Housing in China has gotten bigger and better in the last 60 years and especially since the country adopted its reform and opening-up policy in late 1970s. Improvements in housing have come about along with China's rapidly developing economy.

The dramatic advancements in housing can be seen almost everywhere in major cities and towns across the country.

The experience of Li Qingfu, an 85-year-old former deputy chairman of Donghua Industry Ltd., one of the first companies to introduce Hong Kong investment in residential homes in Guangzhou, is impressive. Li, who now lives in Donghu New Village in the city, said before the founding of New China, Guangzhou's 120,000 residents lived in 20,000 small, ragged wooden cabins and sheds. Another 70,000 lived on cockboats drifting on the Zhu River.

"At that time, it was common for more than 10 families to be packed into one ragged house," Li said. "The only kitchen was far from enough, so many people had to cook anywhere they could find a space. Every household was covered in soot at dinner time. Because of the limited living area, all family members had to live together; that is to say, children lived in the attic, and parents lived in the living room. It was quite usual to see three generations living in one place."

The biggest dream most people, including Li, had in those days was to move into a bigger house. But before the 1980s, few people owned their homes. Most lived in dormitories built by their work units and paid a few yuan (or dozens of US cents) in rent each month.

Li recalled that it cost him a few yuan each month to rent a 40-square-meter house for his five family members, and that many people envied him.

Along with the progress of the national reform and opening-up policy, Li's dream gradually came true. He was appointed deputy general manager of Donghua Industry in charge of introducing foreign capital in building new commercial houses, which marked another step in a new era of commercial housing. Although someone believed Li was "betraying his country" by collaborating with overseas investors to sell land, Li managed to overcome huge difficulties and gradually built up Donghu New Village.

"I had been paying rent for several years since I moved over here (Donghu New Village), and thanks to the housing policy reform, I paid an installment of 30,000 yuan in 1996 and finally got ownership of this 96-square-meter house," Li said. He has lived in the house for the last 20 years.

Following the appearance of a cluster of new residential areas such as Donghu New Village, Jiangnan New Village and Wuyang New Village, Guangzhou shifted from the allocation of houses based on employee welfare benefits to commercialized housing. Now, people are no longer tenants for a lifetime, but real homeowners.

Since the late 1980s, more high-rise buildings began to emerge in Guangzhou. Real estate agents gradually prospered followed by the rapid growth of commercial housing. The 24-story Wuyang New Town was the highest building in the 1980s, but nowadays skyscrapers that are taller than 50 stories are quite commonplace.

In Guangzhou, the average housing area per capita has risen from 4.5 square meters in 1949 to about 20 square meters in 2008. Now 90 percent of Guangzhou residents own homes. An increasing number of citizens have apartments with bedrooms, living rooms, kitchens and bathrooms.

Sixty years ago, citizens were worried about having adequate housing. At the beginning of the last century, more people owned homes. Today, the improvement of housing conditions is the top concern of most people.

China's average housing area per capita for urban residents has increased from 6.7 square meters in 1978 to more than 21 square meters in 2008, and further upto 27 square meters today. While the average housing area per capita for rural residents had even increased up to 39.4 square meters by 2008, over 30 square meters larger than what Chinese poor farmers enjoyed some 30 years ago.

Such changes vividly reflect the expectations, dreams, struggles and hardships of generations, who at the same time have witnessed the continuous development of New China.

(CRIENGLISH.com September 25, 2009)