It's not only in China. We were quite shocked to see that in the city where we are living, the city council decided to pull down a few buildings with architectural monument value, from early 19th century (passed it every week, really nice), from the Art Deco period (1930s) to build modern and all ecological city council housing. OK, those were their own buildings so on one hand you can do what you want with your property.. But those are the same people who will make your life a misery if you as much as repaint your window sill in a different colour without their permission in a building which is considered architectural monument (read - old house) because nothing should interfere with the original style.
I even heard a more ridiculous story. So there's an old house which as such has an architectural monument status, but earlier, in the 50s when the money was low after war, it was fitted with a simple front door, not in the classical style. The new owner thinks - oh, let's get this nice house a door that fits the style perfectly, and, bam!, gets a heavy fine from the city council because as an architectural monument it must not be changed, even if it means taking out the unfitting 50s style door and getting it something that does fit.

Yes, China USED to have a great past. In my blog pages http://blog.163.com/denis-chen (sorry in Chinese), I wrote articles about the long history of China and its great civilization, and meanwhile I wrote about the facts they (well, we) are forgetting it and destroyng it. The most obvious thing is, you can no longer find ancient buildings and towns nowadays.

Seems stupid Denis why spend money building something to pull down.
You have history and tradition in China but local governments need to see sense when doing things like this.

Yes, it's terrible... Government can throw you out of your own home for many years without notice.. Awful for young and even worse older people... China is a big power, with great history and achievements... but there is still a little to go about respecting their own citizens...