Chinese Takeout: Texans Buy Up Katy’s ‘Forbidden’ Treasures

KATY, Texas—Locals were always befuddled by the 6,000 Chinese terracotta warriors, slightly larger than garden gnomes, that sprouted in the fields of this Houston suburb.

But now that their mysterious home, Forbidden Gardens, is closing to make room for a highway, the warriors suddenly have become something worth fighting over, 15 years after they arrived.

The brainchild of a reclusive Hong Kong native and U.S. resident who wanted to impress his adopted countrymen with China’s rich heritage, it was mostly visited by local schoolchildren and road-tripping retirees.

But once word spread that the Forbidden Gardens was closing down, folks began elbowing each other out of the way to grab a piece of it, in what perhaps became one of America’s oddest liquidation sales.

(Source: The Wall Street Journal)