Happy Life at the Foot of the Imperial City Wall——A Glimpse of Community Life in Dongcheng District, Beijing

Grandpa Qin, now 74, has returned to where he had lived for more than six decades in the company of his daughter. In front of him, the old dilapidated scenes have all disappeared. The former nine 1.9-meter-wide lanes have become 12 six-meter-wide roads. The former crowded courtyards, 11 stairs down the lanes, have completely changed their outlook. The only things that seem to have not changed are the old Beijing style of blue tiles and gray bricks and the imperial city walls nearby that are the witnesses to all these changes. Grandpa Qin is among the 300 households who have returned after the rebuilding project was completed. Qin's family lived in the Nanchizi community for five generations. The big