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Residents in a 2,500-year-old city in east China will have a more comfortable life at the

end of an urban renewal program scheduled for completion early next year.

Suzhou in Jiangsu Province is known as a garden city and was mentioned by Marco Polo because of its unique oriental flavor. However many facilities in the old buildings are outdated.

The city government has launched a modernization program for local residents" living quarters while at the same time retaining the city"s historical flavor.

As part of the project, more than 240 households in an ancient neighborhood will move into new homes early next year. These will follow the original design but will have private kitchens and bathrooms.

The ancient neighborhood covers an area of more than 10,000 square meters with most houses being built between the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368-1911). The houses have no drainage facilities, and kitchens consist of a single coal stove.

For their water supply people rely on different sized buckets: smaller ones for a toilet, larger ones for a bath and medium-sized ones for carrying water.

With a history of 2,500 years, the city"s ancient residential area exceeds 10 square kilometers.

Already over 100,000 citizens have moved out of the historic area into new homes and an area of one million square meters has been renewed.

At present 300,000 people still live in the area. The city government has said, once the renewal program is completed, the ancient residential area will be divided into 54 blocks and house a population of 200,000.

Compared with the nearby high-tech Suzhou Industrial Park and the high-rise buildings in the new urban area, architectural experts say the ancient residential area represents the city"s history and culture (xinhua)