CHONGQING - For this year's Spring Festival holiday, Gao Jianhua and his family celebrated in much the same fashion as they did in previous years, feasting on food and presenting each other with gifts.

But instead of making the arduous journey to Gao's remote hometown for the holiday, he and his family spent it in their new apartment, built as part of a public rental program designed to provide quality housing for those who would otherwise be unable to afford a new home.

Gao and his family live in the "Minxin Jiayuan" public rental community in southwest China's Chongqing municipality along with over 7,000 other families. His apartment has four rooms, a kitchen and a bathroom, large enough for six people. Gao pays just 800 yuan ($127) in rent each month for his new home.

Chongqing announced its public rental housing project in 2010. The project calls for the construction of 40 million square meters of housing between 2011 and 2013 to accomodate 2 million low- and middle-income urban residents. MAKING A HOUSE INTO A HOME

In the past years, Gao and his family would reunite with their relatives in Fengjie county, located about 400 km away from Chongqing, to celebrate the Spring Festival holiday.

However, round-trip bus fares, hotel fees and the cost of gifts for relatives and children often emptied his pockets, making the trip back to his hometown a costly preposition.

"In addition, it's extremely inconvenient to cram my parents, wife and two children onto a bus during the Spring Festival travel rush," Gao said.

Fortunately, Gao and his family have still been able to celebrate the holiday in much the same manner as usual. The neighborhood committee in his new community, as well as the public rental housing administration, arranged for several festive activities to be held in the community for the holiday, including singing competitions, parties and games.

Outside of the holiday, Gao has been pleased to finally be able to give his children a decent place to live. His previous apartment was a shabby affair, with dust falling from the ceilings and poor lighting. This led Gao and his wife to leave their children to live with his grandparents in Fengjie county.

"My grandchildren became 'left-behind children,' and us elderly folks cannot take good care of them," said Tang Gongzu, Gao's mother.

Gao found out that he was eligible to live in one of Chongqing's public rental apartments in March 2011 after a long month of filling out applications and taking exams. His mother was pleased to hear the news.

"The environment in the city is more convenient and clean. As long as my children are beside me, I feel good and comfortable," Tang said. NEW POLICIES, NEW OPPORTUNITIES

Zheng Anqing, who is 37, also celebrated his first Spring Festival holiday in his new home in Minxin Jiayuan this year, along with his five family members.

"My family's monthly income is about 5,000 yuan, and the rent for this apartment is just 800 yuan, making it much more affordable than renting a commercial apartment," Zheng said.

According to Chongqing's public rental housing regulations, tenants can buy rented apartments after five years of renting their home at a price based on the home's construction cost -- much cheaper than trying to purchase a regular apartment.

Housing prices in China's major cities have risen rapidly in recent years. The Chinese government has implemented out a series of tightening measures to help regulate income distribution and promote social equality, as well as guide housing consumption.

Public rental housing, a property tax on high-end housing and price-capped homes are just of the new alternatives available to low- and middle-income earners who are eager to purchase a home for themselves.

Chongqing was one of the first cities to implement public rental housing and property tax policies, building 110,000 public rental housing units in 2011 to accomodate 300,000 low-income urban residents.