Shichahai: Facing change (5)

Email|Print|Comments       twitter     facebook     Sina Microblog     reddit    

(China Daily/Zou Hong)

Residents nervous

Residents are concerned about the project. Since May, people have posted thousands of comments on the official weibo of the Xicheng government. Some worry that the Shichahai area will be the next Nanluoguxiang, a former hutong area that's become a commercial market. Some are practical, fearing that even with compensation they can't afford an apartment in the city's skyrocketing housing market. Others are simply attached to their homes.

"My son works nearby and my grandson goes to school nearby. Supermarkets, parks and hospitals are not far, which is very convenient," says Ma. "We don't want our lives to be disturbed."

"We've heard that the houses near the lakes are nearly 400,000 yuan per square meter," says Ma's wife Meng Zhaohui. "But it's not a money issue. We spent our whole lives here. We don't want to leave our roots."

According to the couple, it's not the first time plans were made to renovate the area. Around 2000, a real estate company came to visit the households of Baimixiejie Hutong, intending to build shopping malls there.

We Recommend

• DPRK holds military parade to mark 65th founding anniv.
• Highlights of MAKS 2013 Int'l Aviation and Space Show
• 10th China-ASEAN Expo opens in Nanning
• Eagle Boy takes to sky to break another record
• 12-year-old boy becomes pillar of the family
• Eye-gouged boy receives blind rehabilitation in Shanxi
• Top 10 naked hotels in the world
• The most gorgeous Chinese women in the eyes of foreigners
• A collection of bizarre rooftop buildings around China