In a sunny spring afternoon, Chen, 61, is working in her kitchen garden in her newly-renovated courtyard house at Dongsi Sitiao, Dongcheng District, while a worker is carting away debris.

Chen's family is among the first ones to benefit from a large-scale hutong (traditional alleyways) facelift project that kicked off last year. The restoration project is to cover 44 hutongs and 1,474 courtyard houses with about 10,000 residents. The municipal government earmarked 16 million yuan on each of nine hutongs in the Dongsi area.

"The house used to be too dilapidated to live in with a rough floor and leaking roof," says Chen.

"Now the floor is clean and flat. The roof and walls are water-proof. The rundown doors and windows are also replaced. We have our own bathroom, too." she says, "The government has footed the bill."

Photo taken on April 17 shows Chen's renovated courtyard house at Dongsi Sitiao, Dongcheng District, Beijing. [chinadaily.com.cn]

"The work will be completed by the day after tomorrow. It took nearly two months and indeed caused some inconveniences to us, but we are two thumbs up for the project. We are happy to live in the new clean environment," she says.

It is the first time for the 120-year-old courtyard house to receive an overall restoration. Chen has been living in her 40-square-meter house since she got married 40 years ago. It is cramped for a family of five. But if they want to build a new room, the government will pay most of the expenses, Chen says.

People, instead of houses, are the main concern in the restoration project, according to Zhang Jianming, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Construction Commission. A major goal of the project is to improve the living condition of residents in dangerous houses, says Zhang.

Restoring cultural charms

Dubbed as the "soul of Beijing", hutongs and courtyard houses represent the culture of the old Beijing and symbolize the lifestyle of Beijingnese.