Grassroots upgrades

“I had never imagined that I would have been living in a house like this,” said 64-year-old Xuan Wenying, pointing to the new house behind her.

Rows of new neatly-painted houses with white walls and grey tiles have recently appeared in Mantoushan Community, each having a kitchen and a bathroom, as well as access to tap water and natural gas supply.

“It [my old house] was not like this. There was no flush toilet and I had to go out to clean my bucket toilet more than 100 meters away every day,” Xuan told Chinafrica. She has been living in this community for 25 years. “My old house was in such a poor condition that when there was a typhoon, we had to go to the nearby school [to take refuge]. But now, we do not need to do that.”

Mantoushan Community where Xuan lives is a symbol of the rich history of Hangzhou, which was China’s capital during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279). However, because of this, the community - identified as one of the ancient imperial cities - was not allowed to carry out large-scale renovation as many old buildings here are under provincial protection. For decades, residents here had to face such problems as decrepit houses, narrow roads and web-like electricity wires.

“Because of the poor conditions, many young people left the community, leaving mostly old people living here,” Lu Jun, an official from Shangcheng District, told Chinafrica. “Fortunately, Hangzhou’s hosting of the G20 Summit provides a good opportunity for us to revamp the community as we need to prepare a good city environment for this event.”

In October last year, restoration of the community began, with the goal of upgrading Mantoushan to an urban landscape featuring unique imperial capital characteristics of the Southern Song Dynasty. During the process, many old houses were reinforced while others