Lavish Chinese Villas Tumble to Make Room for Parks, Pandas

More than 600 lavish villas—some built in the 2,000-year-old style of the Han dynasty—were torn down near China’s Qinling Mountains south of Xi’an on land the government says should become a national park.

The large houses, worth at least $1 million each, were torn down starting in July on the orders of President Xi Jinping, who has vowed to build what he calls an “ecological civilization” with a plan that includes adding 10 new national parks.

The Qinling mountains are also home to 20 percent of the giant panda population, and China is taking steps to establish protected corridors ...