Illegal storefronts bricked up for urban environment

Editors' Note: China's capital Beijing is undergoing an aggressive urban environment project that includes tearing down unauthorized structures and illegal storefronts, renovating old communities and easing car-clogged streets and sidewalks.

On July 19, China.org.cn visited Sanhuqiao South Street, packed with various small mom-and-pop restaurants, barbershops, hardware stores and shoe repair outlets in Beijing's Haidian District, to gain an understanding of the renovation and cleanup process one day ahead of the deadline for the small vendors to close down.