Charles is the owner of the Swallow Hotel 燕子旅馆 in the hills of Chongqing overlooking the Yangtze River. The picturesque area is undergoing drastic changes; the government has gentrified the area and torn down old houses. Charles refuses to move, and the Swallow Hotel remains as a nail-house in a ruined landscape. The noise of destruction repeatedly reverberates in the walls; most houses are emptied out, doors, windows and floors missing. Some residents protest with signs written in large red characters: “Don’t tear down here” while the pneumatic hammers are pounding. Despite these transitions, Charles is creating a world of his own, dressing up in luxury clothes, staging the capitalist dream within the ruins. [2017/2018]