Thousands of traditional houses in central Beijing are under renovation and initial progress has been made recently. Some residents have already moved in, and are very happy about their newly renovated homes.

Now our reporter Lu Chen has the details.

Reporter:
Having lived in a courtyard home for 57 years, Mrs Liu is among the first people to see their new homes. She is very excited about the renovated Siheyuan, and says the place is now beautiful and convenient.

The changes are drastic, both inside and outside the courtyard. Now it's so beautiful in here. When we are done with the cleaning work, we'll invite our foreign friends to come and have a look.

The largest renovation project in Beijing's history has already changed many residents' lives. In Dong Cheng District, more than 10 Hutong communities, 220 courtyards and 1,500 households are involved in the renovation program. After the renovation, the old shabby courtyards have become clean and spacious. The historical beauty of the Siheyuan has been revived. In order to preserve the unique characteristic of the Siheyuan, authorities and experts have come up with many principles. The Minister of Dongcheng Housing and Land management center Yang Jiangzong says, the basic frame of houses should not be changed,

Only those with great damage and potential security problems will be under huge surgery, but houses with normal damage will be repaired focusing on the needed spots.

Besides that, the renovation work has also showed its user-friendly spirit. Now the concave ground has been made flat and smooth. No more worries about rainy days. All the renovation work follows a basic module called Mirco Circulation, which aims at increasing space without changing the layout of the whole courtyard. No houses or walls will be pushed over.

Under the Old City Reconstruction project, old houses should be destroyed by property developers and new tall residential buildings can be built up. Residents used to be very passive about moving out, but not anymore.

Deputy Director of management center of Xi Cheng Landing and Housing Yang Xiaoying explains,

This project is introduced by the government and all the fees are also paid by them. Residents can choose either to stay or to move out. The purpose to do this is to promote the living condition for the residents and also to better serve our people.

Obviously, the renovated Siheyuan has shining reasons to keep the residents to stay now. In a courtyard, a resident is moving into her newly renovated home.

The old and shabby things have been removed out of the courtyard. Now the yard is very smooth and flat, and after the renovation of the house, we also did the interior decoration to have a brand new home.