ONE of the old houses on historic Fuxing Xilu has an odd look, like someone with a scar on their face. Part of the house looks old and rundown while the rest has been renovated and repainted.

The "disharmony" reflects a conflict among the residents of the house. Christophe Peres, a French merchant, has bought most of the house but two local families are still living in the rest. They rejected the price Peres offered to buy them out.

The dispute that Zhang Shengyan and his wife Hua Qingjiao have been engaged in with Peres has resulted in many complaints to the local bureaucracy and two court appearances.

The joint building with its three dwellings was built in the 1930s by three brothers who each had his own self-contained living quarters with separate entrances at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 of Lane 293, Fuxing Xilu.

The No. 3 house was later bought by Hua's father, followed by Hua herself, with her brother and sister taking one floor each.

Hua and her husband, now in their 70s, had lived on the second floor at No. 3 for more than 60 years. Hua's sister lives on the third floor.

Noisy renovation

A story in the Shanghai Weekly about the dispute between the Zhangs and Peres described Peres as a foreigner who was good at self-promotion. He first entered the limelight in Shanghai by running naked to raise funds for a charity caring for Chinese children suffering from heart diseases. He also opened a store named Luo Ben (meaning "running naked" in Chinese) on Fuxing Xilu.

Over the past several months he is said to have bought other houses near his shop with the alleged aim of creating another Xintiandi.

The Zhangs had complained to the Shanghai Weekly that Peres had made a lot of noise during his renovation work on their joint house and claimed this was done to force them out of their apartments at the prices Peres was offering.

Tough case

Peres said the Zhangs "were jealous of me and they were not happy to see foreigners invest here".

The Zhangs said they were the only locals left in the building and that Peres had been trying get them to move out by making noise all day long during a year and a half of renovations. They said he had also built additions to his part of the house that had blocked sunlight from entering their rooms.

Zhang said he and his wife had made more than 30 complaints to the Xuhui District Housing and Land Resources Bureau but had been "coldly" turned down.

They said they thought it was very unfair to be "bullied" by a foreigner on their own land.

"Fuxing Xilu was in the French concession before and now we are still being badly treated by a Frenchman," Zhang said. "In China, it's hard for an ordinary citizen to sue and win a case over an official, but it's even harder to sue a foreigner."

They have twice taken Peres to court. Each side claimed victory in the first case but neither Peres or the Zhangs was able to prove this to the Shanghai Star by showing a court order. On the second occasion, the Zhangs dropped the case.

However, Peres did have to remove the additions that were blocking the sunlight from the Zhang's rooms.

Hua said the judge hearing their case had said at one time: "It's so difficult to handle the case." Zhang alleged the judge had also said: "It's impossible to let the Zhangs lose the case because some of their rights were really violated, while it's also not proper to let the foreigner lose."

Peres told the Shanghai Star that the court had warned the Zhangs to stop wasting its time and to stop bothering him.

Zhang said that another household of Shanghainese on Fuxing Xilu had been forced to remove an illegal construction in their courtyard only two days after the district authorities had received a report about it. He asked why had it been so hard to get a foreigner to dismantle his illegal construction in a similar situation.

Zhang Jie, the couple's son, said redevelopment in the area was a project encouraged by the Xuhui District government and that Peres was "sheltered" in many respects.

However, an official of the district Housing and Land Resources Bureau, surnamed Wang, denied this.

Referring to the renovation work Peres had undertaken, another official with the bureau, who refused to be named, said Peres had not only built illegal additions outside the building but he had also altered the house's interior in violation of Chinese regulations.

"Differences do exist in terms of the concept of renovations," the official said.

Peres said he had retained the outside walls of the building while tearing its interior apart which was a common practice with old buildings in Europe.

However, this is not permitted in Shanghai. "There is a serious process to be gone through for a person who wants to make changes to a protected old building as on Hengshan Lu and Fuxing Xilu. The plans have to be passed by the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress," the official said.

When asked whether Peres had obtained permission, the official said it was not "proper" for him to comment.

Peres said: "Shanghai is facing a problem that both the government and people that live in old houses have no funds to protect them. With my investment in this area, the situation has improved. People here can live in better places. It's good for them."

Real estate boom

Both the Zhangs and Peres agreed that after Peres bought into the area, the prices of old houses along Fuxing Xilu have risen greatly.

The No. 1 house in the lane, covering 350 square metres, sold for 4.5 million yuan (US$544,000), and the No. 2, covering 220 square metres, sold for 2 million yuan (US$240,000).

Hua's brother moved out the first floor of No. 3, which is less than 50 square metres in size, last year in exchange for a new apartment for the elderly couple to live in.

"The Zhang's son asked for 2.8 million yuan (US$336,000) for his parents' house, of around 60 square metres," Peres said. "Meanwhile, they have only the right to live there but don't have the property rights. I offered 800,000 yuan (US$96,000)."

He said he has decided to quit the project.

The official with the bureau said: "We are very glad to see foreign investments in Shanghai, but newcomers should also comply with China's laws and regulations."