People living in downtown's Qianmen area, south of Tian'anmen Square, are praising a massive repair project, which was completed early this week.

"This is what a real house should be like," said Zhong Yougang, while patting bright columns erected near the corner of his Beijing home.

"The windows and walls are redone. Also the rooftop now has water-proof layers, so I don't have to worry about rainwater coming through. Nor will grow grass on the roof anymore," he added.

From April 1 of this year, Beijing repaired 14 inner city hutongs, which are traditional imperial-era alleyways dating back centuries. Within the same project, 533 Siheyuan or courtyard homes, in the Qianmen and Chongwen districts were updated, the government announced at a press conference on Monday. It equaled changes to more than 5,000 rooms.

The repair project is the largest of its kind in the nation's capital in terms of the number of courtyards and combined floor space.

Financing for the repairs, however, which was shared by the municipal government and Chongwen district government, remains unknown.

Gao Fei, executive of the Greater Qianmen Company, which was in charge of the project, said each home was updated with a winter heating system, individual kitchen, bathroom and 24 hour hot water. Roads within the hutongs have been redone with brick.

Some 2,300 of the 3,300 families who lived in the courtyards will not be coming back. They were offered double the amount of floor space in government-subsidized, affordable housing projects in the east of Beijing.

The 1,000 families who chose to stay, temporarily lived with relatives during the repair work. They will return to their ancestral homes in the Qianmen area by mid-December, according to the Chongwen District Government.

Living conditions before renovation

People living in Siheyuans or courtyard homes, frequently complained about leaking roofs, dangerous electricity cables as well as sharing water taps, electricity and toilets with neighbors.

The city currently has about 400 hutongs, mainly in the inner city's east and west districts. The number is down from 6,000 hutongs which operated in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

Because of the fast pace of today's real estate development and urbanization, there are not many courtyard homes left in Beijing's hutongs.

Zhong Yougang, a resident with Courtyard No. 36 on Caochang Third Hutong in the Qianmen Area, referred to his old home as a "cat's nest".

"Three generations of my family, over 80 years,lived in the old courtyard home. In the summer, grass grew on the rooftop. In the winter, wind came through the creaky wooden with peeling paint. We had to use tape to seal the cracks to keep warm," said 50-year-old Zhong.

"The walls always gave me a feeling they would collapse at anytime. When it rained, there was water everywhere in the courtyard and we had to put on water-proof boots to move around."

Center of former guild halls

In addition to being the center of civilian life outside the Forbidden City in Beijing, the Qianmen area used to house almost 100 guild halls, where association members of the same trade would hold activities, said Wang Changsheng, chief of the relic section of the cultural committee in the Chongwen District.

As time passed, those properties, now listed as for historical and cultural protection, became dilapidated. More than 80 percent were considered as dangerous to live in.

"Though buildings in this area underwent repeated repairs in different time periods, we could always find the original styles and would restore them accordingly," said Wang. He added, most of the buildings had now been repaired in the late Qing Dynasty style.

Repaired courtyard homes all have grey tiles and walls. Doors and windows have been painted bright red. Windows are made of reinforced plastic.

Zhong Yougang is so happy with the repair project, he is ready to show off his three-room home to tour groups.

"Want to know the interiors of the Forbidden City? Just take a look at my home and you get an impression," exclaimed Zhong.

He said the biggest improvement was the replacement of a coal heater for a gas one.

"Though gas is more expensive, it is clean and convenient. Moreover, it's everybody's hope to improve their quality of life," said Zhong.

Each family only needs to buy a stove, the rest of the costs are covered by the government.

Zhong said when all his neighbors move back, they will place a ring-shaped copper knocker on the front entrance door.

Zhang Yunting, 80, lives at Courtyard No.12 on the same hutong as Zhong. Zhang and his family of five now have a main room, plus two side rooms.

"The two wing-rooms became dangerous last year, as the walls were tilted. Everyday I worried they would fall apart collapse," Zhang said. "The government financed the reinforcement of the two rooms on our behalf, one of them was turned into a kitchen, so now I feel at ease to live within."

Future renovation

Beijing announced a city-wide renovation project in October, 2007. It will cost 1 billion yuan, the largest investment of its kind since 1949 when the People's Republic of China was founded.

In all, some 10,576 families in 1,954 courtyards in 44 hutongs will benefit from the project. Each will get its own toilet and tap water source.

The government said it has taken care to avoid damaging the traditional look of hutongs. It wants to preserve the alley's historical and cultural significance.

Beijing Vice Mayor Chen Gang, said last month that the city would double its investment in renovating ancient downtown buildings next year. The total budget will be between 1.5 to 2 billion yuan.

One to the reasons for the increase, is that Chen wants to boost the local economy.

The Dongcheng, Xicheng, Chongwen and Xuanwu districts will benefit from the project which will focus on older homes in dangerous conditions like those in the old Qianmen area.

Wang said, repaired guild halls, parts of temples and some well-protected Siheyuan would be turned into museums, hotels or teahouses in a bid to develop tourism.

(Xinhua News Agency December 4, 2008)