Wen Hsu was the last resident in the Jilin City building, which is scheduled for demolition to make way for a new shopping centre.
Mr Hsu was worried the winter cold would freeze the pipes in the building below him, leaving him without running water.
So he switched on a tap to keep the water flowing – and diverted the flow out the window, letting it to flow down the side of the building.
Now, after almost six months of winter, Mr Hsu’s solution to frozen pipes has created a eight-storey ice waterfall.
The icefall has attracted attention to Mr Hsu’s housing problems – he says he didn’t move out with the other residents because the developers haven’t yet found him a replacement home.
Now local officials have urged the developers to settle his housing needs, so that the shopping centre project can move on.