In 2026, Guangzhou invested 807.7 billion yuan in urban redevelopment. According to online videos, some residents in the Nanzhou Street, Haizhu District of Guangzhou are reluctant to relocate. Recently, during the eviction process, intentional dust was created by the demolition team, disrupting the residents’ lives, leading to suspicions of “forcing eviction through dust”.
The video shows a bulldozer digging up soil and bricks from the ground, then lifting its shovel towards a nearby mist cannon truck. The large amount of dust in the shovel is instantly blown up by the wind, causing dust to cover the nearby area. The vehicles parked in a car dealership are also covered with a thick layer of dust.
According to the blogger “天眼觀世界”, Guangzhou invested 807.7 billion yuan in 2026 for urban renewal projects. Districts like Haizhu, Tianhe, and Baiyun are all accelerating their redevelopment. However, some villagers in the Haizhu District are unwilling to move, leading to scenes where the demolition teams use mist cannons to create sandstorms, covering nearby residential areas, car showrooms, vehicles, and street shops with a large amount of dust, severely affecting the residents’ lives and health.
A shop owner in the Haikou community told Da Feng News that the sandstorm had been blowing non-stop since the morning of December 31, 2025, taking a break at noon and starting again vehemently in the afternoon until around 4 p.m. when the bulldozer finally left.
A car dealership also told Cover News that due to the proximity of the store to the construction area, their operations were affected, and they have started relocating recently.
Reportedly, in July 2025, the government of Haizhu District, Guangzhou issued a land acquisition notice, including the land in the Guangzhou New Axis Haizhu area redevelopment scope. Subsequently, the landlords and property managers issued relocation notices to tenants in the area.
The notice cited lease contract terms stating that in the event of government acquisition and relocation, tenants must unconditionally cooperate with vacating the premises, and are not allowed to claim compensation from the landlord for renovations, operational losses, etc. The landlord only refunds the security deposit and remaining rent with no interest.
A shop owner who has reached a settlement with the property revealed that due to the considerable investment in renovations, many businesses are still in legal disputes. Those who have not yet relocated are mainly due to compensation issues and failure to reach a consensus with the property management.
After the video went viral, numerous netizens condemned the actions, saying, “They don’t even care about the basic bottom line to force eviction.” “This kind of operation not only crosses the environmental bottom line but also touches the red line of public conscience.” “Forcing eviction through dust.” “This is like the mafia.” Some Guangzhou netizens commented, “This is nothing, in my area, they weld the door shut and stack waste to block the door for eviction.”
Under public pressure, on January 4th, the staff of the Nanzhou Street responded that there was indeed a dust issue in the Haikou community, but denied deliberately creating dust, attributing it to operational errors in the mist cannon machine during construction, which failed to add water in time, thus causing the dust to rise. The Street has ordered the construction party to stop work for rectification.
The official response further fueled discontent among netizens, with comments such as “What an operational error!” “If it was a mistake, why didn’t they stop immediately? It had to lead to the consequences of a sandstorm.” “They are just talking nonsense!” “The scariest thing in this society is when they treat you like a fool and you can’t do anything about it.” “After the epidemic, they realized we’re not easy to fool, so they stopped pretending.” “Evils abroad are what you tell me, but the evils here are what I experience firsthand. How can people be so wicked?”
Furthermore, as reported by Guangdong TV’s Minsheng Channel on December 24, 2025, due to the evictions, Sangang Kindergarten experienced a large amount of dust, and many parents have filed complaints. A staff member named Chen at the kindergarten stated that the sandstorm covered the entire kindergarten, leaving everything inside dusty.
One parent mentioned that some children in certain classes have begun to cough due to the dust exposure.