Most of the buildings in Beijing's "Petition Village" have already been razed to the ground. There is rubble all over. Until recently 10,000 people lived here -- now there are only 700 left.

Although the water and electricity have been turned off, they are resisting until they are evicted by force. Mrs Ying is one of these die-hards:

"If this is all pulled down, I don't know where I'll go. I'll probably camp outside. I have no choice. Beijing is preparing for the Olympic Games. And the government is becoming increasingly strict. When they see us petitioners, they arrest us and send us home. Sometimes they put people in jail too. They want to get rid of us. They don't want us to create hassle."

Waiting for justice

Mrs Ying, from Zhejiang province, has been living in Beijing's "Petition Village" for three years now. But she is still waiting for the court to take up her case.

She came to Beijing to get justice, after her house was taken away because a factory needed the space. She was never compensated. Hers is not a unique case.

Forced labour and leftovers

The same happened to the Zhao family in Hunan province. When the Zhaos complained, local officials tried to silence them. Mrs Zhao explained what happened:

"They put me and my seven-year-old daughter in jail for three months. They kept us there when school began. We sat in a cell with murderers and other criminals. We had to work there and eat leftovers."

When Mrs Zhao was released, she packed a few things and immediately made her way to Beijing with her husband and daughter. But her husband was caught by local officials on the way. Mother and daughter have been on the run ever since and the small Mingxi is worried about being re-arrested.

Petitions in plastic bags

Everyone who lives in the huts where Mingxi and her mother have found shelter has been subjected to corruption or abuse. They carry their petitions to the court in plastic bags.

Each tells a story which is worse than the last. The petitioners include women, whose sons have been murdered, or women who have been forced to have abortions in the eighth month of pregnancy.

One of them is totally disfigured -- she says she threw petrol on her face and set herself on fire out of despair.

Hiding the despair

But none of this despair is supposed to be displayed at next year's Olympic Games, so the village is being torn down. The bulldozers have already begun their work. The last petitioners are outraged:

"They want us all out," complained one woman. "Our head of state Hu Jintao always says we have to seek the truth and then act. But look at the politics here," said another.

"When we come to court, nobody gives a damn. They're kicking us out and soon we won't have a place to hide," another grumbled.

The Chinese authorities want to present a modern China, without human rights abuses, to the world at next year's Beijing Olympic Games.