profits with the government officials. Is this an example of corruptive leaders working with government officials to pocket money into their own coffers? And if so, if and how can this dispute be resolved?
