“What comes first, the tree or the house?” People may ask this question to the owner of a house with a tree protruding out of the balcony. The owner, named Huang Borong doesn’t mind answering the question repeatedly and narrates the history of his house though he is currently not living here. /VCG Photo

According to Huang, the house in Xinsheng County in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality was built some 30 years ago while the tree has been about 400 years old. /VCG Photo

Huang noticed there were some trees that were more than hundreds of years when he built the house in the 1980s, and decided to make some space for the tree. /VCG Photo

However, he found some people always drop by the tree and cut the bark off as they believe it can relieve toothache. Some children are also often seen shining the tree, a dangerous move for it. /VCG Photo   

Therefore, Huang decided to protect the tree by building his house around it. Huang also installed a lightning rod to make sure people living in the building were safe. /VCG Photo

Now Huang has moved to another house in the county but he still cares about the house and the tree. The local government also said that the old house and the tree will be kept there. /VCG Photo