All mod cons

However, soon a new apartment with all mod cons will no longer be a daydream for the Ren family.

A housing project subsidized by the government and Datong Coal Mine Group has helped more than 60,000 mining households, including Ren's neighbors across the railway, to move to the newly built Hengan residential community, 5 km east of the shantytown. The new buildings sell for 480 yuan per square meter.

The Rens, together with around 30,000 other households, are expected to move into a new home in the residential community by the end of next year, according to Gao Yuwu, executive director of the Pengcheng property management company, part of Datong Coal Mine Group.

"Working as a miner is probably the most laborious job in the country and most of the men have also been living in terrible conditions for a long time." said Gao.

Improving the living conditions of low-income families, especially those of miners and foresters, has been a high priority on the agenda of China's central leadership during recent years and Vice-Premier Li Keqiang has paid numerous visits to shantytown families across the country, including a trip to Datong in 2009.

The central government invested 73 billion yuan in housing projects for slum residents from 2007 to 2011 and more than 10 million low-income households have moved to government-subsidized apartments measuring at least 45 square meters, according to a recent statement from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

A further 12 million households will need to be re-housed in the coming years, the statement said.

Ease of life

Cao Yuzhong, a 64-year-old retired miner, paid 30,000 yuan for a 60-sq-m apartment and moved in 2009.

"To be honest, we never expected to live in such a clean and warm home. I thought the best I could do was to save money for a wedding room for my son," he said.

"When we lived near the mine, we had to transfer three times on the bus to get to downtown Datong. That meant we seldom went out, even on the weekend. Now we can take a bus directly and the journey only takes 30 minutes."

Cao's wife, Hao Xiuzhen, said both cooking and washing clothes have become easier since the move from the mining area. "The collar of my blouse would be filthy within a day, now it lasts at least three days," said Hao. "Also, it took at least 90 minutes to prepare dinner when I had to light the (coal burning) stove first."

The move was not only prompted by concerns about convenience and sanitary health, but also safety, said Bai Yuwen, who lived in a self-built bungalow in an area well known for mining subsidence for decades.

"On a few occasions, I woke up to find that a piece of land not far from my home had just caved in after many years of mining in that zone. Many of the miners had to sleep with that fear in the old days," said the 75-year-old, who moved to the Hengan community in 2007.