Hangzhou resident Ruan Xiuhua can scarcely fathom the changes that have occurred in the area where she used to live.

"My old home sat in the current Mituo Temple Park area, and it's hard to believe that there used to be more than 400 households there," the 62 year-old said.

The former temple was built in 1878 and was one of the top four temples in Hangzhou in the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), but it gradually turned into a slum after the breakout of the "cultural revolution" (1966-76).

Located in Hangzhou's Xihu (West Lake) district, the area was once known for its dirty and disorderly environment.

"Wires extended out to each other like a spider's web, and every family had at least one fire extinguisher at the door, just in case," Ruan recalled.

The five members of Ruan's family lived in a home of about 30 square meters, and her parents' dreamed of moving to a new apartment.

"Sadly, they did not see that day in their lifetime, but my daughter and I finally moved in to a more than 100 sq m apartment with an elevator," she said.

Renovation of the Mituo Temple Park area began soon after Ruan's last neighbor moved away in April 2014, and was completed by the end of June this year.

The area's white walls and black tiles make Ruan happy now, she said.

Another group of residents to have benefited from Hangzhou's recent renaissance are those in the Mantoushan area who no longer have to use coal stoves and slop buckets.

Located in the city's Shangcheng district, more than 11,000 people once lived in the Mantoushan community. In the days of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), it was an imperial city, but it had been underdeveloped and unloved in recent years.

"Without modern toilets, community residents had to use slop buckets every day, creating hygiene and health problems," said Zhao Yide, Party chief of Hangzhou, in a recent interview.

Thanks to the renovations, families there now have flush toilets, and nearly 1,000 households are connected to gas pipelines.

In the overall face-lift of Hangzhou, 264 street renovation projects have been completed, which included the dismantling of 5,615 illegal outdoor advertising signs, and 10 million sq m of illegal buildings, as well as the renovation of more than 9 million sq m of residences, factory buildings and urban villages, Zhao said.

wang_ying@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 08/04/2016 page7)