Patchwork of legal issues poses problems

Wang Shifeng's house is a typical traditional residence of the Bai ethnic group, constructed from wood and earth in the 1940s and with three chambers and a screen wall forming a central courtyard.

Once, beautiful carvings adorned many parts of the wooden structures, while the screen wall carried poems and paintings of flowers. Now, the once-splendid house in Xizhou, a village in Dali city, Yunnan province, is more like a patchwork of different colors and styles, and grass grows on the roof.

Wang Shifeng's family of four is one of more than 10 families living in the compound, which has about 20 rooms. Each family owns one or two rooms. Some families don't have a kitchen, while others lack washrooms so they have to use the public toilets a short walk away, he said.