A few weeks ago, @Amy_23_Cheng and I journeyed to rural Shandong. We found an immense effort to reshape China's vast countryside by "pulling" thousands of villages out and moving residents "up" into high rises.
npr.org/2020/08/01/898…
npr.org/2020/08/01/898…
When we arrived at one village partially demolished only days before, despite a provincial order forbidding forcible demolitions, I heard something I've never heard before in China: "THE JOURNALISTS HAVE FINALLY ARRIVED." We were quickly swarmed. 
Authorities consolidate villages to more efficiently deliver public services. But many don't want the free, smaller housing or pay extra for a bigger space, below, & leave fields behind. "They look nice but the houses don't work," one man, beaten and his house demolished, told us
What began as poverty alleviation has now becoming an infrastructure drive. Dozens of villagers described a campaign of intimidation to pressure them to move. This man refused. His house forcibly torn down, he's now living in this tent next to his crops.
Village party cadres soon found us; a shouting match between angry villagers and authority ensued. "Consolidation is to improve villages," said a party chief, right before he tried to detain us. Villagers don't disagree. They just wish rural development happened on their terms.
