Source:

01-13-2006 17:46

China has the world's largest population. It is currently 1.3 billion, with over a third living in urban areas. This makes housing an urgent social concern. In the past, work units provided housing as part of the state's welfare system. However, with rapid urbanization in the 1990's, the system became too costly. In the past two decades, state housing has undergone profound changes. These have affected people's living conditions and outlook. In today's documentary, we will begin looking at the stories of common Chinese people and their houses over the last 50 years. We will see how their lives and their homes are intimately linked.

Fu Zhicheng was to spend most of his life in Beijing, but when he arrived, it was an old and dilapidated city. When the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, Beijing had been the capital of five dynasties. It was a city of culture and history, but with little industry and few public facilities. In the following 50 years, Fu Zhicheng and his family would witness Beijing's transformation from an ancient capital to a modern metropolis. The transition would change their homes and lifestyle enormously.

In 1958, the state's reshuffling of public and private enterprises extended to the small quadrangles. More and more people moved in. Families were growing while available space was shrinking. Furthermore, the next three years from 1959 to 1961 was one of China's most difficult periods. Food supply was tightly controlled, not to mention residential conditions. But in those years of hardship, the busy quadrangles brought joy to their residents. Relationships among neighbours became extremely close under such cramped conditions.

After 50 years of construction, Beijing has become a city with advanced heavy and light industry. Facilities serving the public were also developed. Today, Beijing has a population of over 10 million. Without the reform of the housing system, it would be impossible to house this number of people. Fu Zhicheng's story is typical of ordinary people in Beijing during the reform. People in other cities also went through great changes. To see how these changes effected people outside the capital, join us for tomorrow's Documentary.

 

Editor:Wang Ping